I like this quote that Leya cites in kicking off this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge:
In one sentence, I’d describe myself as indescribable. But, I wouldn’t end it with a period. I’d end it with three dots. – Jason Schwartzman
I like the quote because, as anyone who’s read a lot of my comments should know, I use ellipses (…) a lot. I use them often incorrectly, but I persist because, well, …
This week’s theme is Spots and Dots, and Leya wants us to have fun with it. I cannot resist fun.
First up, a spotted and dotted leaf on spotted and dotted ground.
I know! I’ve clinched the challenge! I could stop right here, but I have more.
This is one of my favorite photos and some of you have already seen it featured on my blog: A morning glory with raindrops.
I’ve also shared this photo before: Sawfly larvae. I believe it was last spring when we came upon a small pine tree that was covered with these larvae. We were fascinated by them, having never seen them before. Unfortunately, they are known to decimate trees, particularly young pines.
This critter may well be a White-Marked Tussock Moth caterpillar of the “look but don’t touch” variety. Apparently their fur is covered with chemicals that can cause allergic reactions. Good thing I instinctively do not try to pet anything that is not a cat or dog. Still, I think this caterpillar is lovely with its orange dots and white spots. Occasionally I see them among my potted plants. I was chauffeuring this one to a tree in our yard.
Okay, these are not really dots or spots unless you want to say you spot some turtles in the water. In the years of B.C.B.R. (Before COVID, Before Retirement), I used to frequent this pond near my former office building. These bathing beauties (as I love to call them) would often be sunbathing at the pond’s edge. As soon as I came into their view, plop, plop, plop! One by one they would plop into the water and linger there until I had gone around the bend and out of sight.
Thank you, Leya, for this week’s fun challenge! If you, my Dear Readers, wish to participate in this challenge, don’t forget to link to Leya’s original post and include the Lens-Artists tag.
This week’s LAPC challenge is to share the beauty of gardens, whether your own garden, another’s garden, or the experience of gardening. I don’t have a garden, unless you consider 15 potted plants to be a garden, which I suppose they could be but maybe that can be a blog post for another day.
For this challenge, I’m going to define the word garden rather loosely. A couple of blocks from my house sits a stormwater facility. (I keep calling it a pond and my engineer husband keeps correcting me … which is funny because the city thinks it’s a lake hence the name Lake Le Marc (major eye-roll here)). I digress (which I often do …).
As I was saying, there’s a stormwater pond a couple of blocks from my house. I often visit it on my walks, checking for litter (of which there’s often quite a bit) but also checking for new or strange flora. I am rarely disappointed.
Firstly, the setting.
Here’s a long view of the pond, at least one-half of it. The water is low but all about the pond are lovely green hues with some strikes of purple if you look closely enough.
Nice, but let’s get a little closer.
And here we are! Pickerel Weed (Pontederia cordata), an aquatic plant native to Florida. They are in delightful abundance at the pond.
Also in abundance are dandelions. I guess you could say these are before and after photos (grin).
This delicate flower is either a Broadleaf or Lance-leaved arrowhead. Google Photos says it’s a Broadleaf but my Audubon Florida guide says it’s Lance-leaved. Even though we’re not talking a huge difference here (Sagittaria latifolia vs Sagittaria lancifolia), I’m going with Audubon.
This gladiolus was a true surprise for me. All the years I’ve been visiting the pond, I’ve never seen it before this weekend. The stalk is taller than me (5’3″) and is so top heavy that it’ll probably wind up buried under the bushes. I had to hold the stalk with my thighs in order to get the two close-ups. Fun.
The Florida Native Plant Society tags this plant as meadow garlic (Alliaceae). Initially I thought I had not seen meadow garlic before, but, in fact, I have seen their delicate white flowers around the pond. I always wondered what they were and could rarely get a good enough photo for identification. (I still struggle with getting good shots of white anything.)
And last but never least, a bug! What’s a garden without bugs … even if they are the kind to mess up your garden. This critter is a blue and red flea beetle. From what I’ve read, it’s a pest for home vegetable gardens, but here I always get a bit of a thrill when I see one. They are very accommodating for photo shoots.
I hope you consider sharing photos of the gardens you have visited, your own garden, your experience of gardening, or anything to do with the idea of gardens. Please include a link to Amy’s original post here and use the Lens-Artists tag so that everyone can find your post in the WP Reader.
As many of you know, I’m rather challenged when it comes to challenges. Since I retired, I no longer have a calendar on my wall. I’ve been using my cat Maxine’s pill dispenser to tell me what day it is. Such is the life of a procrastinator.
But after coming across a couple of Lens-Artists photography challenges, I’ve decided to turn up the heat on myself. Seems all I need to do is post within the proper week, note the proper references, and show off my photos. For this week, I’m responding to Patti Moed’s “Focus on the Details” photography challenge.
When I think of details, I think of macro photography. Currently I use an iPhone 8 Plus which has some macro capability but not a lot. Most of the following photos were cropped so you could best see the detail that caught my eye.
My husband is a macro photographer, focusing primarily on flies. He’s developed a keen eye and I can count on him to find interesting insects. He pointed out this long-legged fly (Dolichopodidae, dolis for short) for me to photograph. Green on green on green rather blend in together, and the fly itself is only the size of my littlest fingernail.
I lose some detail with cropping, but in the above photo you can still see clearly the green of the fly and its delicate wings.
This handsome insect is a lightening bug or firefly, depending on what part of the U.S. you reside in. He’s hanging out on the leaf of a Georgia Aster I have on my deck. Currently I have 15 potted plants on my deck. Not only do I enjoy watching them grow and bloom, I love inspecting them and seeing what new visitors we have.
On a visit to one of our favorite trails, we were entertained by two damselflies that followed us, dancing around our heads and landing on leaves as if ready for their photo op. Again, the photo above is seriously cropped so it’s a bit fuzzy, but you can see the beauty of this damselfly with its turquoise and dark blue colors, and what appears to be white spots on its wings. Frankly, I did not even notice these spots until I cropped the photo. The second damselfly, which managed to evade my camera, was black with white spots on its wings. Maybe they’re siblings.
Flowers were my first focus when I started photography, and I hardly miss an opportunity to get up close and personal with them. Above and below are photographs of irises, the above being a Walking iris (indeed!) and the below being a African Iris (Dietes vegeta), per my limited knowledge. (I’m hesitant to name plants if I can only rely on Google and not my field guides.) You can tell right away that they are both irises, but they have intriguing differences in their colors and markings. I’m fortunate that both of these irises reside in my neighborhood.
I hope you enjoyed this photo gallery. If you care to participate in the challenge, please include a link to Patti’s original post, and use the Lens-Artists Tag so others can find you in the Reader.
By chance I came across this website and photo challenge: https://shareandconnect.wordpress.com/2021/04/10/lapc-4/ It’s an “old” challenge in that another challenge has already been made, but I consider the find serendipitous nonetheless. Here is my colorful April:
On a recent visit to Timberlane Ravine park, we found evidence of a whimsical and delightful imagination a few yards in from the trailhead.
These figurines were positioned around one downed log. Initially we thought someone had left some trash behind (cynics that we are) but we quickly realized that the objects were strategically placed around the log.
My only regret is that I couldn’t get photos as good as I wanted. I would have had to lower myself to the ground and I wasn’t about to do that. Two days after the last time I got down and dirty on this trail, I found a tick adhered to the inside of my thigh.
Whoever left these figurines had to have known the delight they would be giving to park visitors. And they left the best message for those exiting the park.
Indeed, Love.
I hope you enjoyed these figurines in a park setting as much as we did.
Stay safe and well. Hope is out there. You just have to keep your eyes open and look for it.
Monday (March 29) we went for a bike ride at the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. As you all know, the Refuge is my favorite part of north Florida. It’s a magical place full of birds, insects, flowers, trees, marshes, swamps, turtles, and alligators, to name a few of my favorite things. Without further ado …
Thistles, specifically, the Horrible Thistle (Cirsium horridulum)–no doubt named for it’s spiny stem and leaves–lined the trails we rode on. We had a slow start on our ride because both of us had to stop and take photos.
In all the years we’ve visited the Refuge, we’ve never seen so many thistles.
Insects were enjoying them too. I guess you could say there was a lot of pollinating going on.
Other wildflowers and creatures were in abundance as well.
Sagittaria platyphylla
Southern Fleabane, Aster family
My favorite frog, the tree frog, delta duck potato (that’s the Sagittaria platyphylla) and southern fleabane.
We took the long way around, over the farthest dike which I don’t believe I had been on before. We’ve traveled these trails by foot many times, but usually taking the dikes more inland. As we went back inland, more thistles.
A bald eagle on *his* tree. The majority of times we’ve come out here, he’s perched on that branch.
More water. I know there’s alligators in those waters, but often I wish we would ply our canoe around the marshy area.
It looks serene. Not too far from this spot, there is a primitive camping area. My husband said he’d like to camp there someday. Lovely idea … if only we didn’t have bad knees and bad backs and I wasn’t afraid of gators on land.
I could see he had a big grin, as if to say, “Come on in. The water’s fine!” No, thank you.
I think this guy was playing hide-and-seek. No matter where I walked, his head was hidden by the reeds. Fortunately, he’s too large to be completely hidden.
We saw a couple of other gators on our ride, but they were actually ON the trail so there was no stopping for photo ops. We just kept spinning our wheels and holding our breaths until we were clear.
Ah, life in North Florida. Even Raji likes St. Marks.
Ha ha ha … I LOVE photography apps! I made this photo of Raji at St. Marks with the Superimpose Classic app. It only costs $1.99, and this is the first photo merge I’ve done. I’m so happy with it, I had to put my name on it ;)
I hope you enjoyed the trip. Another one will be coming up soon!
I hope you all are well, healthy, happy, and vaccinated (if not now, then soon).
You know the day goes by pretty fast when I affix myself in front of my computer. I was going to wax all poetic about the flowers I’ve been photographing lately, but, my, it’s late in my day. Pretty soon the four amigos will start checking in on us as we work away in our separate rooms and make clear that dinner time is near.
I’m happy to say that I believe I’ve recovered from the dreaded UTI of last week. I do have some fatigue occasionally from the pollen that blankets our house and cars (and somehow finds its way into our dining room and kitchen). My fingers are crossed that April’s showers will wash that pollen away and the oaks will stop (please!) releasing the pollen.
As my time is short (far be it from me to keep the fur beasts from their evening meal), I’ll simply share a couple of photos of the Blue Flags that can be found at the pond (or stormwater facility that it truly is).
According to the National Audubon Society’s Field Guide to Florida, these are Anglepod Blue Flags or “Prairie Iris” (Iris hexagona var. savannarum). Whatever they are called, they are pretty and a delight for the heart and soul.
I hope everyone is well, happy and safe, and that more of you are getting vaccinated every day.
Raji spent Friday night inside the house with us. The temps were in the low 30s and we were disinclined to heat the garage again. As you know, Raji has been spending more and more time in our house, eating his meals on the other side of a bookcase from Junior. He had gotten to the point where he’d dash into the house as soon as I opened the door to the garage in the morning. Although he still loves going into the garage and checking out his play cage on that side of the house, you just can’t beat a screened-in back porch for entertainment.
I’m happy, no, I’m thrilled to say that his first sleepover was successful! I was prepared to be woken in the middle of the night by blood-curdling screams and yowls.
Didn’t happen. Nope, I actually slept pretty good that night, and when I woke the next day, all was quiet. Mind you, the cat door to the back porch was open, giving the cats more personal space even if it was cold. And my husband left the door to his rooms open (after making sure they were more or less Raji-proof) so, again, more personal space. None of my cats like closed doors. They see a closed door and they will fuss and bang until it’s opened.
So he slept inside again the next night, and, again, all was quiet until about 7 am when Raji came into my room and briefly mewed. He’s a quick learner. I am the primary feeder; therefore, if he wants to eat, he has to wake me up.
I feel so very, very fortunate that everyone is getting along … or at least tolerating each other’s presence … well, except for Maxine, but she hates all other felines anyway.
I managed to get out for a couple of neighborhood walks this week. On one, I took the time to admire our somewhat small but still lovely magnolia. I love the blooms, but I might love the buds more.
Light is everything when it comes to photography, at least for me as a newbie. Our tree had plenty of buds to photograph, but the light had to be just right to get a good shot. If the light is not good, no amount of editing is going to improve a blurry image. I am really pleased with how the photos of the buds came out.
On Saturday I went for an early evening walk. I had been tidying up the house all morning, then ran a couple of errands in the afternoon. I almost didn’t make my walk because I was tired, but Greg was still out on his bike ride, so I just made myself do it. I’m so glad I did.
It was the Golden Hour and I was walking on an easement between two houses. I had been picking up trash and had a full trash bag; but when I happened to look up and see the light, I dropped the bag and pulled out my iPhone. I love these pictures but they don’t do justice to the beauty of the sunlight on the trees and the half-moon against a blue sky.
I’m down to nine days left at my job. We’ve been very busy so, for my staff’s sake, I’m glad I didn’t take the month off as I had planned. I was able to pitch in and carry some of the load, but at the same time I am learning to let go … as I should.
While I do worry sometimes about being on a fixed income, at least I know I’ll never need to buy expensive cats toys and beds.
Thank you for reading! I hope my friends in all the states that have been hit by these brutal winter storms are well and safe, and that spring will soon be here for you.
Raji snoozing on the screened back porch. I think he really feels at home now.
It’s almost spring here. We had a few days of warmer temps and the magnolia trees in my neighborhood loved it. I was only able to get out a little bit this week so this post will be light on photos.
Work is winding up instead of winding down, and I guess I should have expected that. The Florida legislature goes into session on March 2, and my department’s leaders have been relentless with demands for data. Fortunately I work with a wonderful team of bright and creative analysts and, so far, we’ve been able to meet the demands.
But I feel too old for this. While my younger colleagues can enter data, format graphs, read and write emails, and carry on a conversation seemingly all at the same time, my brain and my body resist. It’s all I can do to keep from screaming, “STOP!” Instead, I ease tension by making snarky jokes about the powers-that-be. (What are they going to do? Fire me?) If I can make my team laugh, at least smile, I feel a little better.
I’m known (for better or for worse) for noting when the emperor is walking around naked. I’ve always been that way. I’ve always had a difficult time dealing with authority, clashing with anyone who tries to rule me. It’s one of the many reasons why it’s time for me to retire. I’m losing my ability to balance my innate distrust of authority with meeting that authority’s expectations of me to do as I’m told without question.
Meanwhile, as I noted above, the magnolias are blooming. These photos were taken on different days, one with some blue sky and sunshine, the other with the threat of imminent rain.
Redbuds are blooming too, making my husband a bit sad. He had planted a Redbud in our front yard many years ago but it never ever bloomed. Fortunately we have neighbors who have been much luckier. The photo below doesn’t do the Redbud tree justice, even after I tweaked it to bring out the color more. Trust me when I say I first gawked at the gorgeous color before taking the photo.
And I can’t overlook our resident hawk. This guy really likes this particular spot. Pretty much every time I come down that street, he’s hanging out, making the squirrels nervous. I call him Cool Hand Luke. I can stand directly under him (but off to the side to avoid being pooped on), and he pays me no mind.
In my own humble backyard, a bromeliad that a coworker gave me a couple of years ago is now three bromeliads and is flowering for the second time.
I’ve never had a bromeliad before so this plant is a new experience for me. I’m hoping the flower will expand more. The first bloom did not.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this little bit of neighborhood nature. On the cat containment front, things are pretty mellow. Raji hangs out with all of us from morning until night. Junior still bullies him but Raji just rolls with it (sometimes literally). He keeps trying to play chase with Wendy but she thinks his sideways galloping is too weird. Maxine just wants to be left alone, as usual.
Recently Raji discovered one of Junior’s favorite spots.
Junior likes to rub his face against a small sandalwood bowl that I put in there for him. Well, now Raji does too. It probably pisses Junior off.
From me, my husband, and our Gang of Four, we hope you all stay well, safe and happy!
Before I get to Raji and cheating, I feel I should explain the math in my post titles. Originally I had planned to make February 4 my termination date, my last day with my employer. But when I told my husband that I had a month of vacation time saved up, he suggested March 4 for my termination date and that I take vacation time for the month of February. By the time I agreed with him, I was already writing these posts about my impending retirement. So I adjusted the math.
And guess what?! I’m not taking the month of February off because, you know, I’m not very assertive when it comes to my own needs. Sigh. Well, I’m taking February 9th off. There’s that. And I’ve got my eye on a few other days so there’s that too. And so that’s the math. Because I should be on vacation right now.
I’m not complaining though because soon I’ll be on vacation for the rest of my life.
Life with Raji is going so well now. He’s spending more and more time in our house. Junior, Maxine and Wendy all take turns hissing at him, but they are tolerating his presence more. He still sleeps in the garage and has most of his meals there. He loves our back porch, as you know.
These photos are from today (Sunday). Raji is straddling the arms of two patio chairs to get a better look at whatever may be lurking in our yard.
And this is what gives me hope.
Raji and Wendy on the porch at the same time, in full view of each other. Granted, I don’t think Wendy was thrilled to see Raji, but she didn’t hiss and didn’t run away.
Even better is this photo from earlier today. Coexisting on the same bed! Hallelujah!
We’ve started calling Raji the Tundra Tabby or Arctic Cat because he doesn’t seem to mind the cold. Our other three will all be nestled on the couch, curled up with their noses covered, and Raji will be on the porch, engaged in watching the birds and squirrels.
Now the cheating part of this blog is I don’t have any recent nature photos so I’m stealing some that my husband sent me during one of his rides in the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge.
The photo on the left is the Pinhook River when the tide was out. The photo on the right is the Pinhook River a few hours later after the tide came in.
Sunset. Need I say more?
And sunset with bike.
I hope you enjoyed these photos as much as I enjoyed receiving them.
Raji and I and the rest of the crew wish you all well. Stay safe, healthy, and happy.
(this is my favorite photo of Raji so expect to see it a lot)
I can’t believe we’re still in January, that another whole week stretches before us. My wall calendar is covered with green X’s, but still a whole week awaits me and my Sharpie.
This weekend I was busy, busy, busy; again, playing at being retired (I’m not retired just yet). I bustled and hustled and wore my feet down from walking and standing. I feel that good kind of fatigue, the kind you get when you can finally check a few things off your list. Like vacuuming my house and even the garage since a live creature still abodes there. Vacuuming might not seem like much of an accomplishment but when you live with three (now four) cats and lots of books and magazines and you haven’t vacuumed in literally months … well, let’s just say I’m quite pleased with myself that I managed to (finally) get that house chore out the of way … for now.
That’s one of the things I don’t like about housework. Nothing stays dust- and dirt-free for long. Especially in a house with three (now four) cats.
Happily I got quite a bit of walking in this weekend. Saturday I had my first real caffeinated coffee since I started working from home in mid-March. A cappuccino, to be exact. I am quite sensitive to caffeine. A little bit goes a very long way. For me, that meant going for an hour-long neighborhood walk at noon and then an amble with my husband in the early evening.
We went to our favorite ambling trail, Timberlane Ravine, where my husband showed me the biggest mouse trap I’d ever seen.
I would not want to meet a mouse big enough for that trap. We’re not entirely sure of the history of this oddity, but my husband recalled a couple of former coworkers who loved to participate in geocaches, or treasure hunts. Apparently, someone built this trap and dragged it out to the park (we don’t know how) for the sole purpose of geocaching. Okay, then.
I’m still enamored with the panorama feature of my iPhone, as you can see by the photos below.
The photo above shows a 180 view of the trail. Below is a 180 view from a bend in the trail. The coppery color of the birch trees, perhaps not well captured in the photos, was a lovely contrast with the dark green of moss, pines, and bush.
As we continued with our amble, Greg demonstrated the patience of a saint as I stopped to take photos of tiny flowers, trillium, and unusual (for me) fungi.
A dandelion daintily pushing through.
A shy violet making an appearance.
Trillium abounds. The trail was lined with trillium, or Wake Robin, or more formally, Trillium maculatum. They are considered rare, yet we saw them in abundance. I am so looking forward to our next visits to see them bloom.
And my beloved fungus, although I know zip about fungi. These photos were tricky since the fungus was attached to a rotten log resting on the ground. I felt like a contortionist angling for a good shot.
We only walked one loop, as it was past sunset and the light was getting dim.
If you look very, very closely, you can see the moon just above the tree tops in the center.
Raji Update: I do believe he and the other kitties are starting to “acclimate” to each other. We’ve been letting him in the house where he runs up and down the hallways and over the counters. Wendy tends to avoid him by leaving whatever room he happens to be in. Maxine will hiss at him and Raji shows deference to the old lady. Junior doesn’t like the young whippersnapper at all. He’s all hiss and growl and posturing. For the most part, Raji defers to Junior as well. At heart, Raji’s a lover, not a fighter. We haven’t had to break up any fights, and when Junior gets really puffed up, I just remind him that he’s still my boy, but now my big boy (Raji’s my little boy).
With our temps being a bit warmer, Raji has discovered our back porch and really likes it there.
He gets a lot of pleasure from watching the birds and squirrels cavort in our backyard. Not surprisingly, while he’s on the back porch, the other three are checking out the garage and the play pen on the side. I’m confident that eventually the four of them will coexist tolerably if not amicably.
Now, wish me luck. I’ve scheduled another vet appointment for Raji for Friday morning. Remember, the last time we tried to take him to the vet was the time when he bit into my hand. So that visit was canceled.
This time I’ve got meds to mellow him out and–most importantly–I’ve been able to close up his big carrier with him in it while he’s eating. It will be an awkward transportation as the carrier is huge feels flimsy (it’s all mesh and fabric). I’ll take along a regular pet carrier along just in case.
I will be so glad when this visit is out of the way.
Thanks for reading! Stay safe. Stay well. Stay as happy as you can.
Marie at 1 Write Way 