Sometimes when I look at plants….is see the embedded curves rather than the whole plant:
The spiral in the center of a new leaf
The tight role of another leaf…rather like a tortillon I use for smudging when I make traditional Zentangle tiles
The lazy accordion pleats in a narrow leaf (how did that happen?)
The wrapped petals of a swamp iris poised to open into a flower…overlapping curves within the bud framed by leaves.
I am still up early enough to see the sunrise….in Texas rather than Maryland. My parent’s house has a different sort of view; even though the power lines in their immediate neighborhood are underground, there are some larger power lines not that far away. Another difference this year is the silhouettes that reflect the impact of the very cold week that happened in this area of Texas last winter. The palm in the lower left is brown….maybe it will come out from the base again…or not. The tree on the right has no leaves at all; it is the only tree visible that is still bare. The other trees seem to have survived the cold and are full of leaves - usual spring selves.
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.
Top 25 birds of the week: Camouflage – Birds that blend in….a photography challenge sometimes – finding the bird then zoom in enough to make the bird easy to spot.
You Can Now Explore the Louvre's Entire Collection Online | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – Next best thing to being there.
The radical coral rescue plan that paid off – Restoration after Hurricane Iris hit Belize in 2001.
Experimenting with Tucson Night Lights – Streetlights accounted for only 13% of the light visible after midnight….so we need to address other types of lighting to reduce the impact of outdoor lighting. Streetlights have been the easiest to address because they are a single source, and the local government has direct control over them.
1,200-year-old children’s hand prints found in Mexican cave – Made by Mayan children…perhaps made during coming of age ritual…in black handprints at first…then red.
Pileated Visitation – The joy of having a pileated woodpecker around long enough to photograph.
Forget Stonehenge: the first know massive monuments are much older – 6th millennium BC (7,000 years ago) structures on the Arabia Peninsula. Mustatils built as monuments by cattle herders.
Bald Eagle Cams Are Active. Here are the best 4. – It’s the time of year to watch nest cams!
Prairie Ecologist – Photographs of the week – April 23 2021 – Prairie dandelions on different than the dandelions that come up in my yard in Maryland!
Photography in the National Parks: the yin and yang of a composition – A Rebecca Lawson post…beautiful and instructive.
Back in March, I browsed through books on Internet Archive illustrated by William Henry Bartlett that I hadn’t found in previous years. He was a prolific British artist; there would be a lot more books had he not died when he was 45 years old returning from a trip to the near east probably of cholera.
There are six books from my March browsing…and I selected 2 illustrations from each one.
Switzerland by William Beattie (1834)
Ireland Illustrated by George Newnham Wright (1800) along with other illustrators
Syria, the Holy Land, Asia Minor by John Carne (1836)
The Waldenses, or Protestant valleys of Piedmont, Dauphiny and the Ban de la Roche by William Beattie (1838)
Gleanings, pictorial and antiquarian, on the overland route by William Henry Bartlett (1851)
The ports, harbours, watering-places, and picturesque scenery of Great Britain by William Finden (1840)
As we cut the spent flowers from the clumps of iris around the yard (to keep the plants from expending energy growing seed pods) – we brought the flowers and buds inside for a bouquet on the table.
That bouquet created a great opportunity for macro photography of the ‘beards’ and frills of the petals. They are large enough that my 5x magnifier with light was sufficient to get the magnification I wanted. I experimented with different angles and tried to get at least one view of all the colors in the vase.
I read that pollinators hold onto the beard structure to enter and exit the flower in pursuit of nectar!
I celebrated my vaccine becoming fully effective (2 weeks following my second shot of the Moderna vaccine) during the 14th month of the pandemic. It was a significant milestone. The big change was feeling safe enough to set off on a road trip to see my parents; I hadn’t seen them since the January before the pandemic was declared.
There are non-critical appointments that are being scheduled now – dentist, eye doctor, haircuts. My parents may be mostly caught up on those types of appointments before I go back to Maryland; I’ll start catching up for myself by June.
What a difference from May 2020 when the news was dire – hospitals overflowing in some areas of the country and many deaths were in senior living/nursing homes. We know a lot more about the virus now and there are effective vaccines. It surprises me that we may not reach herd immunity for COVID-19 because there are too many people that are reluctant to get the vaccine. I remember in the 1960s with the roll out of the polio vaccine…everyone going to the local school for the sugar cube. It made polio an extremely rare occurrence very quickly. It is frustrating and sad that there is a segment of US society in 2021 that is seems to be focused on their right to not get vaccinated rather than their health and the health of others.
Trying to end on a more positive note….
I have gone back to carrying a purse rather than carrying minimal essentials (car key, credit card, id) in a wrist band. The purse has room for my mask although I still tend to put my mask on in the car before I walk across the parking lot into the store. I like to not be in a rush to put the mask on or do it while I am walking.
It’s hard to know how crowded a park will be so I generally carry the mask with me….and put it on if there are too many people sharing the trails. I am conscious of probably wearing the mask more than the new CDC guidance. As it gets hotter, I’ll pay close attention to the guidance and be keen to take the mask off whenever I can!
When I got to Texas the irises were blooming profusely. Now they are about done for the season. On a rainy afternoon I experimented with some indoor photography of some the last of the flowers…in high key mode (backlit, over exposed).
The flowers are frilly and fragile….lasting a short time once they are open. We cut the spent flowers and let the next bud on the stalk take over the show….until all the buds have opened. The stalks that bloomed outdoors are cut when the flowers are done to keep the plant from expending energy growing a seed pod.
I noticed that some of the flowers smell citrusy.
A few days after I got to Texas, there were some unusual clouds in the morning not long after sunrise. They looked like a series of barrel vaults in the sky! They persisted for at least 15 minutes.
Image the winds that were shaping the clouds into the repetitive curves….
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.
Top 25 Birds of the Week: Seedeaters! – Starting out the gleanings list with bird photographs.
Mapping tree inequality: Why many people don’t benefit from tree cover – Trees are an effective way to reduce the heat island effect within cities (i.e. where there are fewer trees it is hotter). Lower income communities tend to have fewer trees…and thus are hotter. As there are more hot days, the impact is becoming greater. There is also a beauty to trees…each one is an island of nature in a sea of concrete and asphalt. Increasing trees in cities and towns is an investment in physical and mental health!
Roman temple at Egyptian Emerald Mine – In the eastern Egyptian desert. The researchers found 19 coins, incense burners, bronze and steatite figurines, bones, terracotta body parts, and amulets.
Return of Brood X Cicadas – This brood emerges in the area where I live in Maryland. I am not there to see it, but I hope my husband can photograph some emerging cicadas. There should be lots of opportunities!
Invasive Jumping Worms Have Spread to 15 States – This species is in the middle of the country. I haven’t seen any yet in Texas, but they are in the state and my daughter might have them in Missouri. Hopefully, there will be a method to control them soon or the landscape of that area of the country could change…they are a small organism with a big impact.
A Retreat to Catoctin – This park is close (about an hour) from where I live in Maryland. I’ve been there many times….maybe not often enough.
Hopes and Weeping Trees: What’s up with the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker? – Neat rows of holes in tree trunks? There is a sapsucker around. Sometimes hummingbirds will come to get the sap dribbling out of the holes. I am always pleased to discover a tree that has been visited by a sapsucker; I noticed when I was at Mt. Pleasant this spring that the tree that was convenient to a hiking route for school field trips (pre-pandemic) has been cut down so I will hunt for another one to share with hikers.
Trove of 2,000-Year-Old Bronze Mirrors Found in Ancient Chinese Cemetery – 80 mirrors….ranging from 3-9 inches in diameter. There are other artifacts recovered from the same cemetery….maybe more stories to come as the excavations and analysis of finds continues.
Charting ice from above – The Icebird flights….flying low over ice and open water. What if feels like to be part of the crew.
National Parks Traveler Checklist: Padre Island National Sea Shore – My husband and I have been to parts of the Padre Island National Sea Shore for snippets of time. Our plan to visit in 2017 to see more of the park was cancelled after Hurricane Harvey…maybe we should add it to our post-pandemic travel plans!
Most of my experiences at hospitals is associated with my parents getting older and needing support during hospitalization. A week ago, another one was history. My sister and I organized 24-hour shifts to support a 4 day stay in the hospital (we each had 2 shifts) and now are supporting follow up appointments and at-home PT. It’s a time requiring focus - overcoming a lot of emotion, anxiety, sleeping on somewhat uncomfortable converted couches, and boredom during long waits. My favorite activities to keep the boredom at bay are making Zentangle tiles, reading, and making notes about what is happening/what I was thinking about. I’ll post the tiles I made at the hospital in another post.
Vaccination makes quite a difference in our anxiety about COVID-19; the hospital allowed limited visitors. Mask wearing (except when eating) was required. My KF-94 mask was comfortable for the long hours of wear, but my ears were increasingly tender by the second 24 hours. I was relieved that there was no need for another long duration round of mask wearing. The only time I took my mask off for more than a few minutes in the hospital was once to eat a sandwich in an outdoor picnic area (lots of grackle calls…very windy).
I also took pictures from the hospital room and nearby lobby. There were two rooms last week. The first was in the ICU and on the 7th floor of the hospital. The roof below the window was somewhat decorative and the front of the hospital with the two columns of water was also visible.
We moved out of the ICU in the middle of the night – up to the 10th floor and to the other end of the hospital. Note the different orientation of the two columns of water.
We had just settled into the new room…drifted off to sleep…when I heard a big noise and realized it was a helicopter. I sat up and saw it landing…noted that it was 2:10 AM…went back to sleep…the patient slept through everything. In the daylight – it was easy to see that the room looked down on the helipad for the hospital!
The height of the windows provided a good view of the Dallas skyline. I wondered how long it would take for the neat rows of trees planted at the front of the hospital to get big enough to be more forest like.
On my rare forays down to the 1st floor lobby for food – I realized that my favorite art along the long hall was a work that depicts wildflowers of Texas. Many of them have such distinctive shapes that they are identifiable in silhouette.
Overall – the pandemic protocols did make this hospital stay a bit different (masks, limited visitors, less ‘stuff’ coming home) than our previous experience. The fundamental goal happened - the patient got better and came home. That is success.
When I took my car in for service before I left on my road trip to Texas – I noticed the kale that overwintered in the planters while I was waiting for my car to be driven out of the garage…took a few minutes to photograph the foliage and the flowers.
When I took my car in for service before I left on my road trip to Texas – I noticed the kale that overwintered in the planters while I was waiting for my car to be driven out of the garage…took a few minutes to photograph the foliage and the flowers.
I am realizing that finding little pockets of beauty around me – wherever I happen to be – is something I’ve trained myself to do. In this case I was surrounded by concrete, asphalt, car dealership…but the planters were what I noticed while I waited. The pandemic has probably heightened my need and skill in finding/savoring beauty – often documenting it with some phone photography. It’s one of the coping skills I do almost automatically these days.
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.
This Map Shows You the Odds of Finding a New Species in Your Neighborhood | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – In most of the North America, the odds are small…but there are some hot spots.
How our microplastic waste becomes 'hubs' for pathogens, antibiotic-resistant bacteria -- ScienceDaily – Another way that microplastics cause problems. The material is changing the composition and activity within wastewater treatment sludge.
How your sense of smell predicts your overall health - BBC Future – What about people with chronic stuffy noses from allergies or responses to poor air quality? Wouldn’t nose stuffiness reduce the sense of smell somewhat?
Twin Birth Rates Have Soared Globally in the Last Three Decades | Smart News Science | Smithsonian Magazine – Having children later in life and medically assisted reproduction are thought to be the cause.
Top 25 birds of the week: April 2021! - Wild Bird Revolution – Beautiful birds…I always enjoy the 25 pictures each week.
Discarded Covid-19 Masks and Plastic Gloves Are Killing Wildlife | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – Ugh! I’m always upset if I see PPE litter; disposable of them properly so they don’t escape into the environment. I will be following the suggestions of ‘snipping the straps on disposable masks’ before I put mine in the trash. I haven’t been using gloves…just soap/water and hand sanitizer.
Thurston Lava Tube Open Again at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park - I walked this trail! Glad it is reopened for people to enjoy.
Small farms outdo big ones on biodiversity — and crop yields: Research Highlights – Hurray for small farms.
Beaver? Otter? Muskrat? A Field Guide to Freshwater Mammals – Look at the pictures – how many can you identify?
Climate change cut global farming productivity 21% since 1960s -- ScienceDaily – The changing climate has made subtle changes that add up to the impact on farming productivity. Evidently the impact is greatest in areas that were already hotter.
I browsed the 1966 to 1984 volumes of The American Museum of Natural History’s magazine available on Internet Archive in March 2021. There will be more browsed in April. I collected a few images from each volume ... all the volumes are well worth looking through.
In 1966, the infographic (I’m sure they didn’t call it that in 1966) about spider webs was well done
And I enjoyed the bird pictures by Basil Ede.
Then there were images if flowers and mushrooms and Persian artifacts…carnivorous plants, flamingoes… that I picked from the 1967 to 1972 volumes (this was the time period I was in grade 7-12).
In 1973 there were seed pods (lotus, magnolia, London Plane)), a small racoon, fall leaves, and a turkey…marking the seasons.
In 1974 to 1977 my image picks are hermit crabs, volvox, Mesa Verde (which my husband I visited during this time), and a frog. My husband got his undergraduate degree and I was working full time/going to college part time.
In 1978 there were some beautiful images of seeds in flight.
1979 included many articles that were interesting to me: skunk cabbage, Pompeii, and the 17-year cicadas.
In 1980 there was an article about how snakes shed their skin.
The 1981 volume is missing from the Internet Archive collection. In 1982 there were a lot of articles that interested me – about Jack-in-the-Pulpits and lichens…jewel weed and nautiluses….
And then endemic Hawaiian plants and birds. 1982 was the year my husband and I finished our formal schooling…he had a PhD in Physics and I had a MS in Math.
1983 included a great picture of an Egret in Florida…1984 some parasitized caterpillars. 1983 was a pivot year for us because we move away from Texas and to Virginia/Maryland pursuing our careers.
Overall – I enjoy browsing through the annual volumes of this magazine….thinking about what I was doing at the time they were originally published.
My whole family has stayed well and the majority are now fully vaccinated….the big celebration for the month (and maybe the whole year).
2nd COVID-19 shot. It felt great to be a part of the potential ‘beginning of the end’ of the pandemic. Celebrating that I managed to not get the virus over the past year…and am now fully vaccinated.
Howard Country Conservancy Volunteering. It is a different type of volunteering than I did before but a little step back to doing outdoor volunteering that I enjoy. Celebrating being at Mt Pleasant in the spring.
Brookside Gardens tulips and wood thrush. Celebrating that I am able to see the springtime gardens this year.
South Mountain mini roadtrip. Celebrating that I was able to regain my confidence to dive on 70 mph speed limit highways.
Sunrise at Wegmans. Celebrating doing my own in person grocery shopping….at sunrise.
My daughter bidding on a beautiful house in Springfield. Celebrating my daughter and son-in-law finding a house they both like a lot (they are in the process of buying it now).
Carolina wren singing in the early morning. Every spring the birds are very vocal in our neighborhood. I celebrate hearing – and recognizing – their song.
Getting to Dickson TN. It was a long day of driving – over 13 hours. It was a relief – and celebration – when I finally got to the hotel room! And then getting on the road again a sunrise the next morning.
Seeing my parents again after more than a year. Celebrating family….coming out of the long distance separation the pandemic caused.
Josey Ranch and the Pocket Prairie. Celebration birds and wildflowers near my parents home.
My morning walk at Josey Ranch (Carrollton, Texas) started at the Pocket Prairie which is easily accessed from the library parking lot. This is a great time of year for wildflowers. The grasses are high this year and make the wildflowers harder to see; on the plus side – the grasses probably protected the flowers from the colder temperatures over the past week. The insects still find the flowers when the temperatures get warm enough for insects to be active. I was disappointed that the only bluebonnets I saw were ones that has been cut by the weed eater during trail maintenance. There were probably more down in the grass that I missed. There were bluebonnets growing along the interstate from Tyler to Dallas, so they are probably not done with their season yet. I’ll go to the Pocket Prairie again next week.
I left my car parked near the Pocket Prairie when I walked over to the lake (to photograph birds). Along the way, I noticed the grackles all leaving the trees with noise of a train and positioned myself to get a picture of it (and some fishermen). Evidently the trains are not as frequently as they were in years past; I was in accidentally in the right place at the right time!
The day was cold and gray but there were a few interesting birds I saw at Josey Ranch (Carrollton, TX). The Boat-trailed Grackles are there every time I’ve visited. The males were constantly posturing and chasing each other. There was a female gathering nest material in front of the library.
There were not many ducks this visit but a group of Canada Geese were making their way from the grassy area to the water and they seemed to be getting drinks as soon as they reached the water (note the head tilt of the bird in the foreground…swallowing the water).
One goose had a feather sticking straight up on its back – a distinctive look!
Great Egrets are frequently sighted around the lake.
One special treat this year – last year’s cattail foliage is flattened rather than still upright which makes the Mute Swans’ nest visible right now (until the new grow gets high enough to hide it). They were both at the nest when I was there. These are not native birds to North America….but they are widespread here and have been at Josey Ranch for years.
A surprise for me was the juvenile Little Blue Heron that was just beginning to develop adult plumage. It was the most actively feeding bird while I was there, but I didn’t see it catch anything!
Another bird I have seen occasionally at Josey Ranch previously was a Yellow-Crowned Night Heron. If I had not seen it fly into the a stand of cattails, I wouldn’t have see it since it was standing still and seemed to blend with the gray of the day.
Overall – a good group of birds to see in less than 20 minutes!
The road trip from Maryland and Texas was done in two days…stopping in Dickson TN for the night. It was done on a weekend when I thought the traffic would be lighter. It was a pretty drive with redbuds blooming along the highway. Virginia apparently plants them along the interstate. The dogwoods were beginning to bloom as well. I got through Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, and half through Tennessee on the first day. I tried to take pictures at the rest stops which were all open along the route. Virginia seems to have more frequent ones that the other states.
The adaptive cruise control made the driving easy….until I got into Tennessee and there was an accident that closed the highway. Traffic was stopped for over an hour – no way to detour. It made the day longer and more exhausting. I was glad that the daylight lasted until I was at the hotel. I opted to eat food from the ice chest rather than get a takeout or drive through meal.
The second day drive started at sunrise at the Best Western and ended at my Parents house. The route was through the rest of Tennessee (some fog in the morning), then Arkansas (lots of construction around Little Rock and a huge traffic jam when the construction took the Interstate down to a single lane), and Texas. The rest stops were open except in Arkansas where several were closed.
There was another Interstate closing accident when I was only a hour away from my destination but there was a detour around it that my nav system guided me through – so it only added about 30 minutes to my arrival time.
Overall – there are some lessons learned from the road trip that I will apply on the way back:
I had rounded up on the food/drinks I had in the car with me and that worked well since stopping for takeout/drive through would have been stressful.
I drank a Gatorade on both days because I felt like my hands were going to cramp by the end of the day. I’ll do it again for the trek home.
Most people were masked at Interstate rest stops…but not always at the inside part of gas stations (I stopped a Love’s and Shell). On the way home, I’ll prioritize stopping at rest stops to avoid going into facilities at gas stations. Even though I am fully vaccinated – I am not comfortable being around people inside buildings that are not masked.
The motel worked well. Checking in was quick – with a person behind a clear barrier in the lobby – and the lobby was otherwise empty. The air conditioning/heating was on an outer wall of the room – not shared. I ran my air purifier for about 30 minutes before I took off my mask but that was probably not necessary. I’ll look for similar accommodation for the trek home.
Doing the drive from Maryland to Texas in two days is overwhelming if there are serious accidents that close the Interstate along the route. I arrived exhausted. Next time I make the trek, I’ll consider 3 days and plan some sight seeing along the route if there are not accidents that slow down the drive. My route home from this trip will be up to Springfield for a few days before heading back to Maryland….so a different route and shorter drive days.
Frank Southgate did 48 colored/29 uncolored illustrations for William Alfred Dutt’s book The Norfolk Broads published in 1906. It’s available on Internet Archive and I enjoyed browsing the illustrations – watery land and birds. I have selected 6 favorites for the slideshow below.
Frank Southgate lived in the area he illustrated most of his life according to Wikipedia. He was best known for his paintings of waterfowl and hunting scenes. He died relatively early (44 years old) while serving in the Army during World War I. I found another book with his illustrations mentioned in the Wikipedia entry that is also available on Internet Archive - Notes of an east coast naturalist; a series of observations made at odd times during a period of twenty-five years in the neighborhood of Great Yarmouth by Arthur Henry Patterson; I’ve bookmarked it in my browser…the digital equivalent of adding it to a stack of ‘to read’ books!
As soon as I got my vaccination, I began to make plans for a road trip from Maryland to Texas to see my parents. During the last week before I was fully vaccinated (i.e., the second week after the second shot), I made hotel reservations as a halfway point, got my car serviced and fueled (it was the first gas I had bought since last fall), and did some grocery shopping to stock up supplies for my husband at home and purchase what I would need for the road. It was the first time I had shopped in the store for months! I got there a few minutes after sunrise and stopped to take a picture before I went into the store.
I was appreciating the springtime in our neighborhood too. The maples are going to seed. The tree in our back yard looks golden compared to the spring green of the tulip poplars of behind it. Soon the leaves will dominate, and the maple will look green too…but I’ll be in Texas by the time that happens. It felt odd to realize I would not be at home for over a month after not traveling at all for over a year.
My plan for the road trip was to minimize interactions with people along the way which meant carrying enough food and drinks in the car…lots of hand sanitizer…a supply of masks. The drive would be a pretty one with trees and wildflowers along the interstates, but I was more anxious than usual because of the impact of the pandemic. I was not the only one that was getting out for the first time in over a year…and it was hard to predict how the places where I’d stop along the route through Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas would be. Would people wear masks? Would the rest stops all be open? Would they be crowded? Would the motel indeed be as I expected…with minimal interaction to get checked in?
Stay tuned for a post in a few days about my road trip….
Continuing the photographic tour of Brookside Gardens from yesterday’s post….
I always make an effort to see the deciduous magnolias blooming at Brookside and they were at the top of my ‘to see’ plan for this mini road trip. The first one I saw was quite a shock. All the flowers had been destroyed by the frosts. The tree won’t be producing any seeds this year. The drying remains of the flowers were glowing in the morning light….interesting looking but ultimately not positive for the tree.
I would occasionally see a tree that I thought might have escaped the frost damage
But a closer look always showed that the flowers were damaged. The might still be intact enough to draw insects and maybe produce seeds.
At least one tree had buds that looked normal – the late bloomer might be the one with the successful seed production this year.
The tulips are the other big display in April. Some of the beds also had fading hyacinths. I like to photograph tulips that appear to be glowing from within….and there were several situations that provided the opportunity for that.
Benches at Brookside always look appealing to me but I rare sit down. Usually I am walking around, taking pictures of anything that looks interesting. Maybe I should try something different next time I visit….pick a spot and sit for a bit.
A project idea – maybe take pictures of tree trunks that includes the name of the tree (many of the trees at Brookside are labeled like this. It would be good to have as a reference.
I always like the stone sphere sculpture. Sometimes there are early butterflies that warm up in the sunshine around it…but I didn’t see any while I was there.
On the way back to the car, I stopped again to photograph the lush horsetail bed at one corner of the visitor center….and that was the last stop of my walk. The parking lot was filling up and I was glad I had come early enough to avoid the crowd.
Copyright © 2024, Gwen Morrison. All rights reserved.
Celebrating the whole of life....
Thanks for visiting my blog! Enjoy the photo picks from 2023:
Copyright © 2024, Gwen Morrison. All rights reserved.
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