Travel vegetation mystery
Saturday, 15 July 2023
Found this tree at a rest area in the Northern Lower, and I was mystified then and still am. It’s a maple-y leaf, yet…strange. Very brick-red, which seems not-the-right-color to me.
Musings
Camo vehicle
Friday, 14 July 2023
Drive dozens of miles on an Interstate in the USofA, and you will see odd vehicles and trailered items. I think we saw a still once. Today it was a tank. Not a Cadillac!
Mid-day
Thursday, 13 July 2023
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.
Good show
Wednesday, 12 July 2023
All day the clouds put on a show, even more than the sun. Mostly full cloud cover now.
No kidding about changeable
Tuesday, 11 July 2023
An hour after I made yesterday’s post, our power went out, then we had a fierce storm that didn’t last terribly long…thunder, lightning, rain. The power was out for about nine hours, but thankfully back on in time for coffee-making. By sunrise, it was all clear and sparkly out, although some of the now-tall grasses were wet and lodged. They perked up after the sun and wind dried them, and I managed to pull off two sessions with The Beast.
Changeable conditions
Monday, 10 July 2023
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.
Morning pretty
Sunday, 9 July 2023
Another ho-hum day of chores, resting between chores, a bath in the lake, a neighbor drop-in, and this and that. However, I arose before the sun ascended above the trees [earlier than I’ve gotten up lately; looooong days here…].
Only sprinkles
Saturday, 8 July 2023
I never managed to get in my almost-an-hour with The Beast today. Weather was never permitting. Throughout the day, the predicted rain window was present, absent, moved, and returned. I didn’t want to get caught out in the field…not so much the rain, but lightning aversion was my focus. This was the threatening sky in the late afternoon.
And to top it all off, we never got enough rain to moisten even the flagstones. In essence, I got a slow Saturday without even trying.
Meet timothy
Friday, 7 July 2023
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.
Rubisco
Thursday, 6 July 2023
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.