Musings

I look at a cleome bloom and I just want to smile.

Posted at 8:20 PM | Comments Off on Floral joy

Is there a functional reason for the scalloped edges? Are edges more important than middles to the plant somehow (it’s counter-intuitive to me)? Do herbivores tend to avoid the leaves because they assume they are already nibbled?

Posted at 9:14 PM | Comments Off on No-milk scalloping

Today, I found an anole indoors. Does this happen every autumn? Something like that. I gently captured it and released it outdoors. Good outcome. [I am mystified as to how they get inside.]

Last week, on our way up to Lake Superior, we were slow-motoring on a sand road through the visual mosaic of leaf color and sun-n-shade when what should appear on the hood just past the wipers but a mouse. It must have come from an open area at the base of the wipers. Up on the hood, it had little traction, and I hit the brakes hard and zip, it flew off the hood forwards, and I saw it run into the ditch to the left. Another good outcome.

Posted at 7:16 PM | Comments Off on Two critter stories

On my early walk, I saw our nearest neighbors working on exiting. Sigh.

At the beach, the sun glowed warmly, nurturing life.

Here’s the afternoon sky, and you can see the leaves are slowly turning on the face of the woods. [It’s much quieter, it seems, with the neighbors gone.]

Meanwhile, the Uncle Dave maple is turning faster.

Posted at 8:26 PM | Comments Off on Autumnal pacing

The sun’s up. This is 9:03am…the view past the point. Changes in latitude….

Rotate 180°, and walk a bit: here’s the view with the sun.

What’s remarkable in this pair of photos, compared to our last visit, is the lack of haze from the smoke. No smokiness whatsoever. Yay!

The barberries are so colorful for autumn. It’s not just leaves.

Posted at 8:13 PM | Comments Off on Clear day

Ivory Wee-Goat looks rather demented here, but is merely curious about me and my phone-camera poked in his face. In other news…

Earlier, I watched a different goat stand next to this fence and stretch his neck up, and I couldn’t figure out why. Then, I saw him extend his tongue and snag a fresh leaflet snagged on the fence-mesh and understood.

Posted at 8:39 PM | Comments Off on Gravity fed

I made only lousy goat-photos today, so here’s a stump with fungi—illustrating breakdown eco-processes.

Posted at 8:39 PM | Comments Off on Buddies

I was relatively busy today, but nothing to remark on. Leftovers (so no cooking, yay). [Apologies for the delayed post….]

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Not oleander

This bunch is leaning toward the light. I feel like I’m doing that now, as the dark has arrived early…accompanied by thunder and precipitation…whatta surprise (remember yesterday).

Posted at 8:32 PM | Comments Off on Leaning in/out

Yesterday was a darned gorgeous day, clear skies, low AQI, moderate temps…we enjoyed it thoroughly…and got many chores wrangled. Nevertheless, we pulled out this morning, and rendezvoused with a dear, dear friend we haven’t seen in too, too long for lunch. We didn’t boat to the restaurant, but, as you can see, we could have! I did see a great blue heron flop in right behind a heron statue, not shown. We gabbed with BFF, and munched on lunch, and laughed and got caught up and remembered old times, too. Fabulous.

If the first photo was lunch view, this is pylon view…shot by my loverly spouse, thanks so much. And we rolled south, and rolled south some more. Observing the ditch-side vegetation in southern Michigan and into Ohio, and I submit a nickname for I-75: Teasel Alley. [Quick internet look-up: teasel is invasive in the USA…who could tell? 🤣 ]

Posted at 9:31 PM | Comments Off on Renaming I-75