Tuesday, 29 October 2019
“Leaves of three, let it be.” But, no, not that species this time. Say: kooood-zoooo.
Entrance to the underworld? [Caves, etc., being a portal to the underworld is relatively common in mythologies around the world. BTW.]
Wednesday, 23 October 2019
Our basil’s gone wild.
Black! flamingos. With scary red eyes!
Monday, 21 October 2019
New phone did NOT think this was a face; it’s pretty sharp!
I think of dahlias as fall flowers, but maybe that’s what they do in the Deep South, and not in cooler places.
Sunday, 20 October 2019
Lily pad droplets. Magic of surface tension.
Flower droplets. Lookit that color!
Busy bee.
Wide lens aka “ultra wide” to Apple.
Normal lens aka “wide” to Apple.
Zoom/telephoto lens.
This second trio are cropped to 16×9 aspect ratio, but otherwise unchanged. In the order presented, the lenses are digital-world 13mm, 26mm, and 52mm. FYI
Thursday, 17 October 2019
Ivy leaves. Strain selected for pale pigments (or whatever ivy has). This means reduced chlorophyll compared to the all-green relatives, and a greater risk of poor growth.
Very green ginger bud. No chlorophyll problems.
Artsy mortar joints. Not all grey is (pure) grey. No chlorophyll issues.
Sunday, 29 September 2019
A tractor is pretty darned bucolic. In the modern industrial sense.
Grapes…still green and still not eaten by the birds. In my experience, avian beings eat grapes, cherries, whatever, about three hours before I figure out they’re ripe.
You’re forgiven if you think these are Canada geese. Nope: sandhill cranes.
Thursday, 26 September 2019
Kohlrabi invades basil!
Stinkbugs invade mullien!
Okay, these aren’t today’s headlines. Note: the kohlrabi was posed and the stinkbugs were not.
Wednesday, 25 September 2019
This is an upper window from the only remaining old house in Laketon.
This crossing was the center of a community called Danaher. No old structures remain based on cursory examination from this road. The low ground beyond the railroad is the Tahquamenon Swamp. The railroad runs along the south side of the swamp for quite a ways, at least ~20 miles from east of Newberry to west of Danaher. It doesn’t get much use nowadays, but I remember Mom discussing the complex train ticket to get from northern Ohio to the McMillan station (just east of Laketon). I assume she (or whomever did that trip…her father?) sent a telegram to indicate someone needed to meet her at the station? Such a trip would have included a ferry crossing of the straits…either on foot or on a RR carriage. Much I don’t know….
No flower today. I tried to get a low, low shot to tell if this is a bolete. No such luck. Still, I think it is. Something’s been eating it from the top…insects?
Tuesday, 24 September 2019
Ah, fog in the orchard…
As we drove (we left early), it became fog just about everywhere that was low.
However, when we left the trailhead and moseyed through the woods, no fog.
Chapel Falls. This is just the top from above. Video captures it best…[pan; water-roar].
Previous years we might have called this loop Biting-Insects Trail. Today it was Fun Guy Trail. I am sparing you the other sixty-seven types of Fun Guys we photographed.
Legendary Grand Portal. Yes, the rock has caved in. Still stupendous. Sometime I may see it from the water.
However, I will not do it as a paddle boarder. Kayaker, perhaps. From a commercial tour boat, perhaps.
The Botanist had several plants he singled out in the shoreline habitat. Basswood was one. Extremely large and distinctive leaves.
Also note: 30K steps, 11.6 miles of oft rooty and muddy trail (with gorgeous views).
I’m withholding comment on the doings in DC; we seem to be starting a new chapter, as the saying goes.
Monday, 23 September 2019
Chicory blossom. Chicory roots are processed (roasted? ground?) and used to make a coffee-like drink.
Both this Queen Anne’s lace and the chicory are not native to North America, but are now naturalized. Root also edible. This is closely related to carrots.
Squint at the dots in the field right and rear of the low, green outbuilding. I think six adult deer and one youngster—our local herd….
Subsequently, it cleared and became sunny for the late afternoon…yay!