Centennial Lake in November 2014

I made a quick stop at Centennial Lake (in Centennial Park in Howard County, Maryland) on my way to an appointment this week after our first very cold weather of the season arrived. Most of the leaves had fallen off the trees but the reflections on the lake were still dramatic. There were a few intrepid souls on the path around the lake. None of them were sitting on the benches. It was a morning to keep moving.

The boat ramp are with the stones that extend into the water is one of my favorite vantage points. I took several vantage points. The angle of light makes a difference!

There were a few trees that retained some color. I wondered if it was the type of tree or the micro-climate along that part of the lake shore since so many other trees had dropped their leaves.

Closer to ground level I noticed some colorful vegetation closer to the ground.

As I drove out - I stopped to photograph a grouping of gingkoes. Most of the trees still held about half their leaves with the ones that had fallen in yellow drifts around their base.

Mt. Pleasant Farm

The Howard County Conservancy’s Mt Pleasant has been the site for many field trips for county elementary schools this fall. With only a few more to go - I took the short walk along the kindergarten hike route before the buses arrived; it was another celebration of fall in Maryland. 

The flower pot people are always on display on a shady bench….suitably styled for the season.

Many of the trees are labeled - including this Witch Hazel

And the Saucer Magnolia.

I liked both of them for their color and the way the light was striking the leaves. Somehow the children always enjoy the discovery of the rabbit sculpture under a bush.

Many of the pines seem to have more cones near the top. Pretty soon we’ll be emulating the way the cones hang from the branches on our Christmas tree!

The buses arrived shortly after my walk and my focus shifted to hiking with children and their chaperones….and that too is a celebration of the season.

Neighborhood Walk

We’ve had a few chilly days in our area…some light frosts. Our neighborhood is past the peak of fall beauty. I took the opportunity to walk around yesterday afternoon when it was warm enough for the bees to be active at the few bedraggled flowers that are still blooming.

The oak seems to glow in the sunshine. Up close the leaves look almost drab.

The Indian corn has been on our door for the past few years - for the few weeks between Halloween and the beginning of December.

I’m noticing more leaves in the street gutters this year. The leaves came down with recent rains and are staying put wherever they got wet. I managed to rake and sweep the street gutter in front of my house this past weekend.

The storm water retention pond for our neighborhood is surrounded by trees and cattails. The cattails are exploding and the breeze wafts away the seeds.

This squirrel ran up a large oak as I got close and posed for a picture. Doesn’t he look well fed? His paw reminds me of ET fingers.

Last but not least - I couldn’t resist the colorful fall display of one trees - and the near bareness of its neighbor.

The joys of fall!

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 08, 2014

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.

Americans' view on obesity is changing: Fewer adults see it as a personal problem of bad choices - A survey asked 50,000 US adults and 50,000 healthcare professionals whether they viewed obesity primarily as a personal problem of bad choices, a community problem of bad food and inactivity, or a medical problem. How would you have answered? For myself - I chose to think of it as a personal problem when I got close being obese and have now been back in the normal range for about 1.5 years because of the lifestyle changes I made. However - I am willing to admit that I benefited from a work environment that encouraged increasing physical activity and a nutrition course on Coursera that honed my knowledge of foods. Both of those would be in the ‘community’ realm.

A Wild Ride: 50 Years of the US Wilderness Act - Reflection on the US Wilderness Act by a Fellow at the International League of Conservation Photographers (includes some great pictures)

'Aging well' must be a global priority, experts say - I liked the very last line in this story: “…think about the benefits that an older, healthier, happier, and more productive older population can bring to society as a whole.” An interesting statistic: by 2020, for the first time in history, the number of people aged 60 years and older will outnumber children younger than 5 years.

Why paper is a necessity - From Richard Watson.

A Stunning View of Sunlit Seas on Titan - A montage of images of Saturn’s moon Titan from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #73 - Which picture do you like the best in this collection? I like the sandhill cranes (toward the end).  I was thrilled to get a picture of some sandhill cranes in Florida (below - Orlando airport's cell phone lot)

What do American babies eat? A lot depends on Mom's socioeconomic background - I was surprised that he study found that some 6-12 month olds were being fed candy, ice cream, sweet drinks and French fries. Are pediatricians and health professionals not stressing dietary needs of babies to new mothers?

A Fascinating Documentary on Crows, One of the World's Smartest Animals - One researcher calls crows “feathered apes”

Climate, emerging diseases - It is difficult to establish a direct link between climate change and evolution of pathogens…mostly because both climate change and pathogens are very complex. But there are emerging or re-emerging diseases being studied that can be statistically linked to environmental changes. 

Incredible New Artifacts Found In 2,000-Year-Old Mexican Tunnel - Even in an area that is well known from an archeological stand point…..there are new finds. This one seems spectacular.  I remember going to Teotihuacan in the mid-1960s and climbing the pyramids. Now there will be even more to see there.

Sunrise on a Cold Morning

I am a morning person. Earlier this week the sun was coloring the clouds pink as I was coming down the stairs for breakfast. What a great ‘first scene’ for the day! The light coming through the narrow windows on the sides of the front door and the transom window over the door let some of that color into the entry hall.

Fortunately my camera was handy and I stepped out the front door to take the image of the trees silhouetted against the morning sky….and discovered the very chilly fall air.

Resolution for the next few months: observe sunrise more frequently. One of the compensations for the longer nights and shorter days of winter is the ease of savoring the sunrise. 

Newport Contemplations

It’s been a month since I returned from my Newport vacation and I’ve been thinking about the highlights with the little bit of distance. During the vacation and immediately afterwards there was an overwhelming amount of detailed memory; the gist of the vacation was illusive.

Now - I find that I remember one or two details about each of the houses/mansions:

• Marble House - two rooms on each side of the grand staircase landing
• Rosecliff - ballroom with windows on each side
• The Breakers - loggias
• Isaac Bell House - porches
• Kingscote - dining room with Tiffany windows and cork ceiling
• The Elms - lacquer wall pieces
• Chepstow - decoupage lamps
• Chateau-Sur-Mer - Minton tiles, stained glass skylight in a bathroom
• Hunter House - Newport chairs, stair railing older the house (used from a house that burned prior to its construction)
• Green Animals (house) - toy collection

The Cliff Walk is the only thing I wish we had done more; the weather didn’t give us time to walk the whole length.

There were a number of surprises that I remember with delight

• Nautilus earrings (Smithsonian design)
  

• The Loose Tea place (same as in Orlando from last fall) where I bought the same teas (plus some new ones)
• Feather sculpture at Blithewold
• Monarch butterflies at Blithewold and Green Animals

Two closing thoughts about Newport -

Recent studies have shown that wealth beyond the amount required for satisfaction of ‘needs’ does not correlate with happiness. Based on the histories of the people that came for a few weeks each summer to their mansions in Newport in the late 1800s/early 1900s - that correlation was as true during the ‘Golden Age’ just as it is today.

Architectural ornament is fragile even when there is significant attention to preservation. It is requires continuous attention and work on peeling paint, chipped stone, rusting iron, cracked leather and lacquer, bubbled plaster, and rotting wood.  All were observable in these grand houses.

Catoctin and Cunningham Falls

Just prior to write this blog post, I wrote a simple poem one about the scene from my office window and plan for the day. Do you see the title down the middle?

It sets the stage for my collection of images from Catoctin Mountain Park and Cunningham Falls State Park - now about 2 weeks old.  We stopped at the Catoctin Mountain visitor’s center as we usually do and then walked across the street to the short Blue Blazes Still Trail. There was a tree riddled with woodpecker holes and several kinds of shelf fungus (one fungus group had a slug feasting) that I include in the slide show below. The trees still had quite a few leaves. There was lots of color.

We drove over to Cunningham Falls State Park and took the steeper trail to the falls (I was sore for the next few days from that scramble).

As usual - there were a lot of people at the falls….and they were crawling all over the falls. It was hard to get any waterfalls without people!

I settled for the smaller scenes of moss, leaves, and fungus. Enjoy the slideshow!

Backyard View - October 2014

I’m continuing the monthly post of morning images of the trees in our backyard that I started in September. There has been quite a lot of change in October but there are still quite a lot of leaves remaining. There was added drama this month because of a broken branch high in the tulip poplar that had remained awkwardly suspended rather than falling to the ground. About mid-October (image 3 in the slide show below) - it fell. I was surprised that I didn’t hear it fall.

The tulip poplar turns yellow and drops most of its leaves before the maple completes its color change. I’ve done a quick raking on some of the thickest parts of the leaf drop (and pine needles too) because I want the grass to survive. I’ve started taking the leaves into the forest rather than bagging them for pickup at the curb. I used the big branch that fell to make a corral to keep the pile from blowing back into the yard! There will be a few more rakings before the yard slides into its winter mode. 

Revisiting Wheaton Park and Brookside Gardens

Earlier this month, I decided to walk around Brookside Gardens with a guest from out of town and had a different experience than I anticipated. When we got there the parking at Brookside Gardens was limited by construction and full. There was no parking next door at the Brookside Nature Center either. I remembered a path through the forest from Wheaton Regional Park’s play ground to Brookside Gardens…and found parking near the playground.

I had not been to Wheaton Park for almost 20 years (we went to this park frequently when my daughter was the age to enjoy it) and it had changed dramatically in those years. Gone were the wooden structures that supported slides and swings and climbing walls. All the supporting structures now are brightly painted metal. There is more color in the slides (yellow tubes) and synthetic mulch (blues and greens). The hill has been terraced to reduce the erosion since the heavy use thins the grass. I liked that the park had been renovated….and that it was still a popular place.

There are still animal sculptures just the right size for children. I managed to get this picture when the elephant did not have a rider.

The path was just as I remembered through the woods - asphalt and wide enough for maintenance vehicles. And then we were at Brookside Gardens. The hibiscus will have to be brought in soon but the flowers were enjoying the last of the warm days. Seed pods were showy on some plants. The lily pads did not have flowers but there were buds; would they have time to bloom? The mums were just beginning to open.

Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk

The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk, Connecticut was a very short distance off the highway along our route from Newport, Rhode Island back to Maryland. It was well worth the stop. I’ve already highlighted the jellyfish in a post earlier this week. It’s hard to choose my other favorites from the few hours we spent at the place.

Of course there were lots of fishes.

I found myself more intrigued by the frogs. What a variety! The colorful poison dart frogs were very active in their habitat.

The freshwater turtles were active too. Some would stay on the rocks but others were constantly climbing up on to the rocks and moving around to slide back in the water much as children do if there is a poolside slide available on a hot summer day.

On particular sea turtle seemed to like the way I looked and swam back and forth in front of me - and right up to the glass! I wondered what the turtle's perception was of the situation. 

The meerkats were very active - and fun to watch. They seem to love the hammock in their habitat.

Fall Arabesques

I’ve been photographing leaves on the ground for the past few weeks and am sharing them today in celebration of fall. The leaves had to be positioned just as they had fallen - or been blown into position.

Some of the colors are muted yellow or brown. The vivid greens and reds are there too.

The backdrops are varied too: grass - asphalt - pebbles - forest mulch - bricks.

What about the other things in the pictures with some of the leaves? A feather, moss on a fallen log

How many trees can you recognize by their leaves in these pictures? Poplars - oaks - maples - dogwood….at least.

The Zen of Jellyfish

On the way back from Newport RI, we stopped at the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk Connecticut. I particularly enjoyed the tower tank of jellies with LED lights. It is in an area that is dimly lit otherwise so the jellies glow as they move gracefully through the water. I sat and watched them…letting the outside noises and strains of the day fade into the background. I took quite a few pictures and selected some for the slide show below.  Even with their motion frozen, the forms are soothing. Enjoy!

The aquarium has a Jellies Web Cam here if you want to see the jellies in motion.

Gleanings of the Week Ending October 18, 2014

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.

Corruption of health care delivery system?  - Most of us probably realize - at least occasionally - that the US healthcare system is a profit-driven service industry, where commercial interests overcome just about everything. I know that I don’t trust my doctor as much now as I did 20 years ago! Unfortunately - this study was more about documenting the problem rather than suggesting a solution.

Video Proof That Cats Are Furry Work Saboteurs - Fun! Anyone that has a computer and a cat can identify with the antics in this video.

These Are the 100 Most Interesting Geologic Spots In The British Isles - From the Geological Society.  The site that the article highlights is here.

Two posts about things Tucson….where I may travel later this year: Rehabbing Trails in Saguaro National Park and Surpassing Expectations Tucson Streetcar Ridership Enjoys Great Beginning

These Mirrors Are Part of the Biggest Space Telescope - The silver and gold mirrors for the James Webb Space Telescope

Conservation and Food Security: The $115 Billion Question - Increasing focus is on crop wild relatives (CWRs) - plans that are closely related to domestic agricultural crops. Over the past 30 years, at least 60 CWRs have contributed more than 100 beneficial traits to 13 major crops such as wheat, rice, tomato, and potato.

Yosemite Nature Notes: Monarchs and Milkweed - A short video about milkweed and all the insects (and birds) that come to it.  Are you ready to go out and plant some milkweed?

South Australia Achieves 100% Renewable Energy for a Whole Working Day - So - it can be done. How long will it be before some part of the US is able to do this?

Photo Break: America Puts on Its Fall Colors - I couldn’t resist at least one ‘fall’ post this week. Our area of Maryland is quite colorful.

Zooming - October 2014

Most of my zooming collages are of plants and animals. This month my focus is external architecture and ornamentation. The images show form, repairs, corrosion, and patina of age. Materials are quite varied: stone, paint, plaster/cement, copper, bronze, wrought iron, cedar shingles, and glass.  Enjoy the show!

Newport RI - Day 3

Day 3 in Newport was full of photography opportunities: sunrise from the Cliff Walk (40 steps), Blithewold Gardens, and Green Animals Topiary Garden.

Sunrise from the Cliff Walk

The sunrise was colorful - in the sky and the water. The cliff walk offers expansive views to the horizon and close views of waves crashing against the rocks below.

Enjoy the sequence below from just before sunrise to the brightness of early morning.

Blithewold Gardens

There is a mansion but it was not open on the day we were there. We were tired of house tours from the previous day in Newport anyway. I liked the stone steps and fountains near the house.

The garden include a sculpture exhibit. My favorite was feathers. Unfortunately, it was not a breezy day so the feathers were not moving enough for the chimes at their base to move.

And everywhere there were paths leading through lush vegetation.

The slide show below includes a photo toward the sky from inside the bamboo maze and a bee on a Franklin Tree blossom!

Green Animals Topiary Garden

There is a house in this garden that includes a display of antique toys. But the draw for this place is the topiary forms. I couldn’t resist including the pictures of a bee on a dahlia and monarch butterfly (one of the few I’ve seen this year) in the slideshow below - along with the topiary.

Newport RI - Day 2

Our second day in Newport RI (we were there 9/6-10/3) was all about Golden Age mansions: The Breakers, Rosecliff, Marble House and The Elms (outside only).

The Breakers

The Breakers is the one that most people immediately equate with Newport and we planned to be there as soon as possible after it opened. Our first view was of the gates from the parking lot across the street - closed because we had arrived a little before opening.

We decided to take a short walk along the Cliff Walk that passes between the house and the Atlantic. The wrought iron and pillars continue there!

And there is an easy view of the house over the chain link fence. I was surprised that the mansions did not have more gardens. The season was short and the houses themselves were the overwhelming focus rather than gardens.

Pictures are not allowed inside any of the houses so the ones I am posting here are of the exterior.

The ceilings of the loggias on the back of The Breakers were my favorite aspect of the house. It is hard to imagine any other part of the house as being ‘comfortable’ at all; the decoration in most cases is overwhelming.

Rosecliff

Rosecliff was my favorite house of the day. The ball room with windows on both sides was my favorite room (it seemed like a room that could be used in a lot of different ways) although the dragon holding the light fixture at the entrance was attractive too.

Marble House

I like marble generally but this house was overwhelming. It seemed like it would always be cold with so much stone.

There is a Tea House in the back which has a glorious view of the ocean. I enjoyed the warmth of walking there more than listening to the recorded tour of the house!

The Elms

We returned to The Elms to walk around the gardens. I took note of the sculpture particularly: the angry man (Athamas)

The oddly whiskered lion,

The tortoise fountain, and

The fountain of pans.

These mansions were originally used for 6-8 weeks during the summer season. They were built to be a showplace of wealth - provide a stage for a regimented series of social activities. It was a fragile, and relatively brief, way of life. And now they are windows into that time.

Newport RI - Day 1

Our first day in Newport RI in a nutshell: sunrise and 3 mansions!

I was up early enough to catch the sunrise colors on the horizon and water from the balconies of our rooms. It was very quiet compared to the party noises from the night before along the waterfront. The forecast was for a near perfect day for walking around Newport.

There are a lot of architectural features in houses,

Churches,

And buildings that are much easier to scrutinize on foot rather than driving/riding.

Many structures have been restored and other others seemed to be in the process of being restored; crews were getting a head start as the tourist crowds thinned and the weather was still reasonable.

My favorite of the three houses we saw on the first day was the Isaac Bell House. The porches and interesting roof line probably clinched it for me but the guided tour through the empty rooms - showing how restoration is done - was more interesting that the overwhelming opulence of many other Newport mansions.

Kingscot was too Gothic for me but it was fun to learn about the ‘weeping’ trees that were deemed by landscapers of the time to be in keeping with the architecture. The brow over the windows was to deflect water!

The Elms was the last house on the first day. We took the tour of the house just before closing time and decided to go back another day to look at the gardens. I enjoyed the small preview of the sculptures and clipped hedges on the quick walk through on the first day.

Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge, Rhode Island

I’ve just returned from a week away...primarily spent in Newport, Rhode Island. I’ll be sharing some of my perceptions of the vacation in several posts to come. Today the topic is the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge - the highway between Jamestown and Newport, Rhode Island. The bridge is a bracket for the beginning and ending of my time in Newport.

The first morning I was out photographing the bridge from the balcony of the place I was staying (through the rigging of sail boats). It was a cool morning and it was before people were out and about. The lights were still on the bridge.

I took another series of pictures from the water side of the Hunter House. It was raining on the day we toured so I was holding the umbrella over myself and my camera as I took this picture. The vantage point is a little closer to the bridge - still from the Newport side.

The last morning of our stay - we tried to get away early enough to see the sunrise from the Jamestown side of the bridge. The car too longer to pack so we were about 15 minutes past sunrise. My sister captured the best image of the bridge from the Newport Overlook (Jamestown side) to I chose it to include in this post.

Bluebirds

There are a lot of bluebird boxes in our area of Maryland. Sometimes they house swallows or other birds that are similar size and nesting habit to bluebirds - but it is probably true that there are a lot more bluebirds around these days than before the nesting boxes.

I was on a walk along a long driveway recently - and managed to get a picture of a male and female bird on a telephone wire looking out over a grassy field with mowed edges.  There were many others about but I was not coordinated enough to get close enough to capture better images with my camera.

A few days later I saw more of the birds but was guiding a nature walk at the time…..no time for photography.

On another walk with a group we started finding blue feathers - three in all. The color of the feathers changes as they are moved. It turns out that almost all blue feathers are produced with structural color rather than pigment!  The Cornell AllAboutBirds site has a page about it.

I am celebrating the beauty of bluebirds today!

Backyard View - September 2014

I am starting a backyard photography project for this fall: taking a picture of our backyard trees about once a week. September was my time to decide on the logistics. The camera positions are marked on the deck railing with duct tape and red marker. I decided to take two orientations and then pick a favorite for each month. So far the red marker seems to be holding up better than the tape. The duct tape seems to stick but then curls up on mornings when there is a thick dew.

The first day I took the picture at mid-morning. Too much light…and a tweak to the plan: take the picture as soon as possible after sunrise or make sure the day is cloudy.

For September - I like the portrait orientation so they are the images I selected for this first slide show. As the leaves change on the maple and tulip poplars there should be quite a change seen in the October series. It’s also clear than lighting makes quite a difference even when there is no direct sunlight.