Henry Hartley | Here and There…Now and Then

Small Art Show in Hanover

Photograph taken on Friday, September 05, 2025 by Henry

Pomegranate

We drove up to Hanover, Pennsylvania this afternoon for a small art opening at Little Fox. The location, 125 Broadway, Hanover, Pennsylvania, shows up for me on Google maps as being called The Reader’s Cafe, which is closed. Little Fox is a combination cafe and book shop, with new books downstairs and used books along the wall of the loft.

On the end wall, where the stairs to the loft run, Dorothy had some artwork hanging. She also had a few things on a table. There was reasonable traffic through the shop during the evening and I believe Dorothy sold a few pieces. This is one that I particularly liked, of a stylized pomegranate. We were happy to also have our good friends Maureen and Bob come up and then we all went down the block to Famous Hot Weiner for dinner. I can’t say the hotdog was anything special, although I did enjoy the old-timey atmosphere.

Categories: Miscellaneous, People | Tags: Art, Hanover | Comments Off

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Photograph taken on Saturday, August 30, 2025 by Henry

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

We went to the C&O Canal today, parking at Violet’s Lock, and walked down stream past Blockhouse Point. We saw this great blue heron (Ardea herodias) on our way down and again on our way back. We sat on the wall next to the towpath near Blockhouse Point and chatted with a man cycling from Maryland back to his home in Ohio. His plans were to stop for a few days for a jazz festival in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He shared some pawpaws that he had collected. We had looked for them but hadn’t found any that were not still on the tree and not yet ripe. He also asked us if we’d ever tasted tamarind. I had but let him give us a few pods, which we broke open and ate. A bit further on I also got a few photos of a pair of black vultures (Coragyps atratus).

Categories: Creatures | Tags: Ardea, Ardea herodias, Birds, Great Blue Heron, Heron, Wading Birds | Comments Off

Mushroom Puzzle

Photograph taken on Wednesday, August 27, 2025 by Henry

Mushroom Puzzle

This mushroom puzzle was considerably easier than those we’ve done lately. There were a few tough bits, but the colors being so varied helped us to know which pieces went in which areas. Personally this is the sort of puzzle I like best. It’s somewhat abstract but it still has “real” things in it. I also like the bright colors. That’s not to say I don’t also like the challenge of some of the others we’ve done, because I definitely do like them, as well. Our next puzzle, for instance, is going to be a considerable challenge. But you’ll have to wait until we finish it to see if you agree.

Categories: Miscellaneous | Tags: Art, Hobby, Mushroom Puzzle, Puzzle | Comments Off

Croyden Creek Woods

Photograph taken on Saturday, August 23, 2025 by Henry

Croyden Creek Woods

Cathy and I went to Croyden Creek and walked the large loop today. This starts at the Nature Center and then goes on a trail into the woods to the right (east) of Avery Road down to the top of some rocks overlooking Croyden Creek. We crossed the creek and walked the trail down towards Rock Creek. Before it reaches Rock Creek, though, it climbs up the ridge and circles back towards Norbeck Road. Eventually it meets the sunken roadbed of the former Avery Road. Just across from there are the foundations of an old house. We continued on the trail past that, which leads down towards the creek and crosses it, coming out onto the lawn at the northwest corner of the Glenview Mansion property. Then back along that and into the woods again and up to the nature center. It’s a nice walk and we like it well enough (except we did see a copperhead snake there last year, so Cathy is always on the lookout).

Sometimes we see quite a few birds but this time not many at all. I took a handful of photos and in particular like this one of the bright August sun on the greens and browns of the woods with the intense blue sky showing through.

Categories: Flowers and Plants | Tags: Croyden Creek, Croyden Creek Nature Center, Eastern Forest, Trees | Comments Off

Roadbody in Gettysburg

Photograph taken on Friday, August 22, 2025 by Henry

Roadbody in Gettysburg

There was a benefit concert on the square in Gettysburg this evening for the Four Diamonds organization. One of the groups playing, starting at 7:00 PM, was Roadbody, this time consisting of just Dorothy and Andrew. it’s quite an experience being right on the square, especially on a beautiful late-summer evening with college kids back in town and a constant stream of traffic. There was everything from cars and motorcycles to huge rigs and fire trucks passing behind them as they played. There was a good crowd and I think it went very well. After they were done playing, Cathy, Dorothy, and I ordered carryout from Kitchen 101, just before they closed, and ate it in the dark on their outdoor tables. We caught the first few songs by Emberglow at Pilger Ruh, playing without Jeff, who was in Colorado helping with the teams fighting the Elk and Lee Fires.

Categories: Miscellaneous | Tags: Four Diamonds, Gettysburg, Ploughmans, Ploughmans Taproom, Roadbody | Comments Off

St. Louis Style Ribs

Photograph taken on Sunday, August 17, 2025 by Henry

St. Louis Style Ribs

I smoked two racks of St. Louis style ribs today. We had our good friend Jean and her mom Phyllis (who is also a good friend) as well as Dorothy and her friend Lydia (whom we count as our friend, as well, but Dorothy had her as a friend first). In addition to the ribs, I melted cheddar cheese over some cauliflower and also made a deconstructed salad. That is, I had all the ingredients for a salad and let everyone make their own. That includes a big bowl of greens and smaller bowls with chopped cucumber, halved cherry tomatoes, diced pears, diced onions, and sliced almonds. Finally, I made mashed sweet potato with honey, butter, and cream. We had a really nice time and I think the ribs turned out well for my first attempt. I don’t think they needed the sauce that I added near the end, but no one complained.

Categories: Food/Drink | Tags: Barbecue, BBQ, Ribs, Smoke, St. Louis Style Ribs | Comments Off

The Pond

Photograph taken on Saturday, August 16, 2025 by Henry

The Pond

We were at the farm today with Dorothy and her crew. Their non-profit had two residents the last two weeks and we went up to help them celebrate the end of that. One thing I did that I’ve been meaning to do for a while is identify a bunch of the trees that dad planed in the picnic field. I took latitude and longitude readings on my phone and wrote down the species (if I knew it) or an identifying name and corresponding photographs for those I wasn’t so sure about. I’ll need to come back with a key to the oaks for a couple of them, although I knew more of them than I expected. I’m hoping to make metal tags with information about the trees so this exercise doesn’t have to be repeated.

Later in the day I took this HDR photo of the pond. The color is a little more intense that reality, but it was a very pretty day.

Categories: Miscellaneous | Tags: Blue, Green, HDR, Pond, Sky, Trees | Comments Off

Sistine Chapel Puzzle

Photograph taken on Sunday, August 10, 2025 by Henry

Sistine Chapel Puzzle

We did another hard puzzle, this time of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. The repeating patterns were both a blessing and curse for this one. My plan of attack was to pick one repeated feature and find all the pieces that included part of that feature. Then I worked on finding which version of that feature they all went to. One issue was that there isn’t really a ‘right way up’ for this puzzle. When you’re in the chapel, you’d be looking straight up to see this. I still have vivid memories of being there in 1971, although I think The Last Judgment on the west end of the chapel, behind the alter, is even more impressive.

Categories: Miscellaneous | Tags: Art, Hobby, Michelangelo, Puzzle, Sistine Chapel, Vatican | Comments Off

McKee-Beshers Birds

Photograph taken on Saturday, August 09, 2025 by Henry

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens)

Green Heron (Butorides virescens)

We had a nice walk at McKee-Beshers today. We first walked to fields 3 and 4, which were planted with sunflowers this year. It’s a bit of a walk, almost 7⁄8 of a mile, getting nearly to the river. The two big sunflower fields were well past peak bloom. The sunflower heads were there but almost all turned downwards. We heard quite a few birds but didn’t see all that many. We heard a lot of goldfinches and indigo buntings, as well as cardinals, but we also heard a yellow-billed cuckoo, which was a treat. I’d have been surprised if we had actually seen that. I got this photo of a red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) circling overhead and a few nice photos of this eastern wood-pewee (Contopus virens). We returned to the car and then want to the shallow ponds at the western end of Hunting Quarter Road where we saw this green heron (Butorides virescens).

Categories: Creatures | Tags: Birds, Buteo, Buteo jamaicensis, Butorides, Butorides virescens, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Green Heron, Hawk, Heron, Pewee, Red-tailed Hawk | Comments Off

Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis

Photograph taken on Friday, August 01, 2025 by Henry

Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)

Cathy and I drove to the eastern end of Ocean Isle this afternoon. First we went to the pier at Ferry Landing Park. This area was closed for renovations after Hurricane Isaias damaged the pier in 2020 and didn’t open again until the very end of 2024. After a short visit there, we parked and walked on the beach. Between November 2021 and April 2022, a groin was constructed perpendicular to the beach at the eastern end of the island. This has dramatically improved the beach stability. We looked for (and found) some pieces of coral as we walked. I carried my long lens and took a few pictures, including some of a double-crested cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) at the end of the groin and a few of this flying brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis).

Categories: Creatures | Tags: Birds, Brown Pelican, Pelecanus, Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelican, Shore Burds | Comments Off

Kites, Ocean Isle Beach

Photograph taken on Wednesday, July 30, 2025 by Henry

Kites, Ocean Isle Beach

I made a point of having my camera outside for a little while before we went down to the beach where the kids were going to fly their kites. It’s been quite hot this week and we’re all very grateful for air conditioning (even if some would have wanted it a little less cold inside). One down-side to air conditioning, though, is that when you take a camera from a 70°F environment to something over 90°F with very high humidity, it fogs up immediately and takes a while to unfog. But I planned ahead and was able to get some nice pictures of the kids running around with their kites. There was also a nice sunset.

Categories: People | Tags: Beach, Children, Family, Kites, Ocean Isle Beach | Comments Off

Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris)

Photograph taken on Tuesday, July 29, 2025 by Henry

Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris)

After going to Alligator Pond (see previous post), we continued just into South Carolina to Vereen Memorial Park. This is a relaxing little park with trails through the woods and boardwalks through the marsh to two islands. I got some nice photos of a great egret (Ardea alba). Then, as we were out on the first of the two islands I hear a painted bunting (Passerina ciris) and found it in the top of a small tree. It’s tricky to get a good photo of a bird against the bright sky, but this one turned out reasonably well.

We also saw (and I photographed) eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis), a downy woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens), a Carolina wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus), and heard but did not see a brown-headed nuthatch (Sitta pusilla).

Categories: Creatures | Tags: Birds, Bunting, Painted Bunting, Passerina, Passerina ciris, Songbirds | Comments Off

Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)

Photograph taken on Tuesday, July 29, 2025 by Henry

Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)

We went to Alligator Pond (a.k.a. the Carl Bazemore Bird Walk) again today. We saw the anhinga again but not close. We did, however, see an alligator as well as an adult and juvenile common gallinule (Gallinula galeata). They were moving around quite a bit but I was able to get close enough to get a pretty good photo of each of them. This is the adult bird. Of the two alligators we saw, one of them was quite close, lying on the surface in a clump of weeds and very well camouflaged. But it was close enough we weren’t going to miss it. I got some photos of that, as well.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: Birds, Common Gallinule, Gallinula, Gallinula galeata, Gallinule, Marsh Birds, Rails, Shore Birds | Comments Off

Eloise’s Birthday

Photograph taken on Monday, July 28, 2025 by Henry

Eloise’s Birthday

In years past, we always celebrated my Uncle George’s birthday at the beach, because (obviously) that’s when it fell. With him no longer being with us, it’s nice to have a birthday to celebrate. As you will probably figure out from the candle, this is Eloise’s fifth birthday, and my cousins and their families came over to have cake and ice cream. It was a fairly raucous time with all the ‘littles’ running around and enjoying themselves. But it was a happy, little-kid type of raucous.

Categories: People | Tags: Birthday, Family | Comments Off

Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)

Photograph taken on Sunday, July 27, 2025 by Henry

Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)

Cathy and I went to the Carl Bazemore Bird Walk on what we call Alligator Pond on Shoreline Drive, west of the bridge to Sunset Beach. We saw a few alligators in the distance as well as a few birds. The most interesting thing was this anhinga (Anhinga anhinga), catching fish quite close to us. The first fish we saw it catch was small. Then, however, it landed a pretty good size fish (it looks like a bluegill). I got a few shots of it swallowing the fish, so I can confirm that it was an entirely successful catch.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: Anhinga, Anhinga anhinga, Birds, Diving Birds, Shore Birds | Comments Off

Ferns

Photograph taken on Sunday, July 20, 2025 by Henry

Ferns

We walked a 32⁄3 mile loop today at the Patuxent River State Park, just upstream from Triadelphia Reservoir. We started at the parking area on Georgia Avenue (MD 97) where it crosses the Patuxent River, taking the trail closest to the river (the ‘Yellow’ trail) almost to Howard Chapel Road. The trail then loops to the south and west and we turned onto the ‘Red’ trail, crossing Howard Chapel Road, looping around and then returning to Howard Chapel Road near the Howard Chapel Cemetery. On the way back through the woods I took the only photo taken on the walk, of these ferns.

Categories: Flowers and Plants | Tags: Ferns, Patuxent River, Patuxent River State Park, Woodland | Comments Off

Summer Games

Photograph taken on Saturday, July 19, 2025 by Henry

Summer Games

Dorothy and her friends hosted what they called the Summer Games this weekend in Pennsylvania. It was a pretty warm afternoon. Because I was taking pictures, I didn’t actively participate in most of the activities, although I did shoot an arrow (and did pretty well, if I say so myself). They had come up with a wide range of activities from a scavenger hunt, to a tug-of-war, a few races, both individual and team-based. This photo is of the first event, where the teams were to build a frame and carry one of their team members about a hundred yards. The green team (see the bandanas) won this race but the yellow team edged them out in the overall score for the day.

Categories: People | Tags: Friends, The Hartley Residence | Comments Off

Rachel Carson Conservation Park

Photograph taken on Sunday, July 13, 2025 by Henry

Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora)

Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula)

indigo bunting (Passerina cyanea)

We went to the Rachel Carson Conservation Park today and had a fairly hot and humid walk through the woods. We heard quite a few birds in the woods but saw almost none. We did see these Indian pipe (Monotropa uniflora), also known as ghost plant or ghost pipe. These are parasitic, non-photosynthesizing plants, getting their energy from Russulaceae family of fungi, which in turn get their energy from the roots of photosynthesizing plants. We also saw chanterelle mushrooms (Cantharellus species) and downy rattlesnake plantain (Goodyera pubescens).

Towards the end of our walk we were in the meadows nearer the parking area and I got some photos of the dreaded spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) in its final nymphal instar stage. There were also indigo buntings (Passerina cyanea) singing all around and I finally found one that I could just see at the top of a tree and got a few photos of that.

Categories: Flowers and Plants | Tags: Birds in Flight, Ghost Pipe, Hemiptera, Indian Pipe, Indigo Bunting, Lycorma, Lycorma delicatula, Monotropa, Monotropa uniflora, Non-photosynthesizing Plant, Parasitic Plant, Passerina, Passerina cyanea, Spotted Lanternfly | Comments Off

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