Monthly Archives: September 2013

Drying Black-eyed Susan

Photograph taken on Wednesday, September 11, 2013 by Henry
Drying Black-eyed Susan

Drying Black-eyed Susan

The black-eyed Susans are fading, as I mentioned two weeks ago. They still have a fair amount of color but are starting to dry up. Personally, I think they still look pretty nice in their semi-dried out state. This is one in a large patch growing in the middle of our back yard. There was a small patch here last year but with the two trees that used to shade it now gone, the patch has become very vigorous. I’m not sure what we’ll do there next year, but it seems like a good spot for some sun-loving things. More roses, perhaps.

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Westat’s 50th Anniversary

Photograph taken on Tuesday, September 10, 2013 by Henry
Westat's 50<sup>th</sup> Anniversary

Westat’s 50th Anniversary

From the company website:

In 2013, Westat is celebrating 50 years of research and analysis, contributing to numerous advances in health, education, the environment, and public policy. We are commemorating this anniversary with a number of events throughout the year to recognize this milestone, and we have adopted the tagline “50 Years … Improving lives through research” to highlight the year.

One of the events mentioned was a big party under a tent in the parking lot. It was quite a party, actually, and the food was excellent. It would have been nicer if it wasn’t quite so hot, but that’s another matter. Earlier in the day I took this picture of the tent from the rooftop terrace.

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Dorothy and Duke

Photograph taken on Monday, September 09, 2013 by Henry
Dorothy and Duke

Dorothy and Duke

Dorothy had a day off from school today and we decided, sort of at the last minute, to take a trip down to James Madison University. We saw the campus in July of 2012 but it wasn’t an “official” visit and we didn’t take a tour. Last night we signed up for a tour today at 10:00 AM. We left home at about 7:30 and got there in good time. We saw what was to be seen and ate lunch in the dining hall before driving home. Dorothy agreed to sit with Duke before we left.

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Spencer

Photograph taken on Sunday, September 08, 2013 by Henry
Spencer

Spencer

It’s a little surprising that Spencer’s picture hasn’t appeared here before now. He was mentioned in a post, when he gave some cookies to Dorothy and I took a picture of the cookies, but there hasn’t been a picture of him. So, here he is. Granted, this isn’t the best picture of him I’ve ever taken, but I think it does him justice.

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Philanthus gibbosus (Beewolf)

Photograph taken on Saturday, September 07, 2013 by Henry
Philanthus gibbosus (Beewolf)

Philanthus gibbosus (Beewolf)

I saw a new type of wasp today. Well, new to me, anyway. They’ve been around for a while. The genus Philanthus are known, collectively, as beewolves, because they prey on bees. The female hunts for bees, buries them in brood tunnels, and lays an egg on each. When the larvae hatch, they have a nice, readily available food supply.

This particular species, Philanthus gibbosus is the most common of the north American species. It’s not all that big, between 15 and 18mm in length but it’s brightly marked with yellow. You can see the three simple eyes (ocelli) on the top of the head, although if you didn’t know they were there, you might not notice them. This wasp, like many others in our yard, it particularly fond of the mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum).

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Sushi

Photograph taken on Friday, September 06, 2013 by Henry
Sushi

Sushi

Dorothy was feeling like pizza this evening but by the time Kendra got here and we got going, it was nearly 9:00. By the time we got to Angelo’s, it was just about closing time. We decided to try Armand’s, instead, since they are open later. We ordered two pizzas and waited around outside while they were made and cooked. This picture is from Wasabi-Zen, the sushi place in the same building. Since the girls don’t really eat fish, we don’t do sushi much, unfortunately. Anyway, the pizza was terrific.

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Fawn at Work

Photograph taken on Thursday, September 05, 2013 by Henry
White-tailed Deer Fawn

White-tailed Deer Fawn

I didn’t get outside during the day today but I did get this picture from my office window. There were two fawns, actually, both along the side of the parking lot between our lot and the empty lot next door. I’ve seen deer in that empty lot a few times and have come across the bones of deer quite a few times. This is the first time I’ve seen them out in the open on our side of the fence (not that the fence is going to stop them — it’s low enough that I can step over it without any trouble).

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Pine Cones

Photograph taken on Wednesday, September 04, 2013 by Henry
Pine Cones

Pine Cones

Cathy and I went for a short walk this afternoon, walking around my office building a few times. It was a pretty day, on the border between warm and hot. The sky was a rare, deep blue and very clear. As we walked I had my camera with me (like you do) and was looking for things to photograph. These pine needles and cones against the blue sky caught my eye, so that’s what you get for today. I like this photograph, but mostly for the green of the needles against the blue of the sky.

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Dorothy Driving

Photograph taken on Tuesday, September 03, 2013 by Henry
Dorothy Driving

Dorothy Driving

Dorothy’s had her learner’s permit since the middle of October, last year. She drove a few times, starting out staying in our neighborhood and then venturing out onto larger and busier roads. She hasn’t driven since December, though. It’s been a combination of her not caring and us not pushing it. Today, we went out driving again. having been out of the driver’s seat so long, it was a little like starting over but she regained her confidence fairly quickly and she did quite well.

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Dead Flowers

Photograph taken on Monday, September 02, 2013 by Henry
Dead Flowers

Dead Flowers

I’ve posted plenty of flower pictures here. Flowers are one of my favorite subjects, along with the critters that crawl on and fly around them. In 2010 I took a picture of some roses and other flowers in this vase that turned out to be one of the nicer pictures I’ve ever taken. It is certainly my favorite still life out of all that I’ve taken.

Today’s picture is of flowers that have been sitting a little too long. They looked very nice when they were put in this vase, but that was ten days ago. They still have a bit of color but have faded a bit. I probably should have worked harder to get a uniform background instead of having the far edge of the table in the frame. Still, I kind of like the composition and the blue tablecloth background with the faded pastels of the flowers. There are roses (the larger pink flowers), Verbina bonariensis (which have turned pretty completely brown), both white and purple Conoclinium coelestinum (which are mostly still white and purple), and two coneflowers (with their large, cone-like seed heads.

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D’Argo

Photograph taken on Sunday, September 01, 2013 by Henry
D'Argo

D’Argo

We went over to my mom’s for dinner this evening. There wasn’t really any special occasion. She had been at a sort of mini-family reunion in Virginia and had made quite a bit of curry chicken salad and had a pretty good amount left over. It needed to be eaten so we obliged and ate some. It was nice to get together just for the fun of it and nice that Steve and Maya are in town now, which I sometimes don’t remember for some reason. They brought their not-quite-new-any-more corgi, D’Argo, with them and that’s who is in this photo. I’m not sure whose hand that is.

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