Musings

The Moral Hazard of Underwater Zombies

Two frogs in frogbaby pond ABG 2011

Giant green leopard frogs in the FrogBaby pool from Saturday’s expedition….

I stole, purely stole, the title from Paul Krugman. Because I found his imagery interesting. Passing interest, yes, you know me!—nothing about economics/economists!

Of course, I stole the idea of stealing a phrase for my title from NN.com.

Call me: Brimming with Originality!

Getting in their heads

Abg turtle sunning foot out

I’m finding it difficult not to anthropomorphize about this turtle we watched catching rays in the big pool in the orchid room at the ATL Bot Garden.

Actually, most of the sunning turtles we studied had a foot out—is this a cooling mechanism? Is this a turtle gesture that is seen by fellow turtles as the ultimate in the turtle version of James Dean cool?

The best sharp-eye moment of the decade, as I told her, was L spotting a young (and thus smaller than adult-sized) poison-dart frog in the big conservatory! Amazing! (I’ve heard ’em, but never seen them!—and I don’t mean in the frog-tanks!)

Zancudos have marked me

Bug bites forehead bad light

On Friday morning, two days ago plus mind you, I foraged in the Botanist’s garden for green beans (this is still the summer of 2011 and I was in southern Michigan…), a green pepper, checked the cucumber plant that’s bearing, and went down to the raspberry patch. The mosquitos found me within about four minutes, and they were the worst in the berry patch. I picked maybe 30 berries before running (true) for the house.

I’m still itching, yes. And look like a freak.

Zancudos are mosquitos—at least in southern Mexico, although mosquito is Spanish for small fly. Language—it’s a guessing game; cognates and logic do not always rule.

Ya had to be there

Portage creek footbridge

We strolled half the length of Curtis’s main drag (and that’s the only street except for a small grid on the west end of town) to check out the denizens of Portage Creek: yes, there are mallards and small feeshies—the fin kind.

Meet Spotted and Stupid

Spotted and Stupid being curious

…or maybe just curious.

I walked quite close to this pair and even cracked a stick underfoot before they flipped their famous white tails and took off.

I will tell our Hunter-Horticulturalist neighbor to look for this young flesh next autumn.

Giants among us

Beetle of the giant sort

I do not know what this insect is named or anything about it.

I found this critter right here, on the upside edge of the window screen portion of the back door, and never saw her/him arrive or leave. Sometimes s/he’d lift her/his head and I’d see something red beneath. Probably not a tongue, though.

This is a later post than intended. It got windy mid-day and the power went out. Oh, yippee.

Are bees industrious?

Bee butt with pollen on hibiscus UP

I love that the camera captured the pollen dotting this bumblebee’s butt.

Cooler, outside and in

Butterfly on butterfly weed I think

I’m having one of those blogging moments when pithiness is a fading dream. Meanwhile, look at those colors along the trailing edge of the lower wing!

* Sorry, KW; this makes two days in a row of these insects….

Butterfly chaperone

Butterfly comes to visit on hat

For the first time since we got here, we visited the flower garden near the assisted living place. Mom picked up a new friend, which spent some time on her foot (a Keen accoutrement), and then moved up to her hat. We worried that when we tried to enter the building, s/he would come with us, but evasive maneuvers worked.

Where’s Waldo?

Waldo bumblebee on purple fleur

Meet Waldo the Bumblebee, aka Waldo of the Bombus clan.

Waldo likes purple fleurs.

Complete the sentence: Waldo is a busy ___.

Thanks for your participation.

No infringement on copyright or intellectual property intended….