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Here and There…Now and Then |
Catching Fireflies
We enjoyed a pleasant dusk catching fireflies in the yard today. The joys of summer. Kind of hard to photograph, though. Here’s one on Dorothy’s thumb. She thought it interesting that little girls that don’t normally associate closely with insects have no problem catching fireflies. Somehow they are different.
Bumble Bee on Sunflower
We were out at Rocklands Farm to pick up our weekly share of produce and I enjoyed photographing crops. There are sunflowers growing in various places, mostly not yet fully in bloom. These, however, were beautiful. They are only about foot and a half tall but four or five inches across. The bumble bees (and many others) really seem to be happy about them. (Bombus griseocollis)
Picnic Lunch
We had a picnic after church today to say farewell to the Bill and Kristine who are moving to Ohio. I’ll post a separate gallery with a bunch of pictures but this was my favorite from today.
Happy 235, U.S.A.
Days mixed with sorrow and joy are all too common, it seems. We did end the day with a bang, however, enjoying the fireworks from the 355 bridge over the railroad tracks in Gaithersburg with Rick, Melissa, Katie, and Maggie. A good view and a short half block walk from their house. Happy birthday to the good, old U.S. of A.
Spined Micrathena
This is one wicked looking spider. It is a Spined Micrathena (Micrathena gracilis) and I came across her in the woods next to my office. Her web is about eight inches across and about three feet off the ground. With the number of bugs flying around, I suspect she eats well.
WCA Volleyball
Dorothy wanted to go watch some of her friends play volleyball this evening and I decided I’d take my camera. I got a few good pictures but I think I have a lot to learn about photographing this sport. Anyway, this is Alexia on WCA’s summer league team.
Potter Wasp
There were lots of insects enjoying Cathy’s mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum) today, including this potter wasp. I’ve narrowed it down to the genus Euodynerus of which there are 19 local species. Beyond that, I need better pictures and different views.
There is a good key to the genus here: http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/bsc/ejournal/bmc_05/key_euodynerus.html. I also found a good Hymenoptera glossary here: http://www.diapriid.org/projects/32/public/ontology/.
Eat Mor Chikin
Dorothy dressed in a cow costume today and earned a free meal at the Germantown Chik-Fil-A. She also got to visit Lyla, which is at least as big a treat. Oh, and thank you, Megan for the use of the cow suit.
Lissie
We picked up our weekly share of vegetables at Rocklands Farm this morning and enjoyed a visit with the folks there, including Lissie, Anna’s sister, who posed for me with a small basket of produce.
Sweat Bee
I know some of you are probably getting tired of wasps but I this is one of the nicer wasp pictures I’ve gotten, so, here you go with another one. UPDATE: Identified as Halictus parallelus, a sweat bee.
If I get an identification for it I’ll change the label but for now, it’s a wasp of some kind. I spent about a half hour at the mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum) in the back yard today. The sun was pretty hot so by the time I came in I was wilting. The insects didn’t mind and were really out in huge numbers.
The Abell Building
I went up to Baltimore to take some pictures for Iris today. I can’t share those with you but I took this one of the Abell Building near the medical school. The Romanesque revival building was originally built in the 1870’s by Arunah Abell, the founder of the Baltimore Sun newspaper. It has recently been renovated and is an apartment building.
Great Golden Digger Wasp
I keep thinking I’m done with wasps and bees and then I find a new one (there are thousands, after all). This, I’m pretty sure, is a great golden digger wasp (Sphex ichneumoneus). This isn’t the best picture I took in terms of identifying the wasp but I really like this head-on view.
Auto Bulbs
We picked up our van from Eddie this afternoon and I took this picture of light bulbs at the shop.
Thistle Flower
Anyone good at identifying thistles? There are hundreds of them and many of them look much like this. Anyway, as much as I don’t like thistles in the garden, they sure have pretty flowers.
Mushroom
I came across this huge mushroom in Margaret’s yard this evening and thought it was cool. There were a half dozen of them but this one was a huge cup with the gills on the outside. The others looked more like portobellos.
Rocklands Farm Produce
Purple and orange eggplant, potatoes, a cucumber, various peppers, zucchini and yellow squash, assorted tomatoes, green beans, lettuce, green and purple basil, and a leek — most of my vegetable share from Rocklands Farm this morning. Now, doesn’t that look good?
Toronto at Night
I arrived in Toronto at about 5:00 PM today with ten youth and two other parents from church. We’ll be spending the week working in a soup kitchen for about four hours each day and then at various sites in the afternoons.
Toronto Team at St. Felix
On each day in Toronto, we were at the St. Felix Centre from about 8:30 to 12:45. We prepared and then served lunch to between 90 and 100 people. This is the team (although you can’t quite see Jessie). It was the best youth mission team I’ve ever been on a trip with.
Toronto Team, Sandwich Run
Earlier today we made about 120 bag lunches with sandwiches, fruit, and juice. In the early evening we joined a team from New Jersey to pass them out to people on the street. This was done along with Joe from an organization called Project 417. Joe has been working with homeless people in Toronto for about 30 years. We were also thrilled to have Stephanie join us this evening, making our team whole again.
Ben
During our week in Toronto we spent the mornings helping prepare and serve meals in a soup kitchen, Ben works there year round. So, if what we did is good, what adjective do you use for what he does. I guess it’s his job, but still, it’s pretty awesome. Also, he has to put up with a different group like ours each week, which must get old. So, here’s to Ben (Ben Hur, actually). Chef, stand-up comic, really nice guy. Thanks for all you do at St. Felix.
Steph and Hannah
It was hard to pick one picture for today so I decided to go with two beautiful smiles. After staying home because she was sick when we left for Toronto, Stephanie got better and her wonderful parents got her to us on Tuesday evening. She didn’t stop smiling all week. It made Hannah and the rest of the team pretty happy, as well.
This picture was taken in the CN Tower, which costs a bit to go up but is worth the price, I think. We were there for sunset, which was particularly nice and the wind felt good after being so hot.
Gooderham Building
Located between Wellington and Front Streets at Church Street in Toronto, the Gooderham Building, completed in 1892, is a good example of a flatiron building, similar to its more famous cousin, the Fuller Building in New York City. I had to edit this picture a bit to take out a half dozen pesky girls standing in the foreground, but I don’t think that’s too noticeable unless you look closely. I couldn’t just wait for them to move because I was sitting in the van at a traffic light and by the time they moved, I’d have been gone. I love buildings from this period. Classic.
Horseshoe Falls
On the way home from Toronto we stopped at Niagara Falls. It’s right on the way and we figured it would be worth the time. We paid to go on the “Journey Behind the Falls” tour (which is really just access, not a tour). For anyone interested, the actual “behind the falls” portion is fairly anti-climactic. The observation deck right beside the falls, however, may be worth the price by itself. Plan to be wet by the time you are done, though, unless there is no wind at all. I had my camera in a plastic bag and pulled it out for a couple shots, of which I think this is the best. There are similar viewing areas on the US side and it would be interesting to compare them to this.
Vulpes vulpes
This red fox was hunting on the church property as we were leaving this afternoon. He looked at me for a second or two, then went back to his (or her) hunting. Pretty scruffy looking but still cool.
Turk’s Cap Lily
My dad had these growing in his garden and was spreading them by planting the bulbils that form in the axils of the leaves. After we moved in 2006 Cathy started collecting bulbils and planting them here, as well. They are doing nicely and add a nice splash of color this time of year.
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
This is a male eastern tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus). These and more of the silver-spotted skippers (see photo in yesterday’s Extra gallery) were out in force today feeding on the teasel (Dipsacus sp.) flowers in the lot next to my office.
Be Glad
Gladiolus, that is.
Colored Chalk
I was up in Baltimore this evening with Iris, taking a few more pictures for her. While waiting I noticed these pieces of colored chalk and thought they looked nice. I’m glad to see it’s not all white boards yet. I guess I’m old fashioned but I like chalk better. If nothing else, it reminds me of playing in a chalk pit in England as a boy (but then perhaps this should be “coloured chalk”).
The Redhead
I came home today to find a girl at my house who looked a lot like Dorothy. But something was different… Actually, I quite like it.
Dinosaur and Chicken
It was cool enough in the car that Dorothy wanted to wear her dinosaur suit today. Outside, where this chicken was, however, it was pushing 100°F. We stopped there for lunch and Dorothy asked if she could have her picture taken with him.
Ocean Isle Pier
It’s been pretty hot but this is the beach. I like this nearly monochromatic image of the ocean and the pier to the east of our house.