Mt. Pleasant Farm – March 2017

Last week, the group of volunteer naturalists for the elementary school field trips met at Mt. Pleasant Farm for a walk around the hiking routes for all the programs. I have been doing the hikes for several years so was paying attention for changes but that left time for some photography. There were scilla bulbs blooming on the lawn in front of the farmhouse (non-native and maybe invasive too); they are small but the touch of blue draws the eye.

I was more pleased with catching a dogwood bud just opening. I sought out a dogwood tree when I walked around the National Arboretum this weekend…more about that in tomorrow’s blog post.

The expansion of the Gudelsky Center is on schedule although it won’t be available for the spring field trips.

Further long the hike, we were along the stone wall and I was looking at the rocks – typical of this part of Maryland – and the lichen. Sometimes the patches of symbiotic algae and fungus (maybe with some yeast too) look like squashed flowers to me.

The stream restoration is nearing completion. There are small plants coming up through the mesh along the banks. The upside down trees (roots up!) will be habitat for little creatures. The riffles had water trickling through them. The rain from the previous day had left puddles along the banks…just like it is supposed to (will they last long enough to produce tadpoles?).

Further along the lightning scared standing tree has obvious wood boring insect and woodpecker holes in the scar.

After walking the route for the hikes, I went off in the other direction to check a place where I’d seen skunk cabbage precious years…but not when we did the hike back in February. It’s up now although the hoods over the flowers are past prime…and the leaves are unfurling.

Zentangle® – March 2017

I thought February was a big Zentangle month (with 90 tiles)…but I stopped counting before the end of the month in March at 121 tiles! Yes – there are 3 more days in March than there are in February but the increased production was more because I needed the extra Zen during March to savor the length of time I’ve had with elderly family members rather than going into a grief cycle.

I am still enjoying the Ultra Fine Point Sharpie pens I got last month…and making tiles from Seltzer water boxes and using the backs of old business cards. I picked 31 of the 120+ tiles to feature in this post.

There are three sizes of tiles from March just as there were in February. My favorite of the 3.5 x 3.5 inch squares looks somewhat botanical. The color of the tile and the melon ink….and the startling black of the collection of black circles …appeals to be every time I look at the tile.

And then there are 18 more of that size tile.

My favorite of the reused business cards is quite different but still will black highlights and then color around the black. The purple looks almost chalky.

And there are 7 more of the business card tiles.

The last group are 4 x 3 inch card stock tiles. My favorite of this group…and the month…is below. It reminds me of a transit map or a petroglyph (a dancing figure with a giant headdress.

And there are 3 more of that size tile.

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The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. "Zentangle" is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 1, 2017

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.

Articles on women in STEM, March 2016-2017 (Women’s History Month) – A collection of links to articles that examine gender (in)equality and (in)equality in science.

Embrace Spring with Pictures of Japan’s Cherry Blossoms –  From National Geographic.

Carbon Dioxide emissions are flat for a third year running, but the economy continues to grow – Economic growth doesn’t require an increase in greenhouse gases! The US actually had a 3% reduction in emissions in 2016 and a 1.6% growth in the economy.

20+ Stunning Nature Tunnels – From around the world. The main street in my neighborhood seems like a tunnel with the trees meeting overhead during the summer.

Top 25 wild bird photographs of the week # 80 – Which one is your favorite in this set of bird pictures? Mine is the red-tailed hawk about mid-way through although the green heron is a close second.

World Tuberculosis Day – 1.8 million people died from tuberculosis in 2015. Article and infographic from Compound Interest.

Target Ruin & Ballroom Cave – A hike with young children in Bears Ears National Monument.

How noisy is your neighborhood? – Read the story then check out the interactive version of the map here. If you live in the US – zoom in on an area you are familiar with. Where I live is light orange because of the airport noise.

Rare ‘Super Bloom” Bursts California Desert to Life with Vibrant Wildflowers – A little rain…and the desert blooms.

Plant Evolution & Pollinator Type Much More Intimately Associated Than Supposed – What does it matter that the Earth is losing bumble bees? The article talks about one of the implications.

Fast Salads

This time of year – I am buying all my produce at the grocery store with the locally grown produce seasons still a couple of months away. Once the season starts there will be a lot more cleaning and cutting to make a salad. Right now I am savoring that I can buy my salad ingredients in nearly ready to eat form: mixed leafy greens and purples,

Broccoli and cabbage slaw, and carrot sticks.

I combine them in my salad bowl and use scissors to cut them in to smaller pieces (no cutting board or knife required).

Shelled soybeans and salad dressing goes on top.

Lunch is ready in under 10 minutes!

Cherry Blossoms

It hasn’t been a great year for cherry blossoms in our area. We had a mostly warm February then some very cold days just as the cherry trees were beginning to bloom in Washington DC – where we usually go to view the large number of trees around the tidal basin.. The cherry tree in our yard is usually later that the trees The District…and it was not as damaged by the frosty days. Unfortunately – it is not situated well for whole tree pictures but I did get some pictures of the flowers themselves this week.

One of my sisters is in Salt Lake City, Utah this week and their trees are blooming right now too. She sent me some pictures that are more typical of the ones I take when we walk around downtown DC….just not this year.

Zooming – March 2017

I decided against creating collages this month for the zoomed images and tried to pick images I had not used elsewhere. Early in the month there is a little winter weather and I used the camera to create some zoomed images through my office window: snow on maple blossoms and

The top of our bird feeder.

Then it was onto some warmer March days: new leaves on a rose bush trimmed last fall,

Dutch iris in a garden in Texas, and

A cat surveying the neighborhood from the top of a gate (also in Texas).

A few days later – there were lots to zoom items at the Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh: a slipper orchid,

A Chihuly bowl, and

The inside of a tulip.

The following day there were the birds at the National Aviary: an ibis,

Flamingo feet,

A hornbill (with feathers that look like very long eyelashes and a lot of cracks and scars on the bill), and

The complex features of an Andean condor.

Back in Maryland – the bark of a persimmon tree and

The delicate petals of a daffodil that survived snow and ice a few days prior to this picture.

Photographs through my Office Window – March 2017

I travelled enough during March that I missed seeing some birds that visited our backyard. I did see a Northern Flicker that seemed very interested in the area where a large branch was torn from a forest tree behind our house…probably insects there.

The crows come to inspect the debris in the gutter of our neighbor’s house. There are plenty of tulip poplar seeds still flying from the trees.

The blue jays are frequent visitors. This one is fluffed against the cold.

The juncos are still around and chase other birds away from our feeder. They’ll be leaving to head north soon. This one was in the maple tree…on a cold day.

The doves were around to get a drink of water from our heated bird bath…this one flue up to the roof of our covered deck afterward.

The most exciting visitor was the pileated woodpecker. My husband saw the bird first – in our sycamore…and then it flew to a pine. It inspected all the pots on a neighbor’s deck then flew to the roof of our covered deck.

I managed to photograph a squirrel in the sycamore just before it made the leap to our deck. It gets a drink at the heated bird bath and sometimes tries to get seed from our feeder (but has not succeeded in dumping the feeder yet!).

And then there was the landscape pictures of our backyard: highlighted tracks (human) through the snow and

The forest on a foggy day (yesterday).

3 Free eBooks – March 2017

It was challenging to pick 3 ebooks this month since I enjoyed so many.

Holme, Charles (editor). The Old Water Colour Society: 1804-1904. London: Offices of “The Studio.” 1905. Available from Hathi Trust here. In the time before color photography --- water colors were a popular way to capture scenes of life. I liked this one of children outdoors…fishing.

Horwood, A. R. A new British flora: British wild flowers in their natural haunts. London: Gresham. 1919. Six volumes available from multiple sources via Hathi Trust here. When I see books like this, I wonder how many of these plants still survive as wild flowers. A lot has changed in the almost 100 years since this books was written. Still – I always enjoy the botanical drawings and recognize some of the plants.

Pyne, W.H. The History of the Royal Residences of Windsor Castle, St. Jamesʼs Palace, Carlton House, Kensington Palace, Hampton Court, Buckingham House, and Frogmore. 1819. Three volumes available from Internet Archive: volume 1, volume 2, Volume 3. Note publication the date. The illustrations in these volumes show what the rooms were liked about 200 years ago! The picture I’ve clipped to demonstrate the type of illustration is from Carlton House.

Ten Little Celebrations – March 2017

March was a more hectic month than usual….but full of lots of little celebrations!

Potluck lunch. There was the potluck lunch for volunteer naturalists at the Howard County Conservancy – celebrating our time together for training…getting ready for the field trips that will start in the next few weeks and continue until June. The food is always luscious.

Snow. We haven’t had much snow this year…the first one of more than an inch was this month – much later than usual. I celebrated the beauty of it all and that I didn’t have to get out in it until the streets were all cleared by plows and salt application.

Ancient Egypt course. I celebrated the last modules of the Coursera course --- and am savoring the book written by the teacher.

There were three celebrations involving travel in March:

Old friends. I celebrated visiting with people that have known me my whole life…savoring the time with them. I also celebrated renewing friendship with someone I had not seen in 40 years!

Phipps Conservatory. I like conservatories…and this one in Pittsburgh was one to celebrate.

National Aviary. The walk around the National Aviary in Pittsburgh was a hours long celebration of the diversity of bird life --- and becoming very aware of the fragility of that diversity around the world.

And then there were outdoor activities and photography to celebrate:

Brookside Garden skunk cabbage. It finally was up even though the plants looked like they were trying to hide again under the bald cypress needles from last fall.

Rockburn Branch macroinvertebrates. Yes – is was part of training…but I always celebrate that we find the creatures so easily.

Pileated Woodpecker. We had one the visited our yard – scouting apparently. The birds was on the sycamore at first, then on a neighbors deck, then the trunk of a pine tree, and the roof of our covered deck…finally into the maple tree. I had lots of opportunities for pictures.

Khepri (morning) light. I liked the Ancient Egypt class so much – I am calling the excellent light for photography that happens as the sun comes out after the Ancient Egyptian god for sunrise and rebirth…celebrating that time of day!

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 25, 2017

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.

Un-sweetened: How a Maryland County Cut Soda Sales Without a Soda Tax – A story from the county where I live…how soda sales were reduced by 20%...fruit drinks by 15% --- via TV, outdoor advertising, social media, health care professionals and a new local law that promotes access to healthier food and drink options on local government property (such as vending machines at parks and other government buildings).

The biggest energy challenged facing humanity – One point that this article makes: in the future, some appliances (like dish washers) will run when electricity is most available/least expensive. I already have that situation with my Prius Prime – I charges in the middle of the night when electricity from our utility is at the lowest rate. If I had solar panels on my house….I would charge it on sunny days!

Painting the National Parks with Wildflowers – Spring is a great time to get out and explore not just national parks…but local natural areas at well. Finding wildflowers is the joy of spring!

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #78 and #79 – Lots of great bird pictures. My favorite in the first set is the kingfisher with the tadpole. In the second set, I like the spotted owlet peeking out from the trunk of a tree

Picturing Birds at Risk – More birds….these are ones that were once common in the US…but have declined dramatically recently.

Should we manage for rare species or species diversity – The challenges of managing ecosystems…species diversity and ecological resilience can be counter to management for rare or conservation species.

The controversial plan to tunnel beneath Stonehenge – Not directly under….but close…and new discoveries around Stonehenge extend the area of the ancient site. It becomes a complicated project!

Twelve Famous Female Chemists – An Infographic that came out for International Women’s Day. How many of these women have you heard of?

1.7 Million Children Died Every Year from Unhealthy Environments, WHO Reports – “A polluted environment is a deadly one – particularly to young children.” 1 in 4 deaths that occur before the age of 5 are not related to environmental problems.

Are you pre-sick? and Do you need an annual checkup? – Both of these articles came out from Berkley Wellness recently. It is worth considering over checking… and then unnecessary treatment…when it comes to our health.

On the Road in Pittsburgh

We visited my daughter and son-in-law in the Squirrel Hill area of Pittsburgh and the pizza place where we ate dinner has a painting of itself as part of its decorations! We sat by a window…but not the one that was by the fire hydrant.

I took some pictures of the city as well as we were driving (my husband at the wheel…so I was not being a hazard on the road): University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning (I have heard that they decorate for the rooms for Christmas….something to see next December),

Bridges (the challenge of having so many rivers through the city), and

Cliff faces with development just above the river and then on the cliff top…with incline (rail…funicular) transport between the two.

I already have some sightseeing objectives for out next trip to the city! My husband and I will be visiting the city several more times while my son-in-law continues his postdoc at the University of Pittsburgh…plenty of time to explore the city.

National Aviary – Pittsburgh

We got to the National Aviary in Pittsburgh just after it opened at 10 AM....early enough to find parking very easily in the aviary’s parking lot. It was a good outing on a cold day just as the Phipps Conservatory had been the day before. A few of the exhibits are birds in large cages or enclosures but most the birds are in open areas and sometimes they will walk right up to where you are standing on the walk. It makes taking pictures a lot easier.  I developed a strategy for causing my camera to autofocus on the bird rather than the wire mesh or smudged glass (pick birds further from the wire mesh, point the camera at something else that was about the distance to the bird…then go back to the bird). The snowy owl in the slide show below was photographed using that technique. All the birds were inside except for the snowy owl, bald eagle, and Andean Condor (near the end of the slide show).

Something l learned that surprised me was about penguin’s beaks. They get furrows in them starting at the part closest to the head and extending further toward the tip as they older. This is an old penguin!

Phipps Conservatory – Pittsburgh

It was very cold the day we visited the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens last week. I only went outside once…drawn by the red branches of a Japanese maple…and then quickly went back inside to enjoy the lush plantings that bask in the glass house warmth even in winter.

As usual – I was drawn to closer looks at cactus spines.

There were a lot of people working on garden decorations for the spring exhibit that will debut this week. Some were made of plants or plant materials…all were set among beds that develop over the months of the exhibit. I think my favorite was the rabbit with a dried hydrangea flower for a tail. The three bears with a hobbit like house were in the same area.

Fiddle head ferns are another classic draw for me to photograph.

The orchids were in a room with glass figures (long, slender…as alien looking as the orchids themselves). Slipper orchids are always my favorites.

I finally understand how ‘screw pines’ got their name. The way the leaves come off the trunk really is just like a screw. When I saw one in Hawaii, I was more interested in the fruit….didn’t even look closely at the trunk.

I’ve grouped the ‘best of the rest’ in these last collages. There were so many great plants to photograph…and the conservatory was not very crowded the afternoon we were there. I want to go again already!

Phipps Conservatory Chihuly Glass – Pittsburgh

The times I had been to Pittsburgh in the past offered no time for touring so I looked at places that could be enjoyed on the cold days we were in the city. On our first day in the city, my husband and I walked around the inside of the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens (i.e. the Conservatory). We easily found parking in the Conservatory parking and I discovered it was difficult to get the whole conservatory in one image!

There was a lot to see inside too….so much that I am dividing it into 2 posts (today and tomorrow). The focus today is on the Dale Chihuly glass sculpture that is nestled in the plantings. The glass often has plant-like forms…but draws the eye with brilliant color.

The large ruffled edge bowls look like flowers.

At other times, the glass blends in with its surrounds. Is it glass or a very unusual plant?

Then there are the chandelier pieces that are suspended over the plants like an alternative sun.

Some are so complex that I find myself enjoying them for a second or third look via my camera zoom.

Tomorrow I’ll focus on the plants in the Phipps Conservatory.

Road Trip to Pittsburgh

Our Maryland neighborhood was snowy when we started out after the morning traffic. The roads were clear and my husband savored the adaptive cruise control in his new car once we got on the highway.

We’re becoming more familiar with the South Mountain rest stop in Interstate 70 these days. The walks and roadways were clear but there were piles of snow everywhere else. It was cold and breezy at the place….this picture makes it look a lot warmer than it was.

I liked the side at Pennsylvania Welcome Center further on. By this time in our drive, the clouds had come in. The closer we got to Pittsburgh the colder it seemed to get and at one point it started to snow sideways (because of the stiff breeze).

I attempted to get pictures of ice flows that were on many of the roadcuts through the Allegheny Mountains. My favorite is the one with the truck since it demonstrates how big some of the icicles were.

More posts from our time in Pittsburgh over the next few days….

Prius Prime and Samsung Galaxy S7

I thought for sure I’d made a road trip sometime during my second month owning the Prius Prime but we took the new Honda CR-V for the road trip to Pittsburgh (more on that in the posts over the next few days). I’ve included a picture of the car with a backdrop of snow piles at the South Mountain rest top on Interstate 70.

We did tease out about how much the electricity cost to charge the Prius Prime for my “around town” driving: the car got about 300 miles on about $5 of electricity!

I’ve had my Samsung Galaxy S7 for about a month….have most of the apps I’ll use frequently loaded. I leave it on my desk when I am at the computer – plugged in so when I leave it is always fully charged.

I added the app for my grocery store (Wegmans) so I can see the coupons I clipped electronically, experimented a little with the iNaturalist app for BioBlitz and used several apps while I was traveling recently: FlightView (to get the current info for my air travel), the Accuweather forecast for where I am and where I am going, and texts to people I need to connect arrival and meetings. I also have started using the phone for (Kindle book) reading on the plane.  I bought a lanyard phone holder so the phone is attached to me (without me dedicating a hand to it) in the grocery store and on the plane. I’m still experimenting with the length of the lanyard but the holder part works very well and will attach to just about any lanyard.

I’m very pleased with my 2017 tech purchases and am still learning how to best apply them --- using the technology effectively for the way I want to live.

Previous Posts about the Prius Prime: My New Car – a Prius Prime, Prius Prime – Week 1, Prius Prime – Month 1

Previous Posts about the Samsung Galaxy S7: A New Phone

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 18, 2017

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.

WHO’s First-Ever List of the Dirty Dozen Superbugs – Bacteria resistant to our antibiotics are appearing more and more often…and the development of new antibiotics to treat them is not keeping pace.

Hotter days will drive global inequality – We’ll probably be seeing more of these types of projections as we see hotter weather. The temperature has an impact on so many things….some can be positive up to a point (like corn yields which increase up to a point…then decline sharply).

Ah-Choo! 11 Fun Facts about Sneezing – How many of these ‘fun facts’ did you already know?

Why China’s internet use had overtaken the West – The number of internet users in China exceeded the US in 2008…and they are leaping ahead using technology in a way that supports their culture rather than merely copying from elsewhere.

US Wind Energy Provided 5.5% of Nation’s Electricity in 2016, over 20% in 5 heartland states – Oklahoma, where I visited last weekend, generates 25.1% of their electricity from the wind. Hurray for them!

A tiny bug is upsetting Shenandoah National Park’s ecosystem – Aargh! The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (invasive insect) is killing hemlocks. The trees at Belmont Manor and Historic Park where I volunteer with the Howard Country Conservancy are infected….and dying too.

Why we can’t look away from our screens – I seem to be noticing more articles recently about addiction to modern digital products.

The Chemistry of Daffodils – In honor of spring. We got to enjoy our daffodils for a little while. Now most of them have been pushed into the mulch by the ice and snow that came along over the past week.

The last things that will make us uniquely human – In recent decades, we discovered that humans are not the only organisms to use tools…some we thought was once uniquely human. Now the ability of Artificial Intelligence maybe encroaching on what we think makes us unique. What will our value – our niche – be in the ecosystem of the future?

Diet and global climate change – Making dietary changes could dramatically reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, colorectal cancer and Type 2 diabetes (and associated health care costs) and greenhouse gases!

Josey Ranch Lake – March 2017

I saw a lot of the same birds on the lake at Josey Ranch in Carrollton TX as I did back in January. The coots were still around. A pigeons mingled with them in the first picture below. I observed more instances of them running on the water to take off into the air this time (second picture).

The ring-billed gulls were looking scruffy with their feathers ruffled by the wind.

There were several types of black birds making a lot of noise. This one was probably a great-tailed grackle.

A male and female mallard walked right up to me (see the toe of my shoe in the second picture below!). Maybe they thought I had bread for them. The female seemed to be trying to avoid several males that were trying to herd her in different directions.

The male pigeons were intent as well…and the females not enthusiastic about their pursuit.

The lesser scaup were still plentiful. They’ll be heading north to their breeding grounds in the as the season warms. There appeared to be a lot more males than females on the lake. (A coot mingled with the scaup in the third picture.)

There were a few northern shoveler ducks on the lake. The only one I got zoomed close and focused flew off just as I took the picture. The bright orange of the legs and feet are clearly visible.

The swans (mute swans…not native to North America)  are nesting. One was swimming on the lake (a juvenile?) while there appeared to be two more barely visible above the cattails and grasses…sitting on their nest. Hopefully I’ll be back at a time that the cygnet(s) would be out on the lake.

It was cold, cloudy, and blustery morning when it visited the area….I made it quick and headed back indoors…and then flew home to Maryland later in the day.

Memory Prompting Scenes

A row of daffodils blooming between the house and the road – connecting to outbuildings. In the other direction, the daffodils continued and a pear tree was in full bloom. The picture will remind me of the day I flew to Texas and drove to Oklahoma…to visit people that have known me my whole life and are now fragile. Every time I see them now is precious since there might not be another time.

The next night – the moon came up and a big crowd celebrated a birthday. I stepped outside into the cold and quiet for a few seconds for a few seconds…to create the memory scene of the event.

Back in Texas a few days later – a 20+ year old rose bush that was a birthday gift for my grandmother (maybe for her 80^th  birthday) was blooming.

 It has a dense stand of other flowers planted around its base.  The scene always reminds me of her and the gardening she enjoyed. That rose bush is a memorial to her more than the monument is the cemetery further away.

Last but not least - a garden scene...with pieces of travels and earlier times of our lives surrounded by greenery that gets more lush each year. Even most of the plants were obtained from other family gardens...evoking lots of good memories.

Art Seen on the Move

I made a quick trip from Maryland to Texas then Oklahoma…back to Texas and then home to Maryland….and used my new cellphone to take pictures of the ‘art’ along the way.

At BWI airport early in the morning, I noticed the Maryland scenes depicted in mosaics on the floor and on tables that are probably very busy later in the day.

Driving from the Dallas area toward Tulsa on I75, we stopped in Durant for lunch. Salitas (Tex-Mex food) is not far off the highway and has desert murals painted on the side.

After visiting family near Tulsa, we headed to Stillwater, OK for a visit with friends and then headed for home along I35. The rest stop had Teepee shaped structures over the picnic tables! Note that I didn’t take any ‘on the road’ pictures this trip; that is because I was the driver for the entire part of the trek made via automobile.

As I arrived at Love Field for my flight home, I paused a few extra seconds while I retrieved by boarding pass and driver’s license from my bag to take a picture of the colorful mosaic beside the security checkpoint. It’s size and position make it difficult to capture…but I always notice it and celebrate because I am heading home.