Friday, 4 July 2025
When I think of viburnums, I think of these snowball bushes. Turns out Ötzi, the mummified fella found in 1991 emerging from melting ice on the Austrian/Italian border in the Alps, was carrying arrows with viburnum shafts. Of all things.
Wednesday, 2 July 2025
Some days are just a blur; today was one. I’m good, though…leftovers make it easy (for example).
Tuesday, 1 July 2025
Today was between two nights with rain, and I hear tonight’s weather events will include storminess. Fun (sarcasm). 🙃
Monday, 30 June 2025
Fennel flowers…in the porch light, so more golden than in reality.
Sunday, 29 June 2025
This was a sunny afternoon five days ago. I’m over a thousand miles south of this beach, no lakes or sandy shores nearby. I’m torn about relocating, but quite glad to no longer be on the road. 😅
Saturday, 28 June 2025
We had maybe eight cars in front of us at the toll booth. We could see the northbound traffic going on and on. The back up started at the very top of the brige, and by the density of traffic we saw south of there, it backed up further within just a short time. Soooo glad we were southbound.
But why so much traffique? Model change-over?
This Ohio slow-down must have just happened before we got to it. I saw one vehicle and one person (neither looking damaged, although the car was pointed north and had a soft rear tire, oops) standing outside it talking to cops and firefighters. I wasn’t rubber-necking, though, mind you. 😉
Note the general haziness in the bridge picture (high, thin smoke?), and the pretty darned clear sky in the second photo…further south in Ohio, after dark, we came upon wet pavement, and these drippy roses in a rest area (obv: evidence of rain).
That’s it. I’m going to avail myself of the easy upload using my phone hotspot…such efficiency! 😎
We’ve been seeing lots of fireworks as we continue south toward KY…several towns were having strawberry festivals, but not in Dayton or Cincinnati. Curious. 🤩
Friday, 27 June 2025
This morning’s murky sky was from moisture; in fact, it may well be raining across the lake, as the trees there are scarcely visible. BTW, this log was out in knee-deep water yesterday—shows the power of breaking waves.
These bushes are heavy with blossoms, denser than we remember from previous years. Of course, the blooms additionally are heavy with rain accumulation. I can’t remember what The Botanist called them; with a little help from plant recognition software, I’m pretty sure they are Kolkwitzia amabilis, beautybush to everyday folk.
Thursday, 26 June 2025
The storm the other day brought this lupin down across the path, and my eye was caught by the complex patterns in in the blossoms.
I can’t know, of course, but perhaps when I stopped to take this picture the seed tick I found inside my elbow a couple hours later crawled onto me…ick. I quickly removed it, then took a shower with lots of soaping, followed by a complete towel scrubbing.
Wednesday, 25 June 2025
Down on the beach during my morning stroll, I could see these dips in the under-sand filled with I-dunno-what, but they are deer tracks, pretty sure.
On the exposed sand, I have been seeing tracks like this for years and wondered what critter made them, with unsolved confusion. Today, perhaps, I had a break-through: not raccoon, but skunk? Going with skunk.
Up in the orchard above the beach, these bent lupins are evidence of lodging by a storm several days back. The plants have adjusted to present to the sun-sky, hence the bends.
