Around our (Maryland) Yard in December 2013

Earlier in December we had snow but my walk around the yard for this post was on a cold, sunny day later in the month. I decided to focus on the bark of the trees.

When we first moved to our house about 20 years ago, the young oak tree still had a smooth trunk. Now It is ridged - a mature tree.

The cherry tree has developed knobs and scars.

The young sycamore has bark beginning to peal this winter. It won’t become a ‘ghost’ tree quite yet but maybe next winter there will be more of the white inner bark showing after the leaves fly away.

The last picture is not bark - it the tulip poplar in winter, with the dry seeds flying away from the treetop every time the winter wind blows. 

Brookside Lights - December 2013

Brookside Gardens is having their ‘Garden of Lights’ display through January 5th. We went this past weekend while the weather was balmy (in the 60s). There was a crowd but we managed to get a parking place before the lots filled up. The lights include lots of flowers

 

Some insects (praying mantis and butterfly are pictured but there was a bee hive and ants too)

A rainbow with intermittent rain clouds and lightning

A giraffe (and other animals like lions, pigs, frogs, peacocks and turtles)

Imaginary beings (the one pictured looks like a crazy bird to me…there is also a sea serpent with baby sea serpent too)

And outlines of trees with lights.

In the conservatory there is a model train display which I posted about earlier (here). The model of the ‘facilities’ below was one of additions to that display this year!

Zooming - December 2013

The ‘zooming’ post for December includes pieces of Florida pictures (the first 5) and then pictures from Brookside (outdoors and inside the conservatory).

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 21, 2013

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Radiation Physicist Beautifully Colorizes X-Ray Images of Nature - The color adds to the images - making them much more art-like.

Important Bird Areas - An interactive US map that shows areas marked as of global, continental, or state importance. Zoom in or enter an address to see detail in a particular location.

Behind the Headline: Even Gifted Students Can’t Keep Up - A summary article prompted by a recent story in New York Times about gifted students. Follow the links to dig deeper into the story.

An Optical Illusion You'll Swear Is Moving. It Isn't. - Watch the video….and read the explanation.

23 Women CEOs Running Fortune 500 Firms - A list published by the Associated Press. I would be interesting to know how the number of women CEOs running Fortune 500 firms has changed over the past decades. In 2009, it was 15. The first woman CEO of a Fortune 500 company was Catharine Graham of the Washington Post in 1972.

Fake it ’til you become it: Amy Cuddy’s power poses, visualized - My daughter was the first to tell me about ‘power poses.’ If you haven’t heard about them before - take a look at the Infographic in the article and/or follow the links for details.

Architectural Breakthroughs that Changed the World - It’s always interesting to see what gets selected for posts like this….and the suggestions for additions in the comments section are worth a look too.

Worth a Watch: Climate Change - the state of the science - A 4 minute film produced with UN funding and based on the IPCC 5th Assessment Report.

Redefining What It Means to be a Successful School - Measuring schools through the lens of student outcomes rather than compliance models

Mapping 400,000 Hours of U.S. TV News - Which areas of the world do we hear and see on the news frequently….which areas are almost never ‘in the news.’ From an analysis of the Internet Archive’s television news research service collection.

10 Elements of Next-Generation Higher Education - It seems like the changes are coming quickly to higher education. Some are technology enabled….others are forced by the change in perspective to view outcomes rather than just the traditional examination/compliance model to determine the quality of education.

Census Bureau Introduces New Interactive Mapping Tool along with Latest American Community Survey Statistics - Take a look at the Census Explorer. It is easier to look at a county or state level rather than an address. The measures that can be selected are: total population, 65 and over, foreign born, high school graduate or more, bachelor’s degree or more, in labor force, owner occupied, and median household income.

Bald Eagles in Florida - November 2013

The bald eagles at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge are birds the come back when the heat of summer is gone. They arrive earlier than many of the other winter birds. The best viewing of the eagles with their nest is actually on the bus tour of the Kennedy Space Center rather than areas accessible in the wildlife refuge although there are some favorite snags in the refuge - just barely within viewing distance from the road - where the eagles like to survey their territory.

I can remember the first time I saw a bald eagle. It was about 24 years ago and at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The bird flew overhead as I held by baby daughter as we looked up from the visitor center parking lot.

Even though there are more bald eagles in the world now than 24 years ago, it’s still a ‘little celebration’ any time I see one!

Broken Shells - Florida November 2013

My favorite beach activity is picking up shells. Most of the time they are broken pieces of a form that sheltered a life in the sea. Sometimes they are lying on top of the sand and sometimes they bring a sand in their curves when I pick them up. It was too cool to want to wash them off in the waves in November so there was more sand than usual with the shells in my bag.

I always like to image the part of the shell that is missing - to complete the curves.

Sometimes it is as easy as imagining a mirror image that could complete the half into a whole.

Sandhill Cranes in Florida - November 2013

Sometimes spectacular birds are sighted in unlikely places. About an hour after we saw wood storks near the MacDonald’s parking lot before we got to Orlando, we saw Sandhill Cranes in the cell phone lot where we pulled in to wait for my daughter’s plane to arrive.

They did not seem bothered by the cars driving slowly and parking or pulling out. There was a mother with a young child walking in the parking lot. Neither the birds or the people made any sudden move; a comfortable distance was maintained.

These are large birds and their different postures can make them appear very different. Compare the three birds in the two images below. They are the same three birds!

Brookside Gardens - December 2013

Brookside Gardens is the place for an evening walk through garden themed lights in December. I was there on a cold but sunny day when snow was still on the ground. The conservatory was lush with tropical plants (star fruit, bird of paradise, poinsettias, and bananas) and the model train display.

Outside, the dragon of lights looked relatively tame in the brightness of day and snow clung to the evergreens - and on some of the artificial flowers created with lights. There was a black squirrel sorting through the leaf litter. The Children’s Garden was cherry with colored lights on the white picket fence - but it was too cold to stay for long. There were very few people in the outdoors of the garden and the ones that were moved quickly along the path. It was a day for a brisk walk - or none at all.

Bok Tower Gardens (Florida) - Part 2

I posted about the tower at the Bok Tower Gardensyesterday. Today the focus is on the plants and a few animals. Lizards seemed to be everywhere and it was warm enough for them to be very active.

The squirrels were acclimated to people. This one listened to the carillon concert with us - keeping his back to us as he perched on a neighboring bench.

The slide show below shows a number of other features in garden: a metal Venus flytrap sculpture among tropical vegetation, oranges glowing in the sun, bees on an agave flower, a Monarch butterfly on orange and red flowers, coral stones used for paving with moss growing in larger indentions, a pineapple type plant, a spider web, the center of a cycad.

Bok Tower Gardens (Florida) - Part 1

Bok Tower Gardens is on Iron Mountain in Florida near Lake Wales. It is surrounded by orange groves growing in the red-brown soil that gets it color from oxidized hematite.

 The tower itself is on the summit of the mountain which at 295 feet above sea level is one of the highest points in peninsular Florida. The gardens were built by Edward Bok at his winter home in Florida. He was inspired by something his grandmother instilled in him. There is a small sign with the quote near the tower (see photograph to the left). He died in 1930 but the gardens and tower still keep the spirit of that goal alive. Enjoy the slide show below for a quick look at the tower itself.

There are grills with mosaics and stone sculptures and friezes. Birds and plants are popular topics in stone.

The grill work that is covered in mosaic adds additional colors to the tower. There are no regular tours inside the tower but there are enough doors and balconies visible from the outside to image some of the internal structure. The carillon is housed in the upper part of the tower and there are concerts scheduled a couple of times a day.

Even the top of the gate in the fence around the tower is decorated with bird images.

The tower is only the high point (physically) of the garden. The museum is informative, the food is pleasant, and the gardens are full of lush plants (and spiders and birds and squirrels). I am planning two additional posts from our visit to the gardens in November: one on tiles and fountains and another featuring the plants. There are many plants in this outdoors in this garden that we only in conservatories in Maryland.

Herons in Florida - November 2013

The two types of herons that were easiest to spot in Florida when we were there in November were the Great Blue Heron and the Tricolored Heron (formerly known as the Louisiana Heron).

The Great Blue Heron is a bird we see in Maryland as well and I’ve posted pictures of it before. They look the same everywhere. Some of these pictures include mangroves - a sure indication that these birds are much further south than Maryland.

The Tricolored Herons were new to me. Their range is much further south than Maryland; they thrive throughout Florida. These herons run in the water as they pursue their prey - very different behavior than the patient stalking style of the Great Blue Heron.

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 7, 2013

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

The Snowman - Our family’s favorite holiday video - now available on YouTube.

Goldenrod Seeds - Chris Helzer’s photos posted to his ‘The Prairie Ecologist’ site

Khan Academy - I’m taking two Coursera courses about education (E-learning and Digital Cultures from The University of Edinburgh and Emerging Trends & Technologies in the Virtual K-12 Classroom from University of California, Irvine). The number of resources I’m discovering on the web through these courses is staggering. This is one of them.

Psychedelic Images of Terrifying Viruses - The colorization of microscopic images of viruses is done to make it easier to study the structure. You can look at them from that perspective or enjoy them as art! Be sure to look at the comments section for Luke Jerram’s glass sculptures of microbes (other images of the glass here).

Cherry Basil Crumble Bars - I am intrigued by the idea of using beans in the crust/topping and pairing cherries with basil

Are MOOCs the Future of Online Education - Infographic about Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) that includes currents statistics and some pros and cons about taking a MOOC.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #55 - I couldn’t resist including this one. My favorite, of course, is the peacock.

Ye Old Parasites - A study of decomposed feces from one of a castle’s latrines has shown high concentration of roundworm and whipworm parasites that plagued crusaders around 1200. Aside from being an interesting footnote to history on its own, it helps explain why so many crusaders died of malnutrition. The detailed genetic information of the parasites from 1200 compared to their modern forms can also guide treatment development to parts of the genome that are less likely to evolve (and become resistant).

What it’s like to grow old, in different parts of the world - Jared Diamond at TED.

Photos of Tiny Animals on Fingers - Enjoy!

Pomegranates - The Fruit of December

I always associate pomegranates with December because of: 

• Their color - the deep red of the edible seeds reminds me of Christmas and red velvet cake and candy canes,
• Their appearance - the shape looks like an ornament to me and its size that fits easily in the hand is also appealing, and
• Their easy availability in the produce section of the grocery store this time of year. 

I always cut the top and bottom from the fruit before I cut it into quarters. There is always some juice that leaks out onto the cutting board when it is cut. If there is a lot of it, I use a straw to slurp it up.

I stand at the kitchen sink to eat a quarter of the fruit each morning; the view out the window and of the fruit always sends my mood in a positive direction.

Eating a pomegranate is a messy endeavor. The membranes and peel cradle the seeds; splatters and seed flying are common. I’ve considering whether using a small spoon to tease out the seeds would be better but I always decide to just enjoy the fruits as one eaten without tools. When I am done, the membranes and peel go in the trash and I wipe the splatters of juice and wayward seeds from the cabinet (sometimes on both sides of the sink!).

Roseate Spoonbills in Florida - November 2013

Roseate Spoonbills are easy to spot because of their color and size - and then fascinate with their unusual bill and the way they feed. In November at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge they gathered with other birds to feed in the pools where there lower water level concentrated the small animals and the spoonbill sifts through the mud to find them. The pools are so rich that the spoonbills were with egrets and ibis.

Alligators in Florida - November 2013

Alligators were easy to spot when we were in Florida in November. The biggest ones were at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. They loll on the banks of the waterways. It’s easy to image that they are smiling to lull their prey into a fall sense of security. In reality they have eaten recently and are not likely to move much from their comfortable spot.

In a small ditch next to the parking lot of the Kennedy Space Center’s Visitor Complex, there was a small alligator. At first his eyes were closed but as more people walked by his place, his eyes slowly opened. These animals have an ancient look about them…and the eyes fit with the rest of their appearance. There is an emptiness about the eyes; how is alligator consciousness different (or similar) to our own?

Sometimes an alligator looks particularly well feed. Doesn’t the middle of the large one above look particularly rounded? I wonder what he ate.

Brown Pelicans in Florida

The Manatee Observation Deck at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge was a great place to see pelicans; there were a lot of them all three times we were there in mid-November. The birds have large wingspans and, with photography, it is easy to capture the way the long feathers at the end curl in flight.

Their heads are up above the plane of their wings when they fly - like herons and egrets. The head looks very large with the length of the bill and the pouch. They look ancient.

At the observation deck there were adults with distinctive coloring

And more ‘brown’ mono-colored juveniles.

Unfortunately - we only saw a manatee once during our week in Florida and it was at Bair Cove boat ramp on the other side of the Haulover Canal from the Manatee Observation Deck. It was a ‘blob’ just under the water….so I didn’t get a picture good enough to share.

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 30, 2013

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Early Uses of Chili Peppers in Mexico - Capsicum residue found in different kinds of vessels…showing that chili peppers may have been used in a variety of ways in the centuries before the time of Christ.

Mind the Clock - Inforgraphic about the various ‘clocks’ in the human body.

Feathery Fungi - I almost enjoy finding shelf fungi…and these turkey tails seem particularly appropriate for the weekend after Thanksgiving.

Cataract Surgery Saves $123.4 Billion in Costs, Delivers 4,567% Return to Society - I hope that this kind of analysis is done for more kinds of medical interventions. Cataract surgery may be a bright positive star compared to other procedures.

Washington: A world apart - There are a lot of Super Zips (zip codes where the average median household income is $120K and 7 in 10 adults have college degrees) around Washington DC. The graphic at the beginning of the article is interactive - put in your zip code to find out the income and education for your zip code.

The Unsung Women of Tech - 13 women highlighted by Computerworld as part of the celebration of Ada Lovelace Day back in October.

Stunning Macro Details of Uniquely Beautiful Snowflakes - Just in time for winter….some snowflake photographs.

Maps of What the Earth Would Look Like If All Ice Melted - Lots of coastal population centers would be underwater.

Glaciers Sizzle as They Disappear Into Warmer Water - Audio recordings may be a viable complement to other measurements of ice melt.

Sour Cream Pumpkin Bundt - Yummy Bundt idea…and I still have lots of pumpkin in my freezer.

Maven Launch on 11/18/2013

We were at Cape Canaveral on November 18th for the Maven (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) Launch. The day before the launch, we toured the Vehicle Assembly building and saw the launch pad with the Atlas V rocket, Centaur, and Maven (at the top) from the fence surrounding it. 

Our viewing location for the launch was on the causeway that crosses the Banana River. We boarded the bus about 3 hours before the launch, ate a picnic lunch sitting on beach towels (fortunately we were not in an area with fire ants), and used an umbrella for shade when it got a little hot. The clouds built up right before the launch time…but not enough to stop the launch at the very beginning of the planned window. The slide show below includes some selected pictures. They don’t capture the most stunning part of a launch: the sound. It is sound that is felt as much as heard … different from any other experience I’ve had … and well worth the effort! A launch is a celebration of accomplishment; the mission is built and on its way. It will be months before the science phase of the mission starts when it gets to Mars.

Enjoying the Birds at Florida Beaches

The weather was too cool and windy to swim, so we enjoyed watching birds on the beach instead….at Canaveral National Seashore, Cocoa Beach and the beaches near Melbourne.

The wind made for some ruffled feathers. The terns would quickly turn into the wind and preen to resume their usual sleek look.

Or sometimes they just tolerated their ‘punkish’ look.

A willet and sanderling fed side by side on the goodies left from the waves rolling in. 

And the best of the rest are in the slide show below!

Road Trip to Florida

Our destination was Melbourne FL and we did the calculation between flying/car rental and driving - deciding that for two people without significant time constraints, it was less expensive to drive. The drive from Maryland to Florida is a trek on I-95. One passes around Washington DC and Richmond VA and then I-95 becomes a highway that misses any major city. I had thought we might see some fall color as we traveled southward; there was a little in Virginia but by the time we got to North Carolina, the pines dominated the roadway. There were miles of them. Sometimes there was a cotton field visible along the highway. Once past the Roanoke Rapids, there were more swamps and broad rivers. It was still sweat shirt weather all the way from Maryland to South Carolina where we stopped the first night.

By the time we got to Florida, it was warm and wet. I enjoyed the dolphin sculpture at the welcome center. Since it was raining, we stopped for lunch at MacDonald’s rather than picnic.

As we got out of the car the rain slowed down and I noticed two wood storks on a grassy area next to the parking lot. What a great way to start out our week in Florida! I’ll be posting more about our time in Florida over the next few weeks.

The road trip to Florida included a return trip too. On the way back I captured the sunrise in Georgia. We were up early for a long day of driving to get back to Maryland.