Gleanings of the Week Ending October 10, 2015

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 People and Pueblos of Wupatki National Monument in the 1930s and 40s – The article includes pictures from just after the area became a National Monument. I enjoyed my visit to the monument last winter (see post with photographs here...and the picture below).

A Chart That Shows Where Every Country in the World Gets Its Food – North America is not very self-sufficient! About 90% of our calories come from somewhere else than North America. (Check here for the ‘Degree of Dependence per Country’ table.)

A neuroscience researcher reveals 4 rituals that will make you a happier person – A summary of research findings that can be applied…from Business Insider.

15 Intimate Portraits of Lions – Lions in the wild….pictures from National Geographic.

Aging Workers, New Technology – I was disappointed in the article. The examples seemed lame. For example – better floor mats for jobs that require a lot of standing are good for younger people too! Making technology more intuitive for everyone is important ---- smaller is not always better, and that is true for more than just gaining workers.

How many trees are there in the world? – From Scientific American – the answer is over 3 trillion but we are losing 10 million trees per year.

Martian Life Could Be a Biotech Bonanza – After the announcement of briny water on the Martian surface….what might that mean for the type of life we might find on Mars.

Easy Pumpkin Muffins – I love pumpkin muffins. The recipe I usually use is one that originally was for sweet potato muffins – so if pumpkin is in short supply this year (which I just heard that it might be by Thanksgiving) – substitute cooked sweet potatoes (not the canned ones….the ones from the produce department…bake them) for the pumpkin. Butternut squash will work too.

How to clean and airliner – Maybe I didn’t really want to know this. I’m carrying hand sanitizer from now on when I fly.

Solar-Plus-Battery Systems Can Insulate Customers from Increasing Prices – Solar panels – battery storage – the grid….some ideas about what the future relationship could be.

Longwood Gardens – September 2015

There were a few more photographs that I wanted to share from our road trip to Longwood Gardens last month. They don’t fit in any particular category.

I liked the colors in these buds. It would be a good photo to experiment with a blurring tool if I ever get around to spending the time to learn a photo editing tool. I’d blur everything except the bud!

I loved the curls and waxy colors of these leaves.

Light pink and green…with the bit of yellow…one of my favorite color combinations in flowers. The shape and orientation is unusual enough that I looked twice. I tried taking a picture from under the flowers – up into the flower that hangs downward – but I didn’t like the vantage point as much as this one from the side.

Pink and white….and a myriad of petals. This vantage point makes it easier to see that the petals curve inward the closer they are to the center.

The orange and green seemed like the typical October color scheme to me…but the plant was not typical at all. The color appears….and then elongates into a very unusual tub type flower.

I always make a point to visit this garden in the Conservatory. If I ever have a garden room – I would like this type of water feature in the floor – gently flowing with the plants surrounding it.

Sometimes a spot of sunlight just makes a plant glow.

The water in the Italian Water Garden fountains goes off and on in a sequence. I managed to catch the side fountains just as they reached the point of stopping for a few seconds…so the last drops of water were suspended in the air rather than a steady stream.

On the way out – I noticed a maple leaf….fall is coming!

Longwood Gardens Orchids – September 2015

I always take orchid pictures when I go to Longwood Gardens and our visit last month was no exception.

Orchid flowers are such a mix of unusual characteristics….signaling the path for their pollinators to follow through: shapes, colors and structures. This first one had yellow tendrils at the beginning of the runway then wings to mark the side boundaries of the path, and red to mark the spot.

The slipper shaped orchids always remind me of carnivorous plants. It isn’t as clear (to me) where flower wants the pollinator to go. Is there a surprise in this slipper?

I’m not sure what this structure would eventually become – probably an orchid flower but I liked how pure the curve looked…how solid it was with the green stain in the center.

And then there are the flamboyant ruffles of other orchids. The colors of this one must be irresistible to the pollinator.

Do orchids in the Longwood conservatory ever have pollinators that their flowers evolved to attract?

As an after note – the conservatory room with the banana palms is near the orchids. I’d never noticed how bananas are attached to the stem of their parent. They are packed very tightly. The remnants of the flower are visible on the outer end of each banana too.

Learning Log – October 2015

The fall is the time of year still feels like the beginning of the schools year – a time to start learning something new – even though I have been out of school for more than 30 years! The fall is no exception.

Coursera is a mainstay for me although I’ve made a rule for myself to never have more than two courses going concurrently. Right now, I’m working on week 5 of 6 in a Meditation course (University of Virginia). The material is so rich that I find myself overwhelmed at times; it takes work to get through all the material for week in 7 days! One way to evaluate a course is to ask myself what I do differently after taking the course. For this one, the change is happening while I am taking the course: a daily meditation practice.

I finished the first week of the Forests course (University of Wisconsin-Madison) on the very last day of September. There are three more weeks to go. It has gotten off to a good start. The instructor has included a lot of context around the topic of forests – like why we have seasons, wind and current patterns, etc. I’m looking forward to the rest of the course.

About the time I finish up the Meditation and Forests courses, a new one on Ancient Egypt will start near the end of October.

Audio Book. I checked out Jon Kabat-Zinn's Mindfulness for Begginners from my local library (online) to listen to in conjuction with the Coursera course on Meditation. About half of it was guided meditation practice which meshed well with the practices from the Coursera course.

Creative Live was the source for several classes in September. My husband purchased The Art of Flower Photography and we watched the entire thing once; we’ll probably review some modules again after we have done some more experimenting. We ordered a white umbrella to diffuse to bright light on outdoor flowers and I made a baffle out of a white plastic shopping bag to make a white background for a flower.

I also watched some of the Creative Life Photo Week. I learned just enough to be dangerous from a 1.5 hour module on Photoshop Elements!

Learning by doing. September was a month to refresh myself on the general content of hikes with elementary school aged field trips since the fall hikes peak in October. The first one was on Oct. 1 – and it rained for most of the hike with first graders. It was an experience that the students, chaperones, and volunteer naturalists (like me) will remember – mostly positive. I think I learn something new on every hike I do with children.

Both my husband and I are renewing our knowledge of car camping. Years ago we camped to save money as we traveled. Now we are camping as part of his astronomy hobby – so we can stay out all night at astronomy gatherings but still be comfortable for when we are not observing. We had sold or given away all our gear so are busy figuring out what would work best for us now --- and our first nights out will be in October.

Gleanings of the Week Ending October 03, 2015

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.

What you may not know about the world beneath your feet – 10 items from BBC future. A short paragraph is included for each one and then a link to a more detailed larger article is provided.

Salamanders Lost, Found and Saved – From National Geographic about salamanders in Guatemala.

U.N. Dreams Big: 17 Huge New Goals to Build a Better World – As I looked at the list – I asked myself if they are all equally important and how the goals will get translated into action by individuals and organizations and governments. Two keywords that appear again and again (standing out to me): sustainability and inclusive.

Angry Birds: Why Molting Makes Our Feathered Friends Grumpy – Many birds molt between the time nesting ends and migration begins. Since our cardinals are here year-round, I have been watching them closely this year. They did look scruffy for a time…then I didn’t see them as often…and now they are looking much better. The male goldfinches have already made the change to their winter plumage; I wonder where they dropped their yellow feathers?

Photography in The National Parks: Your Armchair Guide to Arches National Park – Part 2  - We didn’t get to see Arches a few years ago when we went to Utah in early October 2013; the government (and national parks) were closed. I enjoyed these pictures…and attached a picture of Wilson Arch that is right on Route 191 south of Moab that was the only arch picture I got during the trip!

For U.S. Tribes, a Movement to Revive Native Foods and Lands – Wild rice in wetlands being restored in Minnesota.

Decision aids help patients with depression feel better about medication choices – From the Mayo clinic. It bothered me that before using the tool…’clinicians are often uneasy or unwilling to offer options other than their preferred prescriptions.’ That is probably true of more than depression medications!

Increased internet access led to a rise in racial hate crimes in the early 2000s - So many things are positive about broadband internet access….this is a downside. We often think that more information helps people understand others better --- but this is another study that shows that it can also lead to extreme polarization.

Work in Transition – On sentence from the article: Choreographers, elementary school teachers, and psychiatric social works are probably safe…telemarketers and tax preparers are more likely to be replaced. Work done by humans will increasingly involve innovative thinking, flexibility, creativity, and social skills.

The curious chemistry of custard – I make pumpkin (or other winter squash) custard frequently this time of year. I’ve always wanted how the consistency develops. It turns out it is all about eggs and their protein!

Mt Pleasant Farm – September 2015

A few weeks ago I walked around the Howard County Conservancy’s Mt. Pleasant Farm on a wet Saturday morning. I was with a birding group but didn’t manage to get any good bird pictures. Instead there were shelf fungus that looked a lot like pancakes layered with whipped cream and

Milkweed bugs maturing as the milkweed seed pods reach maturity.

At this point it started to mist heavily and even rain for short periods. The milkweed seeds spilling from pods quickly filled with droplets

As did other plants. The thinnest parts of the plants seemed to hold the most moisture.

Eventually I gave up trying to capture the scene, tucked my camera under my windbreaker to keep it dry, and just walked on enjoying being outdoors.

Longwood Gardens Fiddleheads – September 2015

When we were at Longwood Gardens last week – several of the ferns in the conservatory were in the fiddlehead stage. I always find the tightly packed spirals of the fronds fascinating. Some of them already have the beginnings of spore structures on the underside of the tiny parts of the frond that beginning to unpack itself as it uncurls. Often times the stem looks hairy too.

Sometimes the structure is one simple spiral and sometimes there are multiple spirals packed together. In the case of the one below – the main stem elongates to separate the spirals before they are completely open. The color of the ‘hair’ stands out with the bright green of the spirals.

On tree ferns (below), the fiddleheads start out without any green at all and then expand as they unfurl – revealing the green frond.

Next spring I’ll photography fiddleheads in our nearby woodlands….if I can get my timing right. They might not be as large as these from the conservatory at Longwood…but they are a joy to find and a sign of spring.

Longwood Gardens Meadow – September 2015

This was our first time to walk around the meadow at Longwood Gardens since it was renovated several years ago. It was a sunny, breezy fall day – great for walking around but a challenge for photography. The meadow has grassy paths. There were some that were already closed for regeneration…and new ones mowed.

I liked the planters on top of the bird houses throughout the meadow. Some of them were not growing as well as the one below that happened to be near the beginning of our hike through the meadow. The birds that utilized the house – probably tree swallows or blue birds - are done with the box for the season but the ‘green roof’ makes it worth noting.

The meadow is full of yellow – sunflowers and goldenrod.

There is an occasional splash of purple from asters

And thistles.

There are buds and seed pods on the same plants sometimes.

I was disappointed that there was not much milkweed. Perhaps more will grow next year since there were a few seed pods spilling their seeds into the breeze.

Longwood Gardens Water Lilies – September 2015

I like the water lily court at Longwood Gardens and have posted photographs from it several times before (see the links at the end of this post). I tried some different techniques when we visited the gardens last week can got some better results than I had previously.

I tried to position myself so that my shadow fell on the flower – so the light was less harsh. The colors seemed ever more vivid and the surface tension where the petals touched the water was visible. I always think the center of waterlilies are surreal looking both because of their structure and their colors.

Sometimes water lilies look a little like tulips. This one was just opening.

Once open…the bees find the flowers irresistible. Many times there are several bees in the same flower.

Longwood puts black dye in the water of the pools to reduce algae growth but it helps with photography as well. Either surface tension or reflection is common.

Most of the time we think of lily pads as being green but they often have a lot of red – particularly when they are new.

This flower was partially submerged. I also like the water accumulated on the battered lily pad above the flower.

The flower was in the full sun but I managed to get golden reflection rather than overly bright areas. This is the flower of the largest water lily pads.

There are subtle color changes of the petals that are hard to notice with the flowers are in full sun.

Notice the framing of the flower (below) with the scalloped edges of the lily pads.

I was surprised but the increased detail visible in the petals when the flower is not in full sun.

The flower seemed to glow – surround by green…and the water tension visible where the lily pads touch the water.

Shading the flowers took some effort…but I like the quality of the images more than ever!

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 26, 2015

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.

An Up-Close View of Bristol Bay’s Astonishing Sockeye Salmon Runs – Learn about sockeye salmon in southwest Alaska from the Yale e360 video contest first runner up video.

Oregon's "Lost Lake" Drains Down a Perplexing Hole – Surreal photographs….the lake accumulates in the winter and drains away each spring!

Great Grasses for Native Gardens – These grasses are for the Baltimore, Maryland area…but there are probably similar lists for other places. Native Gardens are not just for flowers! I think I’ll look further at the Red October big bluestem!

Training more effective teachers through alternative pathways – Wow! What does this mean for education departments in colleges?

Spinning Synthetic Spider Silk – Evidently the first application will be in apparel….in 2016. Potentially this ‘spider silk’ fiber may with proteins produced by yeast and then spun maybe the synthetic fiber of the future – as we shift away from petroleum based synthetics.

The Chemistry of Deodorants vs. Antiperspirants – The ingredients of deodorants and antiperspirants are sometimes in the news linked to health issues. This post is a nice summary of the current research.

Meet the Foxes of Silicon Valley – We have foxes in our suburban area on the east coast (Maryland). Good to know that the area around San Francisco has them too.

Reducing Food Waste and Setting the Table for All – Chart 2 was the part of this post that interested me the most. What do you think about this list of what stores could do to reduce food waste? I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what I can do to reduce food waste at home. My store already does most of the things on this list.

Camera Drone Captures Gorgeous Aerial Shots of Iceland's Diverse Terrain – Beautiful place.

Hackberry: The Best Tree You’ve Never Heard About – Maybe this will be the next tree I plant at the edge of our forest….although now that I know there is a black walnut tree nearby I need to reconsider how well other trees will grow.

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 19, 2015

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.

tado° Smart Air-Conditioner Control Reaches Major US Retailers – Smart thermostats are getting smarter!

World on Path to Miss 2C Target – Depressing. The emission reduction plans submitted by 29 governments as of September 1^st are not enough to change the temperature rise of our planet…we are looking at warming by more than 2 degrees C. The trend is for the earth to be 2.9-3.1 degrees warmer by 2100.

Cave Towers - Mule Canyon – We vacationed in this area a few years ago….the whole area is full of interesting hikes. This post makes me want to visit there again.

Sierra Nevada snowpack lowest in five centuries – Just another indicator of how bad the drought in California really is.

First Detailed Public Map of U.S. Internet Backbone Could Make It Stronger – The fiber optic cables that carry Internet data across the Continental US...considering them as critical public infrastructure.

Lost Weather Balloon GoPro Found Two Years Later with Astounding Shots of Earth from Space – The 4 minute video near the end of the post is worth watching too.

51 Favorite Photos from Astronaut Scott Kelly's First Six Months in Space - Further from earth than the weather balloon and GoPro....from the International Space Station.

Lessons Learned: Aquaponics in Baltimore – I had learned a little about this project in a Food System course from Johns Hopkins (via Coursera). It would good to get an update.

The Recycling Rates of Smartphone Metals – Recycling tech (smartphones and other tech) has got to improve since the tech refresh cycle is relatively short.

What Restaurants Can Teach Us about Reducing Food Waste – And some of the things these restaurants are doing can be done at home too!

Fallen Leaves - Old and New

Back in August there were already hints of fall in the New York State Parks we visited….a few freshly fallen colorful leaves. I noticed instances where a newer leaf as meshed with older ones and thought about how quickly most leaves begin to decompose once they are on the ground - particularly in wet environments.

Notice the tip of the maple leaf (below) that has already cracked off the main body of the leave and how faded the color seems to be.

Leaves that are actually in water probably don’t last long at all.

Fresh leaves on old leaf mulch and wet rock stand out because of their contrasting color.

 A fresher looking leave under the brown leaves…how did that happen?

Sometimes green leaves fall. Was there a storm or did this leave simply fall from the tree in the same way leaves do this time of year?

I’m primed for the big show where the majority of leaves on the deciduous trees turn from their summer green - hang on to the tree for a little while - then swirl away. Fall is never long enough to be boring! 

Photogenic Chipmunk

When I was growing up, I knew about chipmunks first from books. Then I saw them when I went on vacations in Colorado - away from Texas where it was probably to dry and treeless for them to survive.

When I moved to the east coast, we saw them more frequently and I went to a lecture at the Smithsonian by Lawrence Wishner just after he’d published his book about Eastern Chipmunks. He’s the one that point out that the animals have Oreo markings on both sides.

In our current house, we have chipmunks that appear on the front porch - enjoying acorns from the oak further out in the yard. The cats are entertained by the view; they are hyper alert behind the glass of the narrow windows on either side of the front door. In the back of the house, the chipmunks come up onto the deck to clean up the seeds the birds spill from the feeder overhead. They also nibble on seeds from some of the flowers. The cats watch them from the screened part of the deck.

The photographs I’ve included in this post are of a very photogenic chipmunk at Stony Brook State Park in New York (taken on our recent road trip). The little rodent must have been used to people being around because it was near the playground area enjoying its meal…surveying the scene. It was early enough in the morning that nobody else was around except for me and my camera.

Carry In - Carry Out in State Parks

The state parks I’ve visited in recent months in Maryland and New York have a carry in - carry out policy for trash; they don’t have trash cans anywhere. Many states are trying to save money on operational costs for state parks and trash collection is one way they doing it.

I was sad to discover how much trash is left in the parks rather than being carried out by the people that carried it in.

In the Patapsco Valley State Park in Maryland there were beer bottle caps, a hub cap, socks, empty water bottles, a broken grill, pieces of plastic (some looked like pieces of plastic ware…some I couldn’t tell what it had been), and broken glass. Wading in the Patapsco River we found broken glass and pieces of pottery. The patterns on the pottery looked old; the age of the glass was indeterminate; either way I was glad I had on water shoes.

At Stony Brook State Park it was much the same although the trash was right at the water’s edge; the next rain would wash it downstream; the trash included crushed aluminum cans, a baby’s soiled diaper, empty water bottles, empty and full soft drink bottles, and beer bottles.

In both places there was a lot of trash - too much to rationalize as accidents. It was apparent that some people were carrying in….but not carrying out anything at all. It is probably the minority of people….but it is a messy (and potentially toxic) behavior.

Do the parks remind people as they enter the park (the person in the kiosk looking the driver in the eye) that they need to carry their trash out with them? Not in any of the parks we visited. It seems like that would be a minimal thing that should happen. Maybe people are not fully away of Carry In - Carry Out since it has not always been like that.

I saw one stand that had plastic bags for people to take to gather their trash to ‘carry out’ but I wonder how many people miss the display just as they ignore signs.

Or maybe the people that leave trash in State Parks are simply slobs and no amount of signage or verbal reminders will make a difference. Depressing - if true.

Growing In/On Rocks

I photographed a lot of organisms growing on the rocks when we made our tour of state parks in southern New York (Stony Brook, Robert H. Treman, Taughannock, and Letchworth). Most of the gorges are crumbling shale - small and large slabs. Since we are focused on waterfalls - some of the plants were cling to wet or damp rocks.

There were mosses and ferns that see to require very little soil

Others that grew in a bit more soil in the cracks…or lichen that grows on the surface of rock, breaking away small bits of the stone over long periods of time.

Any structure built of stones seemed to have colonized by something from algae to lichen to liverworts to mosses to ferns to higher plants. I enjoyed taking pictures of the small landscapes on the rock walls of the gorges and the walls/bridges that had been constructed for the trail. Enjoy my picks for the slideshow below!

Stony Brook State Park - August 2015

The first and last park we visited in our trek to state parks in New York back in August was Stony Brook State Park. The first time we were in the park was a hot Monday afternoon - and there were lots of people in the water. It was hard to get pristine pictures of anything. We returned during a damp and cool morning a few days later; the only other people in the park were park personnel!

There is a lot of moving water in the park: large falls and little trickles. The gray day made it easier to photograph.

My favorite of the images is a low falls - a little dark with the greens  and mists of late summer framing the water.

I liked the stone bridges

And wooden bridges.

Both had lichen and moss growing on their stone abutments.

There were some leaves that looked worn from summer…getting ready for fall.

There were berries ripening too.

There were a few cairns but not as many as we saw at Robert H. Treman State Park.

Last but not least - there was a spider waiting patiently in a web suspended from hemlock branches full of water droplets.

Robert H. Treman State Park - August 2015

Another New York State Park that we visited in August was Robert H. Treman State Park near Ithaca. We have hiked it before - in the fall of 2012 (blog post here). There was more water this time. My husband was do experiments photographing the waterfalls which gave be time to look at other things along the Gorge Trail…

The stone brides and walls of the trail through the narrow gorge

The view of the sky from the bottom of the gorge….the trees precariously balanced on crumbling sheets of shale.

Water droplets splattering on a ledge. It must be consistent enough to support the film of brilliantly green algae…or it is lichen.

Some wildflowers.

Cairns left the falls. They are evidence that people wade just about everywhere in the water on some days…but no on the day we were there.

Some imprints of plants long gone left in the shale.

The erosion of rock by smaller streams of water. Or maybe this falls is much larger when it rains.

And finally ---- waterfalls.

Through a Hospital Window

The view from my mother’s tenth floor window at the new William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital was of downtown Dallas…

And bridges.

Reunion Tower was easy to spot

And Southwest planes taking off from Love Field.

She was only in the hospital for one night...and it was an easy night. She slept well and we were up to see the sunrise. Reunion Tower’s lights were still on and the office buildings still glowed from the night lighting.

Then the horizon turned red and orange

Before the sun popped over a nearby building.

The pedestrian and shuttle structure for Southwestern Medical School snakes away from the hospital and around other nearby buildings.

Taughannock Falls State Park - August 2015

After passing through Montour Falls, we stopped by the overlook of Taughannock Falls. They were renovating the facilities at the overlook so parking was somewhat limited…and thunder was rumbling. We only stayed for about 15 minutes. We had been to the area (both the overlook and the trail at the bottom of the falls) many times when my daughter was living in nearby Ithaca.

The water falls from a great height (on the same order as Niagara Falls…but much less water). The overlook is from several levels.

I walked took the stairs down to the railing in the picture to the above and looked to see the bridge over the river below - part of the hike to the bottom of the falls.

I also zoomed to see the top of the falls. There is a curve in the stream not far from the rim…and I always wander where it goes.

There was one branch of read leaves that stood out in the otherwise green background….fall is on the way.

Letchworth State Park August 2015

We first visited Letchworth State Park (New York) in the spring of 2014 (posted about it here). It was a cook, wet day then. It was time for a return trip. This time we got a hotel in Mt. Morris which is near the northern entrance to the park. We drove all the way through the park to the upper falls and worked our way back.

The upper falls has a high railroad trestle overhead. The force of the water causes mist to rise from the base of the falls and the cliff walls to support tiny green plants.

The middle falls also creates lots of mist - enough to dampen the walkways to the side of the falls. The Inn is located near the middle falls.

The lower falls is narrower and there is a path to a footbridge over the river below it. There are 127 steps (or more the way we made our way down) to get to the bridge.

I’ve picked more pictures of our morning at Letchworth State Park for the slideshow below. I’ve kept them in chronological order.

• The mists over the river valley when we first drove into the park (1)
• The flowers, one red leaf on the dogwood, and hickory nuts at the visitor center (2-4)
• More views around the upper falls (included a spider with its shadow that was scurrying across a step) (5-8)
• Some birds from the walk I made between the upper and middle falls: blue jay and flicker in a picnic area, crows on the rocks at the top of the middle falls (9-10)
• Vegetation along the paths around the middle falls; my favorite is the macro of the underside of the morning glory (11-14)
• Plants and views from the hike down to the lower falls (15-19)