Gleanings of the Week Ending August 7, 2021

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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 roadrunner taking a dust bath wins the 2021 Audubon photography awards – This gleaning list is big on bird photos! This is the first one.

Top 25 birds of the week: Conservation – This is the second. These posts encourage me to get outdoors in areas near my home to photograph birds!

How giraffes deal with sky-high blood pressure – Multiple differences between giraffes and humans when it comes to blood pressure!

Permafrost Thaw in Siberia Creates a Ticking ‘Methane Bomb’ of Greenhouse Gases – The article is about what happened in summer 2020…made me wonder about what is happening this summer in Siberia. This along with the fires that seem to be worse each season are signs that climate change is happening faster than anticipated…that the models might be optimistic rather than realistic.

Plastic, the Trojan Horse – A study that found plastic accumulation in foods may be underestimated. Not good.

Smoke Across North America – Lots of fires this summer. My husband told me that the local astronomy club has cancelled several nights they’d planned for observing because no stars were visible through the haze here in Maryland.

How the sun affects our skin – An infographic about vitamin D, sunburn and skin cancer.

This catfish doesn’t just move on land, it reffles – Plecos – from the aquarium trade – are now invasive in warmer waters in the US. They do have an interesting way of moving on land (videos of their reffle)…..this means if found/caught they shouldn’t be left on the bank to die (since they will easily move back to the nearest water). The article didn’t say what to do with them (presumable kill them).

Drought, Heat Taking a Toll on National Parks in Southwest – I’ve enjoyed so many of the parks mentioned in this article – Saguaro, Grand Canyon, White Sands, Petrified Forest. It has always been dry there…but now it is getting drier and hotter.

Take a Virtual Tour of Artworks Inspired by Efforts to Preserve Plant Biodiversity – A virtual site of an exhibit not at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery in Exeter, England. Watch the 5 minute video about the site….then enjoy the exhibit here.

eBotanical Prints – July 2021

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20 botanical print books browsed in July and added to the list. There still seem to be a lot of botanical works to discover and browse – freely available from various sources on the internet. All the volumes this month are found on Internet Archive.

The first 7 volumes browsed in July were produced by Johann Hieronymus Kniphof using a process called “nature printing” that flattened the plants to produce the image…making them look much like herbarium specimens.

My favorite volume of the month was probably Thomas Taylor’s Drawings of Fungi --- maybe because they were so different from the other volumes.

Toward the end of month – I started the Jakob Sturm series; there are more to enjoy browsing in August! Online it isn’t obvious that the engravings were small (no more than 5 by 3.5 inches); they were made to be affordable to more people when they were originally published in the 1800s and remained in print through the early 1900s!

The whole list of 2,187 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. The list for the July books is at the end of this post.

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

Botanica in originali V7-8 * Kniphof, Johann Hieronymus * sample image * 1758

Botanica in originali V3-4  * Kniphof, Johann Hieronymus * sample image * 1758

Botanica in originali V5-6 * Kniphof, Johann Hieronymus * sample image * 1758

Botanica in originali V9-10 * Kniphof, Johann Hieronymus * sample image * 1758

Botanica in originali V11-12 * Kniphof, Johann Hieronymus * sample image * 1758

Botanica in originali V1 * Kniphof, Johann Hieronymus * sample image * 1758

Botanica in originali V2 * Kniphof, Johann Hieronymus * sample image * 1758

Horti botanici bononiensis plantae novae vel minus cognitae * Bertoloni, Antonio * sample image * 1838

Florula Guatimalensis * Bertoloni, Antonio * sample image * 1830

Herbier général de l'amateur, contenant la description, l'histoire, les propriétés et la culture des végétaux utiles et agréables 1839 (2nd series, 5) * Loiseleur-Deslongchamps, M.; Lemaire, Charles Antoine * sample image * 1839

Flora gallica, seu, Enumeratio plantarum in Gallia sponte nascentium * Loiseleur-Deslongchamps, J. L. A (editor) * sample image * 1836

Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz V1 * Thome, Otto Wilhelm * sample image * 1903

Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz V2 * Thome, Otto Wilhelm * sample image * 1903

Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz V3 * Thome, Otto Wilhelm * sample image * 1903

Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz V4 * Thome, Otto Wilhelm * sample image * 1903

Drawings of Fungi * Taylor, Thomas * sample image * 1839

J. Sturms Flora von Deutschland, in Abbildungen nach der Natur BD 1 * Sturm, Jakob; Krause, Ernst Hans Ludwig; Missbach, Ernst Robert; Lutz, K.G. * sample image * 1906

J. Sturms Flora von Deutschland, in Abbildungen nach der Natur BD 2 * Sturm, Jakob; Krause, Ernst Hans Ludwig; Missbach, Ernst Robert; Lutz, K.G. * sample image * 1900

J. Sturms Flora von Deutschland, in Abbildungen nach der Natur BD 3 * Sturm, Jakob; Krause, Ernst Hans Ludwig; Missbach, Ernst Robert; Lutz, K.G. * sample image * 1900

J. Sturms Flora von Deutschland, in Abbildungen nach der Natur BD 4 * Sturm, Jakob; Krause, Ernst Hans Ludwig; Missbach, Ernst Robert; Lutz, K.G. * sample image * 1905

Texas Morning

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I kept checking the sky at sunrise all during the time I was in Texas. The sky was clear for most days and the sunrise color washed out. Then there was a day of light clouds that reflected the color. I noted that the palm that had looked ruined after last winters deep cold has recovered.

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My parents’ backyard has changed since one of the large mulberry trees was cut. The cosmos flowers are large and blooming profusely.

The naked lady lilies are not as numerous and will probably shift to the shadier parts of the garden. They were the thickest around the old tree but now the area is too sunny for them.

There are still mulberries in the yard. They are well trimmed and will probably last a few more years. The one closest to the house has leaves sprouting from the trunk! I sat in a comfortable patio chair and took some zoomed pictures. There are even some high key pictures in the mix.

I turned a bit and noticed that the moon was still up. I balanced my camera on my knee. That was steady enough to get even the highly zoomed image!

The pecan tree that used to be between 2 mulberry trees is growing rapidly now that one is gone. The tree trimmers had done a good job in taking off lower branches and the tree will quickly become the dominate tree in the garden. It might get above the remaining mulberry this year!

It was a great morning to be outdoors photographing the garden…until I noticed a mosquito buzzing around me. A sign that it was time to go indoors…

Vicarious Macro Photography

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While I was on my road trip to Springfield, MO and Carrollton, TX – my husband started a macro photography project: handheld and in the field. I asked him to email me some of his initial results and was impressed with the collection he sent. I selected 4 to include in this post.

His project started with a webinar and some new gear (some of which will fit on my camera too with the appropriate adapter). The blue-purple flower in the pictures is chicory. I expect we’re both going to enjoy macro photography forays well into the fall!

Josey Ranch Birds in July – 2

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I walked around to the Josey Ranch Lake boardwalk on the other side of the cattails….and saw another kind of heron after a few steps onto it: a green heron was on the end of the boardwalk!

I had seen green herons at the lake before. Back in June 2018, I saw young birds feeding in the shallows near the cattails.  This year I saw at least three birds in the same area but on snags or up in trees.  Some of them were clearly juveniles based on their plumage…although further along in development than the birds in 2018. At this point the youngsters are flying like adults. The one with fuzz on the top of its head is certainly a bird that hatched this year!

As I walked back to the car, I spotted a feather in the grass. Perhaps from a Canada Goose? There were a few at the lake. They give a nice size compassion when they are on the shore with the swans (the swans are huge!).

Josey Ranch Birds in July – 1

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There always seem to be interesting birds at the Josey Ranch Lake in Carrollton TX. They are somewhat acclimated to people because of the walkers that frequent the circuit around the water; most people stay on the paved surface and the birds are close or in the water. I went to the lake several times over the past 2 weeks. At first, all I see are pigeons, grackles and swans. But even those birds are photogenic. There is a lot of variety in the pigeons. I use the zoom on my camera to take portraits. There was a rotating group moving out on some rocks at the lake’s edge to get a drink.

The swans appeared to be preening a lot and there were feathers that surrounded them. I wondered if they were molting.

And then I spotted a different bird – a yellow-crowned night heron! It flew up onto the boardwalk (the one that was flooded when I was in the area last May). I had seen this species before at the lake. It always surprises me how hard it is to spot. I’m usually close before I see it; this time was like that – as soon as I saw it, I stopped and took pictures. Eventually the bird became aware I was there but didn’t fly away. More pictures. Then it flew out across the water toward the morning sun.

The mesquite trees on the banks of the cattail end of the lake had beans. I was more interested in the foliage for photography….took a high key image as I made my way around to the other side of the cattails on the paved trail.

More on another bird I photographed at Josey Ranch in tomorrow’s blog post…..

Zentangle® – July 2021

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The July Zentangle tiles are neatly divided by shape and where I made them. The rectangular tiles were made in Maryland and finished with Ultra Fine Sharpie colored pens that are running out of ink. I’ll buy some new pens for the August tiles.

The square tiles were made in Missouri and Texas…finished in Texas with gel pens left over from my sister’s teaching years. I had a few instances of smeared ink (the gel pens don’t dry as fast as the Sharpies). But it was fun make selections from a largish box of pens – riches of glittery color.

At home or traveling – making Zentangle tiles is something I manage to fit into almost every day!

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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 July 31, 2021

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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.

Climate Change Responsible for Recent Decline of Eastern Monarch Butterflies – I know that the milkweed in my Maryland yard is not as healthy looking and I don’t see as many butterflies as I did in the 1990s…it’s a sad trend.

Top 25 birds of the week: July 2021 and Perching – A special treat – two collections of bird photographs in this gleanings post!

The parenting penalties faced by scientist mothers – There are no single or quick ‘fixes’ – moving forward requires thoughtful approaches. The status quo is not acceptable or sustainable!

True Grit: Adventures in Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Research – My husband and I saw red-cockaded woodpeckers in Florida during a birding festival field trip…so I tend to look at articles that appear in my news feed about them.

Florida Breaks Annual Manatee Death Record In First 6 Months Of 2021 – Florida seems to be a less appealing place to visit these days. Manatees were an animal my husband and I always wanted to see there and now they are starving to death because the seagrass (their food) is dead or dying in polluted waters. Other animals are probably impacted as well.

Chaco Culture National Historical Park: Hard To Reach, Filled With The Unexpected – I’ve only been to Chaco Canyon once….in the spring when it wasn’t overly hot. There were not many people on the windy, cool day we were there. The sounds of the place increased the sense of history in the ruins.

Air pollution during pregnancy may affect growth of newborn babies – There are so many aspects of the human impact on our environment that overwhelm what our bodies can handle…we should probably assume that there will be health impacts – particularly noticeable in the very young and the very old.

Burrowing Owls Face an Uncertain Future – They need holes from small colonial mammals….areas that are not plowed.

U.S. Power Sector Sees Biggest One-Year Drop in Emissions in More Than Two Decades – Picking up the pace as more renewables come online.

‘Inflammation clock’ can reveal body’s biological age – Maybe this turns out to be a good diagnostic to prompt interventions to extend healthy lifespan (via treatments on specific types of inflammation).

Better Homes and Gardens Browsed in June 2021

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Internet Archive has quite a collection of Better Homes and Gardens magazines that I started browsing through in June…37 volumes in all during the month. It will take at least another month to finish the rest that the archive has available. I selected a sample image from each volume (links at the bottom of this post) and grouped them by decade. Click to see an enlarged version of any image below.

The 1940s were before I was born so purely historical from my perspective. Some of the pictures look almost modern – the child in the snow suit with the shovel, for example. Gardens can look the same from just about any time period, however the people in them don’t; I was surprised at how dressed up women are depicted sometimes even ‘working’ in the garden. The little girl helping with the dishes looks dressed up too.  Technology often dates pictures although the camera shown on the August 1940 cover was about the size of a point and shoot today. The food almost always looks way more complex (more time consuming to prepare) that what we typically prepare today.

The 1950s were too early in my life to remember clearly. The flowers could be modern pictures. The eat-in kitchen is dated but functional (no dishwasher or microwave though); the green glasses look like the ruby red glasses I have today. A story about Cape Hatteras was in a 1957 issue.

I remember the 1960s since I started school in 1960. The flowers and gardens relatively timeless…and garden sheds were catching on. The office could function today….with the addition of a laptop; I liked the location of the window. Kitchens were changing and some designs did not ‘stick’ (like the kitchen in the round). Dishwashers were appearing. Double sinks with counters were becoming common in bathrooms…but ruffles over the mirror must have been a passing fad. Shag carpeting! Picnic baskets were more common than ice chests/coolers for meals away from home – very different than our picnics today.

In the 1970s I finished high school and college. The page describing salad greens from 1970 does not include kale, arugula, or cilantro! It was a decade of more house plants, cheesecake, vegetable gardening, and decorating with crafts as many people were challenged to live well with less spending power because of inflation.

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The 1980 volume included a page describing different kinds of pasta. I didn’t notice at the time how many more kinds they were…we usually just bought thin spaghetti and elbow macaroni during the 80s.

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1940

Better Homes and Gardens - July-December 1940

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1941

Better Homes and Gardens - July-December 1941

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1942

Better Homes and Gardens - July-December 1942

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1943

Better Homes and Gardens - July-December 1943

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1949

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1950

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1951

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1957

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1958

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1959

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1960

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1961

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1962

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1963

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1964

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1965

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1966

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1967

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1968

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1969

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1970

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1971

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1973

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1974

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1975

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1976

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1977

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1978

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1979

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1980

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1981

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1982

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1983

I’m continuing to brown through more magazines in July…..so expect another post in a month or so to continue on from 1980.

Ten Little Celebrations – July 2021

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Half of July was at home in Maryland…and half was a road trip from Maryland to Missouri to Texas.

Wegmans. I celebrated being comfortable doing my own grocery shopping in the store (early morning….still masked). Maryland’s vaccination rate is high and the infection rate low (although trending upward). The pandemic has honed my appreciation of ordinary activities….things that were curtailed during the peaks of COVID-19.

Getting a haircut. Another ordinary activity that I didn’t do (or put off) during the pandemic. I wore my KF-94 mask and discovered that my stylist is South Korean (he commented…”this is a good mask, made in my country”).

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Starting the morning outdoors (on the deck). Last summer I developed an appreciation for being out on the deck in the early morning -  enjoying a light meal, reading or making a Zentangle tile. It is a little celebration at the beginning of the day.

Farmer’s Market. What a thrill to buy my favorite veggies from the Farmers Market. I love the changes in selection as the season progresses. Celebrating the ongoing harvest!

South Mountain rest stop encounter. One of the deprivations of the pandemic was causal encounters…so the trucker that I encountered at the vending machines during the first rest stop of my road trip was something to celebrate. A little conversation…a wonderful beginning for my travels.

Scenic drive through Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky. I enjoyed the 8 hour drive from my home in Maryland (between Washington DC and Baltimore) to Frankfort, Kentucky… a celebration of curvy highway through lots of forest…no traffic problems.

Springfield Botanical Garden. Celebrating hydrangeas, hostas and day lilies…on an early summer morning.

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Xeriscape Garden. A small, lush oasis within walking distance of my daughter’s house in Springfield! It’s another reason to celebrate their neighborhood.

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Josey Ranch Pocket Prairie in Carrollton, Texas. I celebrated the place looking more and more like a real prairie!

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Green herons. I saw three green herons at Josey Ranch Lake; probably one adult and 2 juveniles. They are so well camflauged – I always celebrate seeing these birds and three at one time was a special treat.

Zooming – July 2021

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The images this month are from Maryland, Missouri and Texas! The collection is skew toward plants but here are a few birds and dragonflies. There are at least two high key images as well. Enjoy the slide show for July 2021.

Josey Ranch Pocket Prairie – July 2021

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The Josey Ranch Pocket Prairie in Carrollton, Texas is a place I visit almost every time I am in the area (since I found in Spring 2019). It’s been interesting to see the place develop over the years. Last week when I visited in the morning – before the day got seriously hot – it seemed like it was mostly tall grass at first.

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Taking a closer look - there were wildflowers still blooming. Many also had seed pods too. They are hidden gems in the tall grass. There was a large rabbit that was on one of the paths, already in motion before I saw it. This small prairie surrounding by ball fields and tightly packed houses across the busy street is an oasis for more than the plants!

Here are some posts from previous visits to the Pocket Prairie:

April 2021

July 2019

April 2019

Carrollton Yard – July 2021

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The back yard in Carrollton, Texas is a sunnier space that when I was here in May (a big tree had to be cut down). And it is summer. There are some cannas that are some of the tallest I’ve seen.

The hydrangeas are waning…the Queen Anne’s Lace is not as abundant as earlier…there are some round yellow-orange blobs of fungus in the shredded wood left from the big tree…they are almost the same color as the cosmos that are blooming in the newly sunny patch…a few Naked Lady Lilies and other shade loving plants are under the pecan tree which is growing rapidly now that the old mulberry is not overhead.

There are metal sculptures that I always notice among the plants – always there but looking different because of the changes of the plants over the season.

In the front yard, the ferns have spores forming on the underside of the fronds and there is only one daisy left.

The red yucca has seed pods developing among its flowers.

In a patch of dirt where some plant has died back, I found an large,empty snail shell…even though haven’t seen a snail in the yard before!

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Overall – the garden in Carrollton has changed quite a lot since May. Having the big tree gone has changed things more than the usual cycle…this next year will be one of transition for the corner of the yard that was very shady and is now full of sun.

Springfield Yard and Xeriscape Garden

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Last time I was in Springfield, the priority was getting my daughter moved into a new house – exhausting work. This time I am savoring the yard. I walked around several times….marveling at how beautiful it is, noting a few things that need to be done but nothing critical. It is relatively low maintenance. I am starting to think about the various areas as mini gardens.

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The Driveway Garden has two hollies flanking the extra parking area – a male and female. The female tree is full of green berries which will be red by winter…pretty and food for birds as well.

The Back Garden has a dogwood that may be problematic (some dead branches and overall not looking healthy) but underneath the Queen Anne’s Lace is blooming and some other plants (that will also provide food for birds. I’ve been watching a small rabbit nibbling on the plants around the brick patio every morning when I nibble my dark chocolate in the garden room. The hosta plants have already finished blooming. There are some legume type plants that are blooming behind some evergreens and a stand of poke weed that will have purple berries in the fall. There is a wood hydrangea that still has dried flowers from last year along with light grene flower clusters on the ends of this year’s growth. Overall – a lot of shrubs, trees and perennials…very little grass.

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The Side Garden has evergreens on one side of the stone walk and ferns on the other. I might move one of the yard chairs to this always shady area.

The Magnolia Garden is under a huge magnolia tree. There was some damage to the leaves from the extreme cold from last winter that I noticed last time I was here but those leaves were dropped and the tree looks wonderfully lush at this point - full of shining green leaves, developing seed pods and waning flowers. There are a few ferns and hosta under the tree. My daughter cleared away the thick layer of magnolia leaves and is planning to encourage (or plant) more of those types of plants under the tree.

The Front Garden is dominated by some big trees. The river birch and oak are the largest. The oak was probably planted when the house was built in the 1950s. Many other houses in the neighborhood have a large oak in the front.

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There is also an oak leaf hydrangea between the house and the big trees that is blooming; it’s a great shade loving plant!

We took a walk in the neighborhood to a city park that includes a Xeriscape Garden maintained by volunteers. Kudos to the people that do the work there! It is a mini-botanical garden. The arum seed clusters are attention getting! The variety of plants there would make it worth visiting any time except (maybe) the winter. I was pleased to see that goldenrod was included. There was also some sculpture among the plantings.

Overall – the gardens of the yard and the nearby Xeriscape Garden are something to look forward to see during future visits.

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 24, 2021

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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.

Night Sky Celebrations Across the National Park System – We’re not doing this kind of traveling this summer….but maybe we’ll do several of these ‘star parties’ in summer 2022.

Tooth loss associated with increased cognitive impairment – Another reason to not neglect going to the dentist! It’s not just about preserving cognitive impairment either….quality of life is a big motivation as well.

Top 25 birds of the week: Seabirds – From around the world…a few I’ve seen in North America.

Mucus and mucins may become the medicine of the future – There is still a lot to learn about how this might work….but it appears that this is an opportunity to treat disease by enhancing the mechanisms already used by the body. Maybe one of the first uses will be for eye drops to treat eye infections rather than the antibiotics used today.

Protect Pollinators – reform pesticide regulations – Hopefully the action requested by these scientist from around the world will happen…our ecosystems are having enough challenge dealing with climate change. Many pollinator species won’t survive the continued threat of status quo pesticide use.

Keeping your composure: Creative Ways to Compose Your Photographs (part 1, part 2, part 3) – Always good to browse through these kinds of tutorials…pick up some new ideas, celebrate the things you are already doing.

What to do with food waste? – It doesn’t appear than there is any one strategy that will work broadly. I’m glad I have already dramatically reduced food waste and then have a large enough yard to have a compost bin.

Waterfalls of North Carolina – A few years ago, my husband and I made a waterfall themed trip to New York. It seems that North Carolina would be another state that has a lot of opportunities for waterfall photography. Maybe next spring?

Creativity Myths – A recent ‘letter’ on The Painter’s Keys website.  I enjoy the twice-weekly blurbs that appear in my inbox (free subscription) and often follow the ‘click here to read more’ link.

Exposure to light with less blue before sleep is better for energy metabolism – I already change the color balance on my PC screens to ‘nightlight’ between sundown and sunrise. Maybe we will do more eventually based on this and subsequent research. It is probably true that no one should be watching a television screen just before going to bed!

Browsing Natural History Magazines – April to June 2021

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I browed the The American Museum of Natural History’s magazine available on Internet Archive published in 1985 to 1993 over a 3-month period. The topics of the articles are wide ranging…something for everyone interested in Natural History. I picked one image from each volume…noticing that I am more skewed toward birds that the magazines are.

I am looking forward to browsing the volumes from 1994 to 2010 that are also available via Internet Archive….when I get the time.

 I posted about  the 1966 to 1984 volumes that I browsed back in March previously.

Springfield Botanical Garden – Part 2

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The day lily garden at the Springfield Botanical Garden offered many colors and sizes of day lilies…many with water droplets from the early morning rain. I enjoyed photographing them…trying different types of compositions.

There was a butterfly on some zinnias planted in a bed neat the lilies. This has not been a good year for butterflies in Springfield or at my home in Maryland.

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A dragonfly perched on a dried stalk…kept coming back to the same one. I was thrilled to get a zoomed picture. It looks a like a female Widow Skimmer….but not a perfect match - the dark patches on the tips of the wings does not fit although this is the underside of the wing and the pictures I was using for ID all are from the other side.

It was getting hotter, and we closed the loop back to the car. There was a line of cars coming into the garden as we were driving out. Our visit was well timed!

Springfield Botanical Garden – Part 1

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This was my second visit to the Springfield Botanical Garden….and we parked in a different place…saw the garden in a different order than before. It’s a large enough place that I didn’t see the whole thing either time.  The morning was still cool and there were not many people around when we first got there. We started out near the flowering shrubs, white garden and mosaic. I’m paying more attention to native plants these days and the gardens seems to be skewing in that direction as well. There were lots of showy clumps of cone flowers and wood hydrangea. There didn’t seem to be as many butterflies around as were there during my previous visit in July 2019.

We spent more time walking through the hosta garden….very shady with water features….the garden furniture was too wet to enjoy. It’s probably the most pleasant garden area during the hottest hours of summer days!

We went in one entrance and out another…walking toward other gardens via the South Creek Greenway Trail. Those gardens are the topic of in tomorrow’s post.

Road trip from Maryland to Springfield, Missouri

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I started out on another road trip last week…heading to my daughter’s house in Missouri and then, after a few days, continuing to Dallas, Texas for a family wedding celebration. This post is about the first part of the road trip. The trip was planned shortly after I got back from the last one….before the dramatic uptick in the COVID-19 cases in southwest Missouri due to the delta variant. As I started out – I realized that I felt less secure on this road trip than the one I made in April/May. During the previous trip, the cases were beginning to trend downward across the country and the number of vaccines per day was high. I anticipated by July that many areas of the country would have enough people vaccinated to have very low numbers of cases and instead things have gone in a different direction – a drop off in people getting vaccinated and the delta variant becoming the dominate strain in the pandemic. And very few people are still wearing masks anymore! On this road trip, I am avoiding indoor spaces when I can – and wearing a mask otherwise. That meant I took my food with me for the road…and put on a mask when I went into the rest stop buildings. Until I got to Missouri – I was about the only person I saw wearing a mask. In Missouri, more people were wearing masks at the rest stops…but not everyone. The news about what is happening with the delta variant is beginning to get out to the general population – hopefully.

It stopped at almost all the rest stops along the way. At the very first stop – South Mountain – a trucker that arrived at the vending machines about the same time as I did, bought my soft drink before I could get my credit card out! His generosity and the pleasant conversation for a few minutes brightened my perspective for the rest of the trip. It also was wonderful to see a pollinator garden and a tiger swallowtail.

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The next stop was Sideling Hill – still in Maryland. I noted that the periodic cicada damage was still evident on some the trees. The big road cut is always impressive; I took a picture from the building walkway and then from the parking lot – waiting for a truck to go by to get a size comparison.

Then there were 4 stops in West Virginia. The state had turned off the hand dryers in the rest stops and filled the paper towel dispensers. I enjoyed the drive through the state – clean rest stops, highway in good condition, light traffic, curvy and scenic. The most interesting rest stop was one with sunflowers (not blooming yet). Most of them were short enough that I could look down in the center of the plant where the flower bud was beginning to form; there was one very tall plant that had grown through an open area of the building overhang!

I had one rest stop in Kentucky before I got to the hotel near Frankfort, Kentucky. It looked like the thunderstorms in the forecast were going to happen for that last hour of the drive…but it just looked threatening. Only a light rain came down…no lightning or thunder.

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The next morning, I was away from the hotel by 6:30 AM. The cloud cover did not make for a pretty sunrise.

The next stops were in Indiana…and the time shifted to CDT. I stopped at a McDonald’s (needed a rest stop) but then highway rest stops. I bought gas but didn’t used that as a rest stop. I finished eating the carrots and grapes I had packed to eat as I drove.

The route through Illinois is short…only one rest stop…a Welcome Center. And then the bridge over the Mississippi River in view of the arch at St. Louis (no pictures while I’m driving!).

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The clouds looked ominous again as I drove through Missouri. There was more traffic (trucks, pickups pulling trailers) because I had joined I-70. The second stop had a Route 66 theme with pay phones (not functioning) as part of the display.

I made good time and was out my daughters by 2:30 PM and unloading my car. I unloaded the fragile household items (like larger framed pictures) to store her basement until my husband and I move to the area. I waiting until the next day to clean up all the packing material…fold it neatly to use for another load the next time my make the trek between Maryland and Missouri.

A Zentangle® Project – July 2021

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I made 4 tiles using the same starting idea and similar patterns. The starting idea was to make a frame that was connected to the string of the tile…and the string was not a single line but something that had more heft (Iike yarn). Sometimes the yard looped…sometimes it simply undulated across the tile. I filled some of the spaces created with auras or orbs. I scanned the tiles just after they were drawn and then after I added color and highlighting. It was a short project…enjoyable.

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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.