The samaras are ripening on the maple in our backyard (Maryland). I started taking pictures of the buds in mid-February and have enjoyed continuing to photograph the tree as the samaras developed. They are drying now - having lost most of their rosy red color. Enjoy the collage of photos below! I’ll post again when the breezes swirl the samaras away from the tree.
Friday, March 23 was a great day to walk around the tidal basin in Washington DC to see the cherry blossoms. The fog of the days before was gone and the rain of the weekend was yet to come. Yes - there was still a lot of haze from moisture in the air that shows in longer shots and some of the petals had already started to drift down from the trees but the drifts on the ground still retained their light pink color.
Hope you enjoy my photos! I took series at some of the monuments and a tulip garden that I’ll post over the next few days.
Two amaryllis bulbs were blooming in the Brookside Gardens Conservatory recently. I enjoyed creating a series of macro photos of both plants. The buds and flowers are quite large so the detail of the coloring is visible.
In the red flowers - I particularly like
The white flowers are more nuanced. In this series notice
The annual blooming of the daffodils is near its end in Maryland. They’ve bloomed alongside hyacinths - after the crocus and before the tulips. There are much larger numbers daffodils than any of the other spring bulbs. Everyone recognizes their familiar blooms.
The bulbs are planted in yards, along roadsides, at the edge of forests or rocky creeks…just about any place that is not swampy. Sometimes they are in small clumps, sometimes they make a neat row, sometimes it is easy to tell that small clumps have merged into an amoeboid shaped profusion of blooms. The daffodils seen frequently are all yellow or yellow and white. They can be miniature - a few inches high - to a foot high; the taller ones sometimes lean over after a rain because the water catches in the flower and makes it too heavy for the stem.
They bloom year after year with little tending. Their bulbs do not attract squirrels or other rodents so the gardener need only dig them up and enlarge the bed periodically to keep them from getting too crowded - it’s easy to tell when this needs to be done because they stop blooming as profusely.
Spring officially starts tomorrow…but the robins have already arrived in Maryland and they are a big part of spring. They are birds frequently seen over most of the continental US and easily recognized with the red plumage of their breast and charcoal feathers on their wings, back, and head. Their eyes are often lined in white. We get large numbers of them in the Maryland spring as they make their way north.
Sometimes they look very trim…almost skinny…when they arrive. But the spring rains bring fat worms close to the ground surface and the robins have feasts that quickly fatten them up.
Sometimes on cold mornings they fluff their feathers and the ‘red breast’ becomes even more conspicuous
As the days warm, some will continue northward while others will stay to lay eggs and raise their young. We almost always have a pair that builds a nest under our deck. Our cats can hear them from the screen enclosed portion of the deck; hours and hours of close scrutiny through a crack in the flooring ensue. The robins enjoy the safety of the high rafter and the cats get to watch the drama of birds coming and going.
The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week:
Visualizing the Growing E-Waste Epidemic - a graphical view of the way we dispose of computers, cell phones, televisions, monitors, printers. Maybe we should change the scenario.
NASA Scientist: Will We Leave Our Children a “Climate System Spiraling Out of Control”? - (video)
Energy stats from Germany - In 2011, 40% of their nuclear power capacity was phased out….and they still remained a net power exporter!
Recent Generations Focus more on fame, money than giving back - Data collected from the American Freshman survey over the past 40 years on 9 million young adults…unexpected results.
Lenticular Cloud - A wonderful photograph
Air Pollution Could become China’s Biggest Health Threat - lung cancer and cardiovascular illnesses already rising
How Packaged Foods Makes Girls Hyper - Why is BPA still in our food chain (the resins that line cans of food, packaging, drink containers)?
‘Invisible Wires’ for Transporting Electricity on SolarWindows - How long will it be before this technology (or something equivalent) is ready for market…and then used in virtually all new windows?
The Secret Powers of Time - A Philip Zimbardo video
WolfQuest - a 3D wildlife simulation game that challenges players to learn about wolf ecology by living the life of a wild wolf in Yellowstone National Park
The Mississippi never lies at rest. It rolls. It follows no set course. Its waters and currents are not uniform. Rather, it moves south in layers and whorls, like an uncoiling rope made of a multitude of discrete fibers, each one following an independent and unpredictable path, each one separately and together capable of snapping like a whip. - John M. Barry in Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America
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John Barry’s imagery of the Mississippi River reminds us that it is ultimately untamable; our influence has limits and a high price (both for the creation of levees and channels…and for their occasional failure). Have you seen the model of the river at Mud Island in Memphis? The panorama of life and commerce along the length of the river is portrayed…and the enormity of this river ‘snapping like a whip.’
Notice that this quote focuses on the river alone rather than the natural systems that provide the context for the river. It’s a simplifying assumption we often make because the natural system (or system of systems) seems too complex to consider. Perhaps it is still impossible to understand those systems well enough to be 100% accurate in our predictions of what will happen when we seek to control some aspect as the Mississippi ‘moves south in layers and whorls.’ It is important to consider as much of the system as we can to avoid an unpleasant surprise like
Instead of starting from the perspective of ‘how do we control the river’ we should think instead of how we utilize the natural ‘system of systems’ (that includes the river) in a way that sustains the benefits for ourselves, our children, our grandchildren….and onward into the future.
We’ve had a few warm days --- and I am looking through clothes to decide if I have what I need for summer. Have you done your summer wardrobe check yet?
Shoes. I quickly realize that the flip flops and sandals I bought near the end of the season last year are still in almost-new condition…so new shoes are not necessary.
Capris/shorts. Last year I enjoyed capris more than shorts. There are more of them in the pile than I remember having…so no purchases needed.
Slacks/jeans. I don’t wear slacks and jeans much in the summer. I do have a pair of linen-like slacks that would be my top choice for summer wear; they should probably stay hanging in the closet year round. Maybe I’ll keep one pair of jeans out as well.
Skirts. I’ve been collecting more of them over the past few years. When it is really hot - they are always my favorite. There are enough skirts.
T-shirts. I have too many. Since I don’t wear them all the time, they tend to last a long time. Some of them are 20 years old! This year I need to focus on wearing T-shirts for working outdoors (with sunscreen to keep my arms and neck from burning) rather than just whatever top I have on at the time.
Tops. I prefer cap or short sleeves to sleeveless and have been collecting some I really like over the past few years. I have some long sleeved big shirts to wear over everything if I’m going to be out in the sun and/or wearing my photo-vest and need fabric between the vest and the back of my neck. Go anywhere tops may be the one area of my wardrobe that needs shoring up a bit for summer.
Swimsuit. It still fits and will work for the few times I need it this summer.
Overall I am in reasonably good shape for summer except for tops. I’m going to make some stops at the local thrift store between now and when it gets really hot!
The sun was low in the west. The last of its light struck gold from the shale wall and turned the subdued greens of the desert a brighter shade. Above the cliffs, the sky was a turmoil of clouds, round and fierce, their bellies sagging close to the mesa. Sunset fired their edges and cast deep purples into their ephemeral canyons. - Nevada Barr in Borderline (An Anna Pigeon Novel)
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Nevada Barr writes mysteries set in National Parks - in this case, Big Bend National Park.
This description reminds me of vacations in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona….and that it would be good to be there again. What about you?
A bony forest of iron and steel scratch against the blue of the sky. - Nevada Barr in Liberty Falling
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Nevada Barr writes mysteries set in National Parks - in this case, Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island.
I haven’t visited Ellis Island so the sentence above dredged up another image for me: the ruins of the World Trade Center after 9/11/2001.
Dreams and desires haunted the mesa the way they haunted the rooms in old houses. Traces of unfinished lives caught in the ether. - Nevada Barr in Nevada Barr Ill Wind
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Nevada Barr writes mysteries set in National Parks - in this case, Mesa Verde.
We do feel ‘traces of unfinished lives’ in places that we know people lived before us whether or not we believe the place is ‘haunted’ or approach it more analytically with the tools of an archaeologist…or just our own curiosity and imaginings.
The strongest feeling I’ve ever had of this ‘traces of unfinished lives’ was a Chaco Canyon. It was early spring and quite cold. There were not many people around and most of the sounds were made by wind in the ruins. It was easy to imagine the walls roofed and clay plaster on the walls - decorated with designs seen elsewhere pecked into rocks. It could have been comfortable in those rooms even on a cold day. The wind sounds were mournful and gave the place a very lonely emotional impact.
Where do you feel the ‘traces of unfinished lives’ the most?
The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week:
Nutrition Data - a site that has the regular nutrition facts label with added graphics: nutritional target map, caloric ration pyramid, estimated glycemic load, inflammation factor, nutritional balance, and protein quality. Type your favorite food in the box labeled ‘enter food name’ on the right side of the banner line to see how it measures up.
Bed Bugs (infographic) - dramatic increase in this problematic bug in the US…everywhere
Images of Earth from Envisat - beautiful images from a satellite that has lived twice as long as planned…is starting its second decade this month.
Birdcast - a project of NOAA and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology…bird migration and weather forecast. Updated weekly.
Solar Grid Parity (with Incentives) - an animated map showing when electricity in major metropolitan areas becomes cheaper using rooftop solar than utilities (include the current tax credit). Lots and lots by 2020!
Top 10 Benefits of Green Smoothies - Better for you than juice
3 great ways to use salsa - a short video…sparks even more ideas of ways to use salsa
Penguin CAM - Penguin antics 24 hours a day through March and April
13 National Historic Landmarks Added - lots of variety….Frank Lloyd Wright buildings at Florida Southern College…Deer Medicine Rocks in Montana…a parish church in Virginia
25 Wild Bird Photographs - National Geographic is posting a set weekly….this is the most recent
My daughter just returned from a field trip to Death Valley....one chewed up steering pump and three flat tires later (and they didn't have to leave any of the 6 vehicles along the way to be repaired). The nights were cool enough for coats and zippered sleeping bags. I'm enjoying the pictures...and made a slide show of them below.
When I was 6 weeks old my father and mother went to Ireland on business and I went along in a bureau drawer of the old Cunard liner Umbria. - Thomas Barbour in Naturalist at large
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I know my grandmother used a drawer pulled out of the built-ins of her bathroom - padded with a blanket - when a small grandbaby was visiting and I always thought it was a clever idea. The quote from Thomas Barbour reminded me of it.
Would we buy something special for the baby now…even if it would only be needed temporarily? How much ‘stuff’ could we avoid accumulating if we thought of re-purposing what we already have first?
The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week:
National Cherry Blossom Festival - Washington DC is celebrating 100 years of the gift of trees this year. (picture is from last year)
Virginia Woolf wrote “A woman must have … a room of her own if she is to write fiction" in her book A Room of One’s Own. It turns out that most people need such a place where they can be entirely themselves and by themselves - whether or not they want to write fiction. We need it for spiritual renewal and deep thinking…to be fully aware of our life…to center and be resilient to the surprises life brings. It is the place for study and contemplation…for planning…for doing things we want to do by ourselves without constant interaction with anyone. It is our own personal cave.
How do you achieve a room of your own? Here are some ideas:
Remember - your room will be unique to you. Where it is and what is in it must be tailored to fit perfectly with how you want it be. It doesn’t take a lot of money; it does take thinking about what you need and want.
March is just about here. What is there to celebrate? Here are some ideas:
St. Patrick’s Day on the 17th. You don’t have to be Irish to enjoy the green. My favorite green drink is a mint chocolate milk shake but there are plenty of others. Celtic fiddle music and dancing also are popular ways to celebrate the day.
Kites. March is breezy and the temperatures getting a bit warmer make is easier to indulge in outdoor activities. March is a great month to dig out the kites from the closet and enjoy their flutters overhead. Many communities have kite festivals during March. The one in Washington DC is associated with the Cherry Blossom Festival and will be held on 3/31.
Cherry blossoms (and other flowering trees). Washington DC is celebrating 100 years of the gift from Japan this year so there are a lot of extra events from March through mid-April. The dogwoods and fruit trees will begin to bloom in many parts of the country in March … so take a walking or driving tour through an area where they grow.
Early flowers. Crocus, daffodils, hyacinths, tulips…the early blooms of the year. Celebrate spring in a garden - either your own or a public one.
Yesterday I posted about the outdoors part of our walk around Brookside Gardens and Nature Center. Today the post is about the Brookside Gardens conservatory. As always it was a lush, moist stroll.
The banana palm has a bunch of green fruits and the bird-of-paradise is blooming. I photographed them so many times before that I focused on other plants this time. The colors nestled in the greenery were a delightful contrast to the browns still outdoors.
Colors that blend and mimic sunrise/sunset...colors that are delicate and hint at fruit to come...luxurious purple. Petals delicate and sturdy - some that look like dragons that can snap or start out like folded oragamy papers or unfurl to flutter individually from their interlocked bud.
And then there are the plants that point their flowers downward...to the side...or upward to soak in the sun.
The conservatory always has something worth seeing.
It was cool but sunny at Brookside Gardens and Nature Center in Montgomery County Maryland today. The nature center held a Maple Sugar Festival...complete with tasting of the clear sap from trees as well as ices made with the finished maple syrup. The contrast in sweetness between the sap and the syrup is pretty dramatic. The day should have been good for sap dripping into the buckets on the trees (cold nights, warmer days) but none were dripping while we were there. The event was well attended; we were fortunate to find a close in space in the parking lot for the Gardens visitor center.
There are the beginning of spring in the garden with some fruit trees blooming...and the very early blooming bulbs (snowdrops and crocus). Lenten roses are blooming too. Daffodils are starting but now near their peak. The tulips have barely sprouted. At this time of year the shelf fungus on fallen trees is particularly noticeable because there is no foliage to hide it.
I'll post some photos from the Brookside Gardens Conservatory later in the week. It was a great day for for an early spring photography outing.
The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week:
Garth Lenz: Images of Beauty and Devastation (TED talk video) - Boreal forest and tar sands. “We all live downstream” is my favorite quote from the video.
Celebrating the whole of life....
Thanks for visiting my blog! Enjoy the photo picks from 2023:
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