Musings

The first part of the day: packing and closing the cottage. Then we said goodbye and hit the road.

Next stop (after dropping off garbage and returning library books): pay bridge toll. Lots of work vehicles on bridge, both sides. And we saw a freighter almost under us…exciting, no?

Then on the south side, we made a scenic pit stop. I’d expect these are sumac, but I don’t remember any yellow sumacs…for now, a plant mystery.

Soon we dropped down on old lake bed and logged miles and more miles, in Mich then in Ohio. I’m going to post before we stop, which should be into Kentucky. It’s a plan.

Posted at 8:01 PM | Comments Off on Mid-day

Bee-pea. Not a petroleum company. [Pale blossom compared to our usual specimens….]

Another frustrating day of intermittent potential-rain, with almost no actual rainfall…but the threat was enough to keep me away from Beast-work beyond about fifteen minutes I got in before nine, halted by the strongest rain of the day (until now that is…the rain came in after I began typing—sheesh).

Although I think a bit of wind brought down many of these leaves, they were already compromised…I think from heat and desiccation. It’s a bad summer for many plants.

Posted at 8:34 PM | Comments Off on Changeable conditions

We’re back in a cool-overnight phase, with also somewhat cooler highs. Nevertheless, the grasses are forging ahead with their annual business…making seeds.

Posted at 8:31 PM | Comments Off on Meet timothy

There’s no reason you should remember that I received a packet of “wild”flower seeds at the baby shower back in late May. Here’s the first bloom they produced. BTW, the baby has arrived and is about a week old! From the two photos I’ve seen (sleeping in both), she’s a cutie!

I learned the word rubisco from a WashPo article by Michael J. Coren. Somehow I only came across it this week, although the publication date is 27 June. Rubisco is a protein officially named Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase. It’s the chemical catalyst for photosynthesis and is found in leaves (apparently all leaves). As I’ve mentioned before, my ignorance is vast.

Posted at 6:24 PM | Comments Off on Rubisco

Golden-lit potentilla.

My morning fun…exercising The Beast.

The Beast…waiting.

Last summer, we bought The Beast to frustrate, and hopefully to ultimately remove, an invasive grass that has very strong stems and out-competes the “normal” pasture grasses. Of course, this is no longer a pasture, nor doesn’t anyone hay it, or otherwise manage it for agriculture. Just. Too. Much. Effort. [Yes, more than operating the beast on hot, humid, hazy days. Long story.]

Posted at 8:45 PM | Comments Off on Finished before noon

We’ve been watching what to me is the “new” series in the StarWars franchise, Andor. When I hear it, I hear and/or (like and/not and similar). When I read it, I can see it as Andor. Anyway, mostly a pretty good story…grim world, but decent story/characters/writing.

Posted at 9:29 PM | Comments Off on Andor

The smoky haze continues to hang here; you can barely see the other side of the lake (approximately three miles). Thankfully, yesterday and today it didn’t smell smoky outdoors.

Meanwhile, on land, the lupine blooms have mostly become pods—still green—as Fabaceae do.

Posted at 4:20 PM | 1 Comment »

This is what I think of as the standard, even ubiquitous milkweed leaf shape on this property.

Lately, I’ve noticed that a minority have this narrower leaf shape. Without a doubt still a milkweed….

I haven’t seen enough monarch action to see if they notice a difference.

After poking around in details online, I think the first one may be Asclepias syriaca, and the second Asclepias meadii, but that’s an off-the-cuff assessment.

And I thought a milkweed is just a milkweed. My ignorance.

Yeah, I know the light is totally different. The colors of the two are slightly different, with the broader leaf plants “greener,” and the narrower leaved ones, slightly more blue-green. IMHO

Posted at 9:28 PM | Comments Off on Morphology mystery

People say age brings wisdom, but for most of us that really isn’t true, when we get old we’ve just accumulated more experiences, good and bad. The result is more likely to be cynicism than wisdom.*

I have to go with Backman on this. We age into cynicism?

*Text is on page 30 of Neil Smith’s translation of Fredrik Backman’s The Winners (2021; hardback version; title in Swedish original: Vinnarna).

Posted at 4:08 PM | Comments Off on Aging into…

We’re in another hot and dry spell. I’m glad I watered these beauties earlier, or I don’t think the blooms would be as substantial as they are. Now I’m back to watering to maintain them—fingers crossed.

Posted at 7:00 PM | Comments Off on Bloom beauties