Fungi underfoot
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
There’s been enough rain around here lately that the fungi spores in the bark on the playground down the way are reproducing. Delicate little umbrellas, aren’t they?
Musings
“Blowing in the wind…”
Sunday, 12 July 2009
Turns out the petals on this kind of poppy are pretty delicate, and the wind kept flipping them around, making it difficult for me to get a shot of the flower with the petals “open.”
Three dollars
Friday, 10 July 2009
Transition day today. Once again this year we left the cottage in the rain. Of course, by the time we got to the Straits, the road was dry although the sky remained overcast until we were somewhere south of Houghton Lake.
Interesting, these koi. The flower had begun to fade and they began to, periodically, tear it apart. What was the trigger that they waited until it was fading?
Why is it called Lady’s Slipper?
Thursday, 9 July 2009
I tried to photograph a couple of the specimens of Pink Lady’s Slipper we saw in a little grouping, but the lighting was lousy. So, I substitute this image of what I’m pretty sure is a Cow Parsnip (not Poison Hemlock).
Also we spotted a bear today—thankfully from the car, not while hiking the Chapel Lake area trails….
“Daisy, Daisy…”
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
I had to imagine the singing to go with this near-sunset daisy.
Not-so-yellow goatsbeard
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Time to try a night-shot again, when the flash makes the background black and sets off the foreground focus, if there’s not too much light….
Code 22:22
Sunday, 5 July 2009
I don’t believe I’ve mentioned the 22:22 secret code, which now is 10:22 pm.
You see, when I first started this blahg, I had software that kept time with a 24-hour clock. And, because it was easy to type, 22:22 became my default time set if I couldn’t make my daily post on its correct day. I try to photo and compose each day, even if it’s in my head, and sometimes there’s no wifi or Internet to make it public.
So, now you know. Posts with the time 10:22 pm have a complex history….
“Water footprint”?
Sunday, 28 June 2009
So, I’m browsing the latest offerings of PNAS, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, published weekly, and I spot an article “The Water Footprint of Bioenergy.” Huh?
There’s more about bioelectricity, and an assortment of stuff that’s kinda interesting, but right now is not registering in my brain.
Instead, I’ll head out front and harvest basil for some fresh pesto for dinner….
Hostas abloom
Monday, 22 June 2009
D’s stump garden is quite healthy. The hostas that were of modest size in May are into their seasonal progression, thanks to good nutrition and nurturing….
BTW, since I mentioned Lake Lanier’s levels in that May post, I’ll note that it is now about 4.4 feet below the summer floodpool level, where it’s been for a while. So either the measurer is stuck or inflow/outflow is currently balanced. Since we’ve had some rain recently, I worry that the reporting is erroneous—oops, I just noticed the fine print says the levels have come down 0.02 feet since midnight. No more showers!????
Parking variables
Sunday, 21 June 2009
Sorry, light was flat; sky (not shown), on the other hand, was rather dramatic….
The claim is that this 700+ space six-story parking deck, which opened in May and provides spaces for visitors to Piedmont Park and (this is the headliner) the Botanical Garden, will be screened by vegetation etc. planted on a berm in front and on boxes attached to each level. We shall see. Certainly, when you’re on the upper deck, it looks pretty much like a hot place to be mid-day in mid-summer, just like most any other parking facility.
Upside: the ABG claims they will get 40% of the water for the plants (not flushing, etc. by visitors) from runoff from the deck (held in a cistern until needed).
CONCL: need more cisterns.