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Here and There…Now and Then |
Maserati GranTurismo
This is one of two Maseratis that are parked in my office parking lot from time to time. I thought perhaps they were owned by the same person because I hadn’t seen them there together until a few weeks ago, when they were parked next to each other. So, I guess there are two different owners. I like the color of the blue one but this two-door model is nicer over all.
Tachopteryx thoreyi (Gray Petaltail)
Driving home from Kentucky we stopped for gas just west of Hancock, Maryland. This huge dragonfly was sitting on the pavement and at first I wasn’t sure it was alive but it was moving and it flew away after I took a couple pictures.
Craig, Vicky, Dorothy, and Eli
On day four of the Momentum conference, Dorothy made some new friends from Ohio.
Timothy
I think most of us know a ninja or two but we may not know that we know them. I know a few people with ninja skills and Timothy is one of them, running on an almost vertical wall as though it were flat ground. It’s nothing to him.
Stephanie, Autumn, Kim, Jared, Ted, Danny, and Donna
On the second full day of the Momentum Youth Conference I took a picture during the morning staff meeting of our table. Donna’s niece and her husband were at the conference with four other adult leaders and we sat with them each morning. I’ve labeled them clockwise in this picture but I’m not 100% sure of all the names.
A Mustache with Appeal
It was a very busy day today. One thing about us going to a conference for the first time, especially one that’s been going on annually for so many years, is that while a lot of people know what’s going on, we didn’t, really. We managed to get everywhere when we needed to but it takes a while to get the rhythm of things. By the end of our first full day, I think we are in much better shape than we were yesterday or this morning.
One of the sponsors/partners of the conference is Lancaster Bible College. They had a friendly little competition this week where people would put on fake mustaches and send them pictures. This was Dorothy’s submission. It was good enough for a free t-shirt and it flashed on the big screen later today as a plug for the competition.
RCC Team
Donna R. and I took these nine teens to Richmond, Kentucky today for the Momentum 2012 youth conference. We left at about 5:30 and covered 520 miles in just over 10 hours including a few brief stops. Traffic was light, the weather was hot but otherwise nice for driving and the kids had a good time on the ride. I have a picture of the whole team but this is a picture that I took with just the kids. The church collected school supplies, which is what the boxes are. More on that later this week.
Turk’s Cap Lily
Yes, I know, I posted a picture of a Turk’s cap lily (Lilium superbum) only eight days ago (Sunday, July 08, 2012) but they are so pretty and I decided to post another. At least this is a different plant in a different part of the yard.
Cathy, Brian, Ginger, and Sam
We had a nice dinner out this evening with Brian, Ginger, and Sam. Since I hadn’t yet taken any pictures and since I didn’t take any others before the day was done, this is my picture for the day. Thanks guys. It was nice visiting with you all.
The hiking group on a large boulder near Lake Pinchot
We spent the night at Gifford Pinchot State Park with some friends. Since Kimia was with us, we had a bit of rain, but since she helped plan the trip, it’s not like it was unexpected. Some got fairly wet but Cathy and I were dry enough. After breakfast we decided to take what turned out to be an 8.5 mile hike around Lake Pinchot. Here’s what the park web site has to say about the trail:
Lakeside Trail: 8.5 miles, most difficult hiking
This is the longest and most scenic trail in the park. It may be accessed from all major use areas of the park. Walking time is five to six hours. Many parts of the trail are easy walking with gravel surfaces, but some of the remote sections are narrow with uneven footing and wet in other places. Many hikers combine portions of this trail with other trails like Alpine, Gravel, Oak and Quaker Race to make shorter loops.
We had thought it was only about 6 miles, so that extra 2.5 was not particularly welcome. Still, it was a pretty hike and except for the bit where we got off onto a fisherman’s track instead of the main trail, it wasn’t particularly difficult walking. There were some ups and downs but nothing very steep or long. After about 6 miles, when we were starting to get a tired, we got to the Quaker Race Day Use Area, which is across the lake from the campground. We had been around the long end of the lake and had the near end left to go. We bought cold treats and rested a bit. My legs were a bit tired but the real problem was that my back was bothering me quite a bit. I decided, discretion being the better part of valour, that I would wait there and have someone come back and pick me up. Thanks for having pity on an old man, Nancy.
Sphecius speciosus (Eastern Cicada Killer)
On the sandy shore of Pinchot Lake, where we camped last night, there was a sign warning campers that there were cicada killer wasps laying their eggs. As you may have figured out by now, I’m not particularly scared of wasps and I thought I’d see how close I could get for a picture. As you can see, I did reasonably well. This wasp is a good 3 to 4 cm long and pretty formidable looking but they didn’t bother me as I walked among them, being careful not to step on their burrows, of course.
As their name implies, they sting and paralyze cicadas, bury them in the sand, and lay an eggs on the last cicada. When the egg hatches, the larva has a nice source of food.
Cathy and Our Tent
After work we went up to Pennsylvania and met some friends to camp for the weekend. I hadn’t taken any pictures today so after we got our tent up, just as it was getting dark, I took a few. This is Cathy in front of our tent. What you cannot see in this picture is the 31 foot RV just out of the picture on the right. I don’t know that I can quite consider that “camping” but that doesn’t mean I don’t see the advantages. I see the advantages in staying in a hotel, for that matter. Having the RV there was a nice in terms of refrigeration, stove, and water and of course, if it rained too hard, we could have gotten in out of it.
Oh, wait…
Ryan, Melissa and Noah
We were fortunate enough to have our good friend Diana over this evening, along with her first grandchild (oh, two of her sons and her daughter-in-law were there, as well). Actually it was great to have them all over, along with Krystal and Mike. But it was especially nice to meet baby Noah, who is an adorable little boy.
I got a pretty good picture of him with Diana, as well, but I figured she’d prefer to see Ryan and Melissa instead of herself. What a beautiful family.
Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus
Another afternoon around the mountain mint. This is a fairly common visitor and a dangerous looking wasp. Actually, none of the wasps around the mountain mint seem particularly concerned by my presence. Some move away from whatever side I’m not but none bother me in the least. The bumble bees seem to be the least concerned, letting me get quite close without flying away. These are probably next in terms of boldness, coming right in close under my lens. This photo is full frame, not cropped at all, so you can see I’m pretty close. I took quite a few of this one and some of the others are better for identification but I like this one best as a photograph. It isn’t anywhere near as sharp as I’d like but this fellow is moving around quite quickly.
Butterfly Weed Seeds
I generally think of this as a winter type picture. Back on May 22 I posted a picture of Asclepias curassavica (Mexican Butterfly Weed) flowers. Now, seven weeks later, it has gone to seed. This isn’t a particularly good picture but I think the seeds themselves, with their fine tufts of gossamer, are very pretty.
Great Black Wasp (Sphex pensylvanicus)
It was a much cooler day today. I woke up to 70° and a very light rain, which was wonderful. I opened doors and windows and enjoyed the freshness of the morning. It got much warmer as the day wore on but nothing like the 95+ degree temperatures we’ve been “enjoying” for the last eleven days (and four over 100°F). In the early evening I went out back and enjoyed all the bees and wasps that are gathering around the mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum). There were dozens upon dozens of them, far too many to count, and of course they are constantly on the move, flitting from one flower to the next. The flowers on mountain mint are quite small but they bloom over a very long period and they seem to be very popular with the Aculeata (bees, ants, and stinging wasps).
Katydid Wasp (Sphex nudus)
I have tentatively identified this first wasp as a great black wasp (Sphex pensylvanicus). It certainly fits the name as it’s about 2cm long and very black. The wings are a deep blue-black when it is viewed from the back and you can see a little of that in this picture.
The second wasp, also on the mountain mint, I believe is a katydid wasp (Sphex nudus). This wasp is about the same size as the first one but as you can see it has a bit of color on its legs. They are both fairly shy and don’t like to get too close to my camera. Others are much bolder or at least less concerned with my presence. Both wasps use katydids as food for their larvae, laying their eggs on one that they have killed and buried.
Turk’s Cap Lily (Lilium superbum)
One interesting thing about Turk’s cap lily (Lilium superbum) is that they form little mini-bulbs called bulbils in their leaf axils. These can be taken off and planted and will grow into new bulbs. That makes them one of the easiest of perennials to divide and spread throughout your garden. Cathy collected bulbils from lilies my dad planted in his garden and planted them here. Now they are large enough to have their own bulbils and are doing very well, growing about six feet tall with lots of flowers. Oh, and the flowers are quite lovely.
Crushed Car, Close Call
I was driving home yesterday and noticed this downed tree. It’s only about 8 blocks from our house but I hadn’t been this way since before last week’s storm. As you can see, the car is finished. What’s amazing, though, is how close the tree is to the house and how little damage there is. To the left of this, there is a bit of house that sticks out to the front and the tree is less than two feet from it. From what I could see, though, there was not serious damage at all.
The neighbor happened to be outside and I chatted with her briefly. Apparently no one was home at the time, so no one was hurt, which is the most important thing. She commented that it would probably be a long time before anyone got to this. Later in the day I went by again and to my surprise, there was a crew working on the tree, about half of which had already been removed. I was able to confirm that there was literally no visible damage to the house. Amazing.
Dorothy, Simone, and Lexi
We got to have lunch with some of our best friends today, including Simone and Lexi. What a treat that was.
Iris domestica
I still think of this as Belamcanda chinensis, as it was called until 2005 when DNA evidence proved it to be an iris. In any case, the common name, blackberry lily, while less accurate, is still fairly allowed. I brought some seeds of this home about ten years ago and have had it in the garden ever since. We brought it to this house in 2006 and this particular plant is a seedling from that one. It’s doing very well and is certainly cheerful this time of year. The blooms are very interesting in that when they are finished, the petals curl up into little spirals before they drop off. The seeds are large and black and form in fruits that (not surprisingly) look like the seed pods of other irises.