A Hot Fourth

Roasted Chicken

Roasted Chicken

It’s not particularly uncommon for the Fourth of July to be a very hot day, often with a thunderstorm thrown in for good measure. There was no thunderstorm this afternoon but it was certainly hot, about 100°F here. We are thankful that we did not lose power in Friday night’s storm. We pretty much stayed in indoors all day today. I decided to roast two chickens, stuffed with a rice pilau. They turned out quite well, if I say so myself. They were basted with a garlic and lemon sauce and were very flavorful. The rice had currents, almonds, and onions and was flavored with allspice.

Making Ice Cream

Making Ice Cream

Although the chickens were very good, there’s no question that the highlight of the evening was the homemade ice cream. Normally it’s something you’d do outside but it was so hot, we figured we’d stick to the inside for that, too. Our power went out just as the ice cream was getting good and thick. We decided it was close enough to being done that we’d take the paddles out and cover it with ice to harden up a little more. Thankfully, the power was only out for a few minutes, so all was well. The ice cream was as good as I remember it. Family members will know what I mean when I say it tasted like 1414.

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Surprise!

Timothy

Timothy

There was a surprise birthday party today for Timothy. Unfortunately it started while I was still at work so I wasn’t there for the “SURPRISE!” part. When I did get there I asked Timothy to look surprised for a picture and this is what I got.

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Weaving Lights

Weaving Lights

Weaving Lights

I was pretty absorbed in work today and didn’t get out to take any pictures. On the other hand, I got a lot done. This evening when I picked up Dorothy from Driver’s Ed I was messing about with long exposures of car lights. This is my favorite of the bunch. Not terribly exciting but I’m supposed to be taking pictures and it’s a picture.

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Church In The Yard

Outdoor Church Meeting

Outdoor Church Meeting

Because of the damage from the storm Friday night much of the area is without power. When our church is without electricity it is not only without light and air conditioning, it is also without running water and toilet facilities. Rather then “forsaking the assembling of ourselves together” (Hebrews 10:24-25) we met in the back yard of one of our families. Special thanks to Amanda and Dave for their hospitality and willingness to host us all. Thanks also to everyone who came, in spite of the heat, and worshiped with us.

We are not a particularly formal church to begin with but as you can see, everyone was quite casual, dressing for the heat. Dave and Fiona were spraying water from spray bottles, which felt wonderful. Thanks also to those who adjusted the service to the situation and to Mike for his message to us from the Word. It was a special time and one we will remember with fondness.

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Storm Damage

Downed Power Lines

Downed Power Lines

The lack of posts here hasn’t actually been to lack of electricity. Our power went out for about 30 seconds and flickered pretty severely for about another minute but that was it. So, we were among the fortunate. When I looked out in the back yard, I expected to see lots of branches down but there was very little and nothing bigger than about an inch in diameter. At that point I thought the storm wasn’t as bad as it sounded, which was pretty ferocious.

When we went out, however, we didn’t have to go far before we saw a little more of the extent of what had happened. Just getting out of our neighborhood took a little doing. Traffic lights were out all over so I figured it was better to stay off the main roads as long as possible. Of course that meant negotiating fallen trees, some of which closed roads off altogether. This is a few blocks from our house but it is a scene that was repeated all over the area.

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A Hot Day

108°F / 42°C

108°F / 42°C

It isn’t particularly original, I know, but this was pretty much the story for today. Obviously this isn’t the official temperature, it wasn’t really this hot except over black paving that was in the sun all day. On the other hand, this was at about 5:00 PM. It actually read 110°F at one point but I wasn’t going to try to take a picture while moving. The air conditioner in my car barely keeps up in 90°F heat, so it was only marginally cooler in the car on the way home this evening.

I have friends living in a part of Africa where it sometimes cools off to this temperature at night. Still, for those of us used to a temperate climate, this is extreme and not very comfortable. I’m very thankful for air conditioning.

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Macrosiagon limbata (Wedge-shaped Beetle)

Macrosiagon limbata (Wedge-shaped Beetle)

Macrosiagon limbata (Wedge-shaped Beetle)

I went out with my camera on a tripod to take some bee pictures around the mountain mint this afternoon. There were a lot of bumble bees and a few tarantula hawk wasps around. For all their size, the tarantula hawks are quite shy and are hard to get close enough to. I’ll get them eventually but didn’t today. I did find this little wedge-shaped beetle, a Macrosiagon limbata, on one of the flowers. It’s about a centimeter long. I don’t know about this species in particular but some members of the family Ripiphoridae are parasitic on bees and vespid wasps. So, waiting on the mountain mint was probably a good choice.

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Apis mellifera (Honey Bee)

Apis mellifera (Honey Bee)

Apis mellifera (Honey Bee)

I have a feeling we’re going to be getting a lot of bee pictures over the next few weeks. The short-toothed mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum) is just starting to bloom and it’s about the best bee magnet I know of. Other plants may attract them as well but I don’t know any that attract a wider variety of bees. Expect to see them soon.

For now, we have one more picture of a honey bee (Apis mellifera) on the Asclepias flowers.

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Echinacea’s Bumble

Bumble Bee on Coneflower

Bumble Bee on Coneflower

If there was a bit more light I might be able to get this with a little more depth of field. I may try to get a better shot of a bumble bee on the coneflowers in our back yard. For now, this will have to do.

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Night Reflections

Night Reflections

Night Reflections

We picked up Dorothy from her first driver’s ed class this evening (be afraid, be very afraid). From there we were driving through town, just a little after sunset, and the reflections on this building were nice. Dorothy commented on what her teacher would say about taking pictures while driving. I was stopped at a traffic light and had plenty of time, I assure you.

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Run Away!

Fleeing Tim

Fleeing Tim

I had a nice time at the graduation ceremony and party for a friend named Tim. At the party, some of the younger kids thought it would be fun to chase some of the older kids with swords. Who hasn’t thought that, after all. Here, the guest of honor is being chased around his back yard by someone who may speak softly but who carries a big stick (or sword).

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A Little Green Fly

Genus Condylostylus

Genus Condylostylus

There were a lot of these flying around the Asclepias tuberosa flowers today, along with a lot of bees (both honey and bumble varieties). I believe that this is a female of the Condylostylus sipho species group. There are a lot of very similar flies and I’m not an expert, by any means so if you are reading this and know better, please leave me a comment. Anyway, it’s almost certainly a longlegged fly (Family Dolichopodidae) and quite pretty.

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Onions

Onion Flowers

Onion Flowers

I grow a number of different allium species in my garden and their flowers vary, ranging from purple through blue to yellow and dark pink. These white flowers, though, are from a red onion being grown for eating. I planted a bunch of seeds last year but dealing with sun chokes (Helianthus tuberosus) from the previous year made it practically impossible to grow anything else. There are still a few chokes coming up this year but not so many that it’s a huge problem. This is one of a few onions that survived last year.

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More Greens

Redbud Leaves

Redbud Leaves

I’ve said before that I love all the various shades of green in spring and summer tree leaves. Although it was pretty hot, I decided I would go out and take a few pictures early this afternoon. I had hoped for pictures of raspberries which are coming on to ripeness. Actually, I was a bit surprised that there were not more. There were nearly ripe berries last week but I think birds are eating them as fast as they are ripening.

This picture was taken looking up into the leaves of a redbud tree.

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Office Reflections

Office Reflections

Office Reflections

I like the reflections in my office building. I know I’ve posted them before but they seem to look a little different from day to day and particularly from month to month. Here’s what they look like now. Nice and green and shady. Of course, at 9:00 AM it was already close to 90°F so it’s not as pleasant as it might be. Still, better in the shade than in the sun.

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Leaving For Camp

Dorothy and Friends

Dorothy and Friends

We dropped Dorothy off to go to camp this morning. It was nice to visit, however briefly, with a few parents we haven’t seen in a while. Naturally I took a few pictures, including this one of Dorothy and four of her friends. Everyone was excited, including some parents who were taking advantage of a week without kids. Of course we had to go from there to work, which did put a little bit of a damper on our enthusiasm. Still, they do pay me for my work, and I’m quite happy to have a job, if truth be told.

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Kendra’s New Bike

Kendra and Dorothy

Kendra and Dorothy

Dorothy spent much of the day with her friend Kendra, who met her at grandma’s house. She rode over on her new bicycle.

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Papilio glaucus (Eastern Tiger Swallowtail)

Papilio glaucus (Eastern Tiger Swallowtail)

Papilio glaucus (Eastern Tiger Swallowtail)

It was a beautiful day today and we spent some of it out in the yard. I pulled weeds for a while, doing battle with the Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense). To paraphrase Sonny Curtis, “pullin’ weeds in the hot sun, I fought the lawn and the lawn won.” Anyway, this swallowtail was fluttering around the various flowers and I was able to get a few reasonably good pictures as she landed on the aptly named butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) in the back border. Much easier to get the picture here than later in the summer when they are on the buddleia, which puts them mostly overhead.

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Garden Art

Garden Art

Garden Art

It doesn’t have to be a Renaissance sculpture to qualify as garden art. Here, with a couple pieces of stone, a metal pole for hanging plants, and a plastic dinosaur head, we have a whimsical creation to attract you attention and provide a focal point to the garden.

I’m pretty sure this is a work by David Cudney. It had fallen over and when I picked it up and reset it in the ground about a million ants crawled out of the dinosaur head. They were not happy. Apparently they appreciate art in a different way to us.

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Fernando

Fernando Ortega

Fernando Ortega

What a treat it was to go hear Fernando Ortega this evening in a benefit concert for Rockville Pregnancy Clinic. He has such a beautiful, smooth voice and his songs paint wonderful pictures in my mind. I just made a CD with MP3 versions of all of our Fernando Ortega and Chris Rice albums and put it in the car on shuffle. It’s surprising (or perhaps not) how often one of his tunes comes into your head. I suppose that’s a function of how well you know his songs, of course. Anyway, if you have the chance to hear him, I recommend you act on it. This was our third time and by far the least formal. I had a great time with great friends and wonderful music.

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