Our Missouri Neighborhood – March 2023

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The temperature has fluctuated wildly – from the teens to 70s this month. I took walks on two of the sunny days. We’ve had enough rain that the drainage into the ponds had running water on both days, and I stopped on the bridge to take pictures of leaves from last season in the rippling water. Oaks, maples, river birch, and red buds are represented.

There is almost always a pair of mallards about….and lots of robins.

Some branches from a magnolia in a nearby yard are upright in the pond. I wonder how long they will last…..or maybe someone is trying to root them (i.e. start new trees)?

The turtles are more active on warm days. They all appear to be red-eared sliders. Their snouts are usually all that is visible unless they are closer to shore or sunning on some high ground in the pond.

One day I started out in sunshine but there were more clouds than I anticipated. I took some landscape shots….experimenting with backlight and the curving walkway through the trees around our pond.

Some geese were on the walkway (and this time of year I give them space since they might be aggressive) so I went up to the street to complete the loop to my house. I noticed that the stormwater drain is labeled ‘no dumping – drains to river’ with a metal shield; in Maryland the labeling was painted onto the concrete.

The red maples are some of the earliest trees to bloom. The trees along the path don’t have low branches so my pictures of the flowers rely on my camera’s zoom.

Sometimes I photograph something because I didn’t anticipate it…the oak leaf stuck in the chain link of the tennis court is an example.

Another is the mats of algae on lower spillway between the two ponds. They had washed from the upper pond but are doomed to dry out on the spillway if another rain does not come soon. Still – they were ‘emerald isles’ at a time of year where there is still a lot brown in the natural world.

More Spring Yard Dreaming

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Back in February, I posted about the seeds I had bought for spring planting; now I have more purchases for planting as soon as it is warm enough: roots and bulbs:

Cone flower and black-eyed Susan roots for sunny flowerbeds….good for pollinators.

Cinnamon, Christmas, and Ostrich ferns to go in the deep shade under the holly trees and one of the bird feeders. I am trying to decide whether to move the rocks completely out of that area. There is landscaping fabric under the rocks that I need to remove so I’ll have to move them temporarily anyway.

Gladiolus to provide cut flowers. They bring back memories of my maternal grandparents who always had a lot of them in their summer garden. The flowers were planted along the side of the large vegetable garden closest to the road along with cannas. I will probably plant a few of the bulbs in the front flower beds but most will be where I can see them from my office window!

We are still having some cold days; it isn’t time to plant yet. But - I have been getting out on dry sunny days to begin the preparatory work. The big job is moving rocks aside and removing landscaping fabric on the places I want to plant!

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 18, 2023

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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.

A mixture of trees purifies urban air best – Conifers do a better job at gaseous components of pollution…and they do it all year round; this is particularly important since pollution can be at its highest in winter. Broadleaved trees are more efficient at cleaning the air particles, perhaps because of their larger surface area.

Once the Callery pear tree was landscapers’ favorite – now states are banning this invasive species and urging homeowners to cut it down – Back in the 1980s, the neighborhood I lived in organized to plant Branford pears along our streets. The neighborhood I moved to in the mid-1990s had mature Bradford pears; they were knocked down by Hurricane Isabel in 2003 (the trunk of the one in our neighbor’s yard broke close to the ground with a loud crack) and not re-planted. My neighborhood in Missouri was built in the late 1990s and there are some mature trees near the entrance.

Assessing the risk of excess folic acid intake – Too much or too little of a good thing (folic acid) may not be such a good thing.

School choice proposals rarely go before voters – and typically fail when they do – Public schools have been the backbone of American greatness. How do parents make choices to do otherwise? I suspect that sometimes a Charter School that looks great turns out to be something completely opposite because it is so difficult for individuals to gather enough information to evaluate a school. So - why are legislatures keen to support non-public schools?

The East Coast Whale Die-Offs: Unraveling the Causes – There have been headlines on this as a new challenge; this article includes some data collected so far. There have been periodic whale strandings earlier (back in 2016-2017) too. Almost all the carcasses this winter in New York and New Jersey had clear signs of vessel strike and many were juveniles. It appears that the feeding areas for whales have shifted due to warmer water and that shift has put them in areas with more ships (i.e., ports of New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia).

Mary Wollstonecraft: an introduction to the mother of first-wave feminism – A little history…but not just about feminism. “Liberation from oppression means being able to define ourselves and the direction of our lives. And this requires access to the intellectual resources and knowledge needed to develop independence of mind. This is Wollstonecraft’s most important message, and one that should speak to everyone regardless of gender.”

Cornell Study Finds Solar Panels Help Crops Grow & Crops Help Solar Panels Last Longer – Not all crops can grow under solar panels but enough of them do (like tomatoes and soybeans) that there is no reason for solar panels to reduce farmland!

Global warming is changing Canada’s boreal forest and tundra – It’s complex. In general, as temperatures warm, trees will colonize further north…but not at uniform rates in all regions.

Greater gender equity helps both women and men live longer – The study looked at 156 countries between 2010 and 2021 to assess the gender gap in life expectancy around the globe. The three dimensions included in the study were political, economic, and educational. Of the three, education has the strongest association with longer life expectancy. The study authors summarize: “the evidence demonstrates that enhancing women's representation across multiple sectors contributes to wealthier and, hence, healthier societies for all."

Less Than 1 Percent of People Globally Breathing Safe Levels of Pollution, Study Finds – Focusing on particulate pollution: particulate pollution has fallen in Europe and North America over the past two decades, but risen in sub-Sharan Africa, India, China, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, and the Caribbean. (see Lancet article with maps here).

Jessie Willcox Smith

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Jessie Willcox Smith was an American illustrator during the Golden Age of American Illustration, perhaps “one of the greatest pure illustrators.” There are 8 volumes with her illustrations available from Internet Archive featured in this ‘eBooks-of-the Week.’ Enjoy the sample images….and follow the links to see more.

Illustration: Jessie Willcox Smith  (1935)

Heidi (Spyri, Johanna) (1922)

Dream Blocks (Higgins, Aileen Cleveland) (1908)

At the Back of the Northwind (MacDonald, George) (1919)

The Princess and the Goblin (MacDonald, George) (1920)

The Water-babies (Kingsley, Charles) (1916)

The Seven Ages of Childhood (Wells, Carolyn) (1909)

Dickens's Children: 10 drawings  (1912)

The brief biographies I found online indicate that the artist was able to financially support herself and others through her art; she was talented…and she benefited from the somewhat more open ideas of the early 1900s about women working. She lived in homes with gardens where she could allow her young models to run and play while she painted. Toward then end of her life, she traveled to Europe for the first time; a year of so after she returned, she died in her sleep at 71.

Wikipedia biography, Encyclopedia.com biography

Dead Robin

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I was noticing that the top of the tennis court slab in my neighborhood was painted/sealed but the sides were not…and then I saw it: a dead bird, the red breast making it obviously a robin. It was outside the chain link enclosure of the tennis courts, on a narrow ledge of concrete. I started thinking about the cause of death, ruling out a predator because the whole bird was still there.

I took some additional pictures. The feet were curled but the zoomed image shows the joints and claws (no wonder birds are often referred to as the modern version of dinosaurs), the feathers were in disarray, and the eye was missing (or maybe just shrunk).

In the end, because of where the bird was – it seemed that perhaps the bird had tried to fly through the chain link fence! Its flight was fast enough that the wings broke and the bird probably died almost immediately from the trauma of the collision.

I left the carcass as I found it.

Daylight Savings Time

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Getting up in the dark is no fun and the time of year I notice it the most is at the beginning of Daylight Savings Time. Just when I am enjoying the sunrises when I get to my office on standard time, the change happens and it’s dark again. So – this year I am trying something new: I am going to get up an hour later (and go to bed an hour later); it has the effect of staying on standard time for my sleep schedule!

Why didn’t I think of this before? During my career it would not have worked. I got too much done during the early mornings before everyone else arrived and the traffic would have been horrendous an hour later than my usual. When my daughter was young, my husband took her to daycare, and I picked her up early since my workday (usually) ended earlier; shortening her time away from us was our goal. Later, when she was in high school, her day started as early as mine did.

But – I could have easily done this ‘changing of the morning wakeup alarm’ during the past decade. There are very few instances that I need to be anywhere before 8 or 9.

I guess this means that if the country stays on the same time year-round my preference is for standard time since I like it to be light in the morning! If the country decides on staying on Daylight Savings – I’ll simply keep my sleep time ‘standard.’

I am celebrating sunrises with this little collection of images over the past year.

Pinecone Nurseries

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I have three pines in my back yard. My favorite is the largest; it has thick growth all the way to the ground. It is easy to look at the tips of the branches to see the various stages of cone formation… the pine nurseries. Further back on the branch are cones in various stages of maturity. And there are cones in the pine needles under the tree too.

This is the first time I’ve had a pine tree in my yard! My next interaction with the tree will be collecting dead pine needles that have caught in the lower branches rather than reaching the ground and spreading them as mulch under the forsythia bush where there is some bare dirt (i.e. making a pine needle mulch for the bush).

Frosty Forsythia

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There was frost on our grass one morning in the areas further from the house…transient since the temperature was warming fast as the sun burned off the fog. I noticed that the forsythia in the corner of the yard has a few blooms and enjoyed the close examination of the flowers – somewhat damaged by the frost. The frost had developed along the edges of the petals and was already looking more like water droplets. On the buds, the ice looked like sugar or salt crystals. I’ll cut some branches from the bush to bring inside when blooms more fully.

There were other plants with melting frost…small plants close to the ground and pine needles backlit by the sun still somewhat shrouded by fog.

The rose bush in winter has plenty of shapes and textures…some red color caught my attention. It’s the remains of a leaf and flower but the shape reminded me of a Phoenix rising…flying away.

It was a good morning for a photo shoot in my back yard.

Fox Squirrel

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Last time I was in Carrollton, TX, I paid more attention to the squirrels in my parents’ yard. They are a little larger than the squirrels I see in my Missouri yard and have a brownish orange underside. I realized that they are fox squirrels. I enjoyed photographing one munching on some food we had put out for the birds. The squirrel was down on the ground…up on a perch in the tree where a large limb had been removed…giving me opportunity to see it from almost every angle. I wondered if the squirrel was pregnant because it looked very rounded! Late February is a likely time the young would be born.

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 11, 2023

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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.

800-year-old hoard unearthed in northern Germany – The picture of the earrings made me wonder how they were worn…and what stones once were held in the empty enclosures.

Firewood theft: The forests where trees are going missing – Evidently it is happening around the world…maybe caused by increasing heating costs and/or other fuels not available after a disaster or during a war.

Bald Eagles aren’t fledging as many chicks due to avian influenza – Oh no! I had gotten used to seeing bald eagles frequently near where I lived in Maryland. I had assumed that I didn’t see as many in Missouri because I didn’t know where to look – but it could have been that there are fewer birds to see anywhere.

New thought on Chaco Canyon Construction – A demonstration of how the timbers for building the complex structures at Chaco Canyon could have been carried the 60 miles from where the trees grew.

Sustainable process to produce vanillin from lignin makes further progress – Making the popular flavoring agent from lignin (a waste product from the wood pulping industry) rather a chemical process using petroleum.

Quilts from the Second World War tell the stories of the Canadian women who sewed them – A little Canadian history…the spirit of giving during a stressful time…sending artful warmth. Quilts have always appealed to me because they are functional art. My great-grandmother (in the US) made wedding quilts with/for her 5 daughters in the 1930s and 1940s…and now one of my sisters is talking about quilting being something she plans to do when she retires.

More Than Half Of New US Electricity Generating Capacity In 2023 Will Be Solar – Good! Evidently California and Texas are the states adding the most solar capacity.

Archaeologists Find Elite Residences at Mexico’s Chichén Itzá – Prior to this discovery, experts didn’t know any residential structures! What they found was a complex…two houses and a palace.

Air pollution speeds bone loss from osteoporosis – A study of a diverse cohort of over 160,000 postmenopausal women. The study found that nitrogen oxides are a major contributor to bone damage and that the lumbar spine is one of the most susceptible sites to this damage. This is another reason to improve air quality!

Photography In the National Parks: Capturing Atmospheric Phenomena – Being in the right place…noticing atmospheric phenomenon…and capturing the image. It reminded me of a trip we made back in 2007 to Cumberland State Park in Kentucky where we saw a moonbow; maybe we should go again!

Elenore Plaisted Abbott Illustrations

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I picked four books illustrated by Elenore Plaisted Abbott as the ‘books of the week.’ They are all available to browse on Internet Archive. Enjoy!

The Wild Swans, and other stories - Andersen, Hans Christian (1922)

An Old Fashioned Girl - Alcott, Louisa M. - (1911)

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass - Carroll, Lewis (1916)

The flower maiden and other stories - Andersen, Hans Christian (1922)

As I read the Wikipedia entry for the artist, I realized that she spent most of her professional life not far from where I traveled the last years of my career – outside Philadelphia – in Rose Valley. The area where she lived is still far less developed than where I went for work!

Cheshire Cat Moon

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Last month when I was in Carrollton, my daughter texted that the moon, Venus, and Jupiter were visible in the west. I went out…it was a clear night…and the horizon was clear enough to see all three. I opted to take a picture of the moon since my camera could focus on it well enough to see some craters. It also reminded me of the Alice in Wonderland Cheshire Cat – where the cat’s body has disappeared and all that is left is its iconic grin.

Elm Fork Nature Preserve – February 2023

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I arrived at the Elm Fork Nature Preserve at the same time as a Texas Master Naturalist (I could tell by his hat!) which turned out to make the walk through the circuit into a guided hike. I didn’t take as many pictures as usual. The day was brisk and sunny…pleasant in a zipped-up jacket.

Toward the back of the loop are several areas of wetlands/open water. At least one of them was an oxbow of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River – now disconnected. There were ducks, grebes, and coots…and a cormorant in a tree. They were far enough away to be almost out of range of my camera, and I didn’t take the time to get better images stabilized with my monopod.

The area was owned by the same family from 1861 until it became the preserve and was always used for household wood (shelter, cooking, eating) until it became the preserve. It is a rare parcel in this part of Texas that has always been timbered. The trees are all different sizes and I found myself taking pictures of ones that were snags or pieces of trees. When the trees leaf out it will be a good place for canopy pictures --- looking up through the trees.

A tree that had fallen across the path and been cut was particularly interesting. It had wavy markings…like meandering rivers taken from above.

There is a structure, but it doesn’t appear to have been used recently; it is beginning to deteriorate. The place does not appear to get a lot of visitors (and the Master Naturalist told me that he’d been there a few times when he thought some of the people there were not nature lovers or fishing). So – I’d like to go again but it might not be a place to go on my own.

Carrollton Yard – February 2023

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The temperatures were getting warm enough in Carrollton TX for some of the hardy spring flowers to make an appearance.

The naked lady lilies are just leaves now…building up for their bloom during the summer. The daffodils and hyacinths are blooming.

I noticed the fallen rooster and rusting toy surrounded by brown debris from last season and the greening new growth of spring. The rooster’s fall, twisted feather and the rust on the base/foot is new this season. I didn’t attempt to right it.

The small landscapes appealed to me as well – the small rock that looks like a big cliff next to the green vegetation, the single pink flower at the base of a big mulberry tree, a red leaf surrounded by crinkled brown leaves and delicate new green growth, and a dandelion already in bloom (also at the base of a mulberry tree).

My favorite image from the February walk around the yard was a backlit dandelion seed puff.  Yes – the background is messy…but I always attempt to capture the situation as it was in nature, not something contrived.

Josey Ranch - February 2023

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It was a breezy and cloudy day when I went to Josey Ranch in Carrollton last month. There were fewer Northern Shovelers and American Widgeon around and they seemed to be resting or grooming rather than feeding.

The American Coots were still around in about the same numbers as in January.

There was one Bufflehead…feeding. It was in the middle of the small lake and only spending seconds on the surface of the water.

There was one cormorant – looking around more than feeding. I am beginning to wonder if there are many fish in the lake.

The Lesser Scaups were around and coming to the shore thinking the people were going to feed them – although that didn’t happen while I was there. In the 14 second video, most birds are male Lesser Scaups. There is one female and a coot (or two).

By the time I go in March, many of the wintering birds will probably be gone…but maybe there will be Mallard ducklings…or maybe a cygnet.

Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge – February 2023

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I drove around the wildlife loop at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge in late February on my way down to Carrollton TX. The snow geese were still there. It seemed like there were more than the usual numbers of the darker morphs.

I managed to catch one goose flying across the frame. Notice the way the wing tips/feathers move.

The pintails were there as well although there didn’t seem to be as many as on previous visits.

Canada Geese and at least one Great Blue Heron always seem to be around.

I took a picture of an active grasshopper pump – practicing with some foreground blur.

The Greater Yellowlegs seems to always be in the same bit of water when I am there!

As I stopped at the visitor center, I noticed a sumac near where I parked and opted to take some macro images of the seed pods. They look a little like grapes…until the fuzziness becomes visible in the higher magnification.

I am anticipating a lot of changes by the time I make the March road trip to Carrollton….

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 4, 2023

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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.

Can clothes ever be fully recycled? – Evidently a lot of progress has been made in the past few years – translating processes from small to large scale production. But recycling is not the only thing that needs to change about the fashion industry. ‘Fast fashion’ is cannot the future!

A simple thing you can do to benefit backyard birds and bees – Wait until it is 50 degrees to do spring cleaning around your yard. Those leaves and dead stalks harbor insects….and birds need insects, particularly when they are raising their young! I have a big tuft of ornamental grass which I am waiting to cut. Last summer it was full of insects and I except some eggs/larvae are there now.

An incredible journey – Chinook making their way up the Klamath River in the spring and fall. (infographic)

Nearly 30 dangerous feedback loops could permanently shift the Earth’s climate - A change….triggering more change…a cycle. Our planet is full of complex connections that are often not well understood.

As Millions of Solar Panels Age Out, Recyclers Look to Cash In – Hopefully solar panels, and a lot of other end-of- life products, can become part of the ‘circular economy’ rather than going to landfills.

See Thousands of Sandhill Cranes Gather in Nebraska – Maybe next year we’ll plan to go to Nebraska to see the crane migration!

The beautiful flowers that bees can’t use – Nectar deficient hybrids (like double petal petunias) or non-native plants often don’t provide food for pollinators…even though people find bigger, brighter flowers appealing. The article also provides a link to a free book: Pollinator-Friendly Parks which might be useful for homeowners who want to support pollinators.

Anti-dust tech paves way for self-cleaning surfaces – Wouldn’t this be nice…my computer screens seem to attract dust!

'The Great Displacement' looks at communities forever altered by climate change – A book review that documents people surviving a hurricane in the Florida Keys or a big fire in California (and other climate change related disasters) and making decisions in the aftermath. A quote from the author, Jack Bittle: "In the United States alone, at least twenty million people may move as a result of climate change, more than twice as many as moved during the entire span of the Great Migration."

A Long Low Tide Dries Up Venice’s Smaller Canals – Wow…we usually think of Venice being more prone to flooding.

eBotanical Prints – February 2023

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Twenty more books were added to the botanical print collection this month and they are about orchids: 20 volumes of the Australian Orchid Review from 2016 to 2019. I picked sample images that demonstrated the publications’ photography and drawings. I’ll continue browsing more volumes in March!

The whole list of 2,572 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. The list for the February 2023 books with links to the volumes and sample images is at the bottom of this post.

Click on any sample images in the mosaic below to get an enlarged version. Enjoy the February 2023 eBotanical Prints!

Australian Orchid Review 2019 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2019

Australian Orchid Review 2019 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2019

Australian Orchid Review 2019 - 2020 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2020

Australian Orchid Review 2018 (February - March) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2018

Australian Orchid Review 2018 (April - May) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2018

Australian Orchid Review 2018 (June - July) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2018

Australian Orchid Review 2018 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2018

Australian Orchid Review 2018 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2018

Australian Orchid Review 2018 - 2019 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2019

Australian Orchid Review 2017 (February - March) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2017

Australian Orchid Review 2017 (April - May) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2017

Australian Orchid Review 2017 (June - July) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2017

Australian Orchid Review 2017 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2017

Australian Orchid Review 2017 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2017

Australian Orchid Review 2017 - 2018 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2018

Australian Orchid Review 2016 (February - March) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2016

Australian Orchid Review 2016 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2016

Australian Orchid Review 2016 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2016

Australian Orchid Review 2016 - 2017 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2017

Australian Orchid Review 2016 (April - May) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2016

Road Trip to/from Carrollton – February 2023

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My trip to Carrollton the last week of February started at dawn…getting earlier as we move toward spring and before Daylight Savings Time. I took a picture from the window of my car as I left. I like the early start. I head west and then south so the morning sun is not in my eyes at all!

The drive down was easy, and I indulged in my usual tangential thinking as I drove. As I passed through Muskogee, OK, I remembered that my parents had lived there briefly in the mid-1950s when I was a toddler. I wondered where they had lived. I asked my mother when I got to Carrollton; she remembered it was a well-built small house in an upscale neighborhood.

I stopped at the Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge on the way down; more about that next week.

The drive back from Texas to Missouri started out foggy and then turned drizzly. A little over an hour into the drive, I stopped at the Pilot in Denison (just south of the Texas/Oklahoma border on my route); it was the most interesting stop of the drive toward home complete with Texas flag table tops for the food concessions and swirls of leaves cut out of the trash receptacle covers.

The sign over the entrance to the restroom area was the high point of the stop!

Zentangle® – February 2023

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I opted to create most of the tiles in February using one pattern….which  I call ‘5 circles.’ The idea is to make 5 circles (or ovals) on a framed tile….then proceed to aura in various ways….color the circles and some of the aura rounds…and finally add some highlighter.

I found myself enjoying the pattern so much that I had a lot of them to choose the 28 for the month. The amount of color allowed me to use up some pens I had since the CZT class in 2019 plus some that my sister had acquired during her teaching career. I discovered that having a pen low on ink to draw the circles and auras is not a bad thing; the amount of coloring overpowers the original drawing anyway!

Now I am ready for March….and more variety to the patterns I make!

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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.