Wednesday, 29 July 2009
We dodged raindrops when we left (late) on our walk. We saw the Royalty hunting out in the lake, apparently with success. Fortunately, after that the rain held off, and so did the sun, or we’d have had to push our way through the intensified humidity, much like a nebulous sponge-cloud. Or something.
In short, we got lucky!
BTW, I loved this: Krugman on Billow (O’Reilly). I second the motion for a drink….
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
Actually, we haven’t been having rain, but the heavy dew has been satisfying most plants. I found it interesting that the dew on this cobweb was all on the bottom, I guess pulled through the mesh by gravity.
The cool mornings continue, and, despite concerns about introducing allergens, we open the windows and turn on window fans to move that coolness inside. After all, that dew also means there’s more mold and whatnot, especially compared to the dry years we’ve had recently. [BTW, the US drought monitor now shows us as merely “abnormally dry,” which is a huge change. And, while we’re thinking about this, Lake Lanier’s levels are holding, for the most part, considering the season.]
The expanding foam insulation we got upstairs as part of the TreeFix seems to be keeping the house temperate, and, of course, since the walls are better sealed, we have fewer insects getting inside—their vertical highways are now closed….
Lifting my eyes from the horizontal world (I walked in the woods too much as a kid, I fear, so I watch my feet excessively), I almost missed this orangutan watching from a tree. I wonder if the idea to perch him/her here came from a child or an adult….
Saturday, 18 July 2009
Skyline today.
Skyline yesterday, about the same time.
Oh, what a difference twenty-four hours makes!
Note that the dew covering Dixie was heavier yesterday….
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?
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
Today: wind farm* in northwestern Indiana. Surprise! Tower after tower….
Followed by intermittent drizzle and grey skies over Chicago….
* There must have been at least forty towers….
Saturday, 27 June 2009
We took an early walk this morning, just after sunrise, and managed to get in and out of Piedmont Park ahead of a fund-raising race. It’s dry dry dry out, since the rains and daily showers have abandoned us; I was surprised the race didn’t begin earlier, as it was already semi-steamy at 8 am.
Yes, new Sanctuary photo again….
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!????
Tuesday, 16 June 2009
TY, jcb!, for this image….
Muggy!
Still, we had a nice walk this morning, although a bit sweaty, all the way to Piedmont Park. I can happily report that Lake Clara Meer’s levels* are up and we saw lots of (ordinary) birds, including swallows or something flying across the lake nabbing insects—breakfast, I guess.
The mimosas are in bloom, and dramatic, right now.
* Lake Lanier’s levels are in pretty good shape, too, compared to the last two years or so—about 4.3 feet below the summer pool (ideal) level, and far better than the 20 feet below we did have…. This webpage has a useful graph of Lake Lanier’s levels, and also shows total rainfall for the SE for the last week.
Thursday, 11 June 2009
Gorgeous spousal photo (I was driving); thanks, dear!
After driving through spitty rain for several hundred miles across southeast Michigan, all across Ohio, and Kentucky, too, by the time we got within one stop of home, the late-day sky emerged with just a few drifting clouds, and then a dramatic sunset emerged.
Tuesday, 9 June 2009
Yesterday afternoon several lines of storms came through, and now the garden is moistened anew. Winds were worse around us than here, thankfully. Yet, oddly, the power went out sometime after 8 pm, meaning male members of the household went into sump-pump nurturing mode. We thought it’d be an all-nighter of that, but we were hugely lucky that the power came back on just before 11:30 pm.
Yawn.