Earlier this year, I browsed two books that were full of images of Abraham Lincoln. Photographic technology had progressed enough to leave us a relatively rich group of pictures; we can see him aging over time. There is some overlap in the two books but also unique images. I was surprised at how many of them seemed familiar; these might be some of the most reused images in the world! Both books are available from Internet Archive. (click on images to see a larger version)
My PC has been Intel-based since the 80s…but I transitioned to an Apple MacBook Air 15” last week (after transitioning from an Android-based phone to an iPhone 15 Pro Max earlier in the month). So – April 2024 has been a big tech transition for me. Now that I am through most of the it– I am thinking about my impressions of how it all went.
It was not as traumatic as I thought it would be although I was anticipating that it was going to be harder than a transition to a new Intel-based laptop and it was. But not as hard as I thought it was going to be. That could have been because:
My most active files were already in the cloud (OneDrive) and the huge bulk of my photographs were on an external drive.
I knew all my passwords. I am sometimes anxious about passwords (remembering them and changing them often enough) but I’ve managed to get better at it over the years.
My browser was the latest version.
The docking station I had used with my laptop worked with the new machine too (so the two external monitors were available immediately).
It only took me a day to begin doing some of my normal things on the Mac: writing and posting a blog, browsing some books, checking my news feeds, copying photos from my camera’s SD card to the Mac and tagging the best ones, sending/receiving text messages. Other than installing Microsoft Office and my favorite browser, I found myself minimizing the other apps I installed; I wanted to thoroughly explore the capabilities of the apps that came on the Mac; of course, Finder was a big focus for me since I was looking for ways to tag and resize pictures almost immediately along with moving around files.
On the subsequent days, I made tweaks – changing some settings to be more familiar to me (scrolling…the CTRL key to mimic the CMD key for cut and paste). I also installed the driver for my scanner, and it worked without any issues at all (the scanner was connected via the docking station, so it had been attached physically from almost the beginning). Tweaking will continue until I am thoroughly comfortable with the way the software is configured. Since I feel comfortable now, I suspect further tweaking will be minimal.
What I haven’t done yet is clean up the dock – taking off apps that I am not using and making sure the ones that I use frequently are always there. I will gradually try all the apps that are on the doc now and make the decision.
My overall impression of the transition at this point is positive. I am doing my normal activities – often in a slightly different way but acceptable (often improved). And I have cleaned up my environment considerably.
And – everything works faster! I’m very happy I made this tech transition!
The irises, that were already growing in flower beds when we bought our house, are blooming profusely; the ones I transplanted last fall/winter will take another year to build up the energy to bloom. I was surprised that the most prolific bed this year grew very elongated stems that fell over as soon as they started to bloom; I didn’t remember them being so tall last year. The irised in another bed looks the same, but the stems are very short!
I ended up cutting the long stems to bring indoors and enjoyed photographing them: macro shots with my iPhone 15 Pro Max and
And Canon Powershot SX70 HX high key shots (almost white background) and
Some warm glow shots of a group.
Of course, there other plants active in the yard. Hostas are growing well – both the original clumps and the ones I started this year by dividing some older clumps.
There are lots of dandelions in various stages of development. I tend to let them alone since the bees like the flowers and the roots are deeper than the grass root which helps hold the soil – particularly on slopes.
There are more violets that ever spilling out of flower beds and into the yard. There are some places that I have stopped mowing because the violets are so thick!
The irises I transplanted into the area where the pine tree was cut down last summer are growing vigorously. Maybe one or two will bloom this year although it won’t be great until next year. The lambs ear is growing well and should fill in more around the irises over time. The beautyberry does not have leaves yet but we’re still having some cool days/nights; hopefully it will leaf out in May.
I took some ‘art’ pictures of an iris bud and new rose leaves early in the month.
A lot is growing in the wildflower garden from last year. Some might be weeds…hard to tell until the plants start blooming.
Pokeweed is coming up everywhere. I am going to cut down plants that get above a certain size. I also plan to rake pine cones that are around one of pines toward the fence so that I won’t mow over them (they are a little tough for the lawn mower to cut!).
Overall – a great month in our yard. The rhododendron is full of buds…but not blooming yet…a lot more beauty coming in May.
Last week I made a 2-day road trip down to Dallas to visit with my dad. It’s about 7 hours of driving in each direction. When I left my house in Missouri on the first day it was dark. Just as the horizon was beginning to brighten behind me, I saw a large bird fly over the interstate – higher than my car but not that far in front of me. I wondered if it was a barn owl although I didn’t get a good enoug look other than to realize the bird had a lot of white.
After my first rest stop the sun was up and more birds were moving about. I saw a large one fly across the highway…a little lower than was safe and then just above my car there was another of the same kind. It was a turkey! I was close enough to see the eye glinting.
I saw a great blue heron flying along or over the road twice…and a murmuration of smaller birds that spilt in two over the highway.
The highlight of the drive down was the rest stop on US 75 just after crossing from Oklahoma to Texas. The berm between the highway and the rest stop parking was full of wildflowers!
Closer to the building there were beds of wildflowers…including the Texas state flower: bluebonnets.
I enjoyed trying my new iPhone 15 Pro Max phone to take some macro pictures of some of the flowers.
Heading home the next day, I left the hotel about 6 AM and got to Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge about 20 minutes after sunrise. Unfortunately, it was very cloudy and sprinkling so there was not a lot of bird activity, and the light was not great for photography.
The surprise of the morning came when I saw something on the road in my left peripheral vision as I moved slowly along Hagerman’s wildlife road…..as I turned to see it better I realized it was a hub cap. I got out of the car to see if it belonged to my car…and it did! It was the first time anything like that has happened to me in 55 years of driving! I put the hub cap in the car opting to not try to put it back on until I got home.
I saw two flocks of cattle egrets as I was driving back toward the highway from Hagerman.
As I drove through Oklahoma, I was driving thorough moving cloud shadows. They were moving in the same direction as I was, and I was moving faster than they were!
The drive was very routine until my route direction shifted from north to east. The wind buffeted the car and the big trucks on the interstate were even more impacted. The last 3 hours were exhausting – requiring both hands on the steering wheel and hyper awareness of the vehicles (particularly trucks) around me.
I made it home in a reasonable time but was very tired.
Last year I saw ducklings on our neighborhood pond on April 14th. This year I photographed this year’s brood 3 days earlier than last year on the 11th (although a sighting was posted on the neighborhood Facebook page on the 9th). There are 14 ducklings this year; no losses so far. The Mom Mallard was wisely keeping them close to shore protecting them from the turtles (turtles can pull a duckling underwater, drown it, and then eat it). Click on the images below to enlarge…see if you count 14 ducklings. When they are close to shore, one or two seem to always want to climb up on the mud and nibble the grass. The last picture has all 14 (I think). Their down make their bodies look out-of-focus, so count the heads!
Zoomed in, the ducklings show how fuzzy they still are.
Mom Mallard took them on a brief loop out into the pond before going back to the shore. The line of ducklings is somewhat easier to count.
I noticed some other things around the pond: robins,
Plastic swans (an attempt to deter geese from nesting near the pond),
And, of course, turtles. Most were red-eared sliders; there might be one that I photographed that was something else. I didn’t see the large snapping turtle. I’m not sure how large a turtle has to be to pull down a duckling. Fortunately, the Mom Mallard was keeping them at the other end of the large pond.
Before I headed home, I saw the ducklings again in the inflow channel of the large pond; there had been enough rain recently that there was still water in it and the ducklings were loving it! They were moving around finding bits of food and sitting down letting the water move around them. I wondered where the Mom Mallard had made her nest since they seemed to be heading up stream.
Last week I posted about my pre-eclipse experience. Today’s post has photos of the eclipse itself. I used my bridge camera (Canon Powershot SX70 HX) on a tripod with a solar filter for most of them. Both my skill and camera improved since the 2017 eclipse when I was using a Canon Powershot SX730 HS with the same filter. I compose my shots such that the camera stays in P (program) mode and autofocuses. The only setting change made was the +/- exposure compensation during totality. My ‘best shots’ for the 2024 eclipse included:
Two areas of sunspots (pre-eclipse)
First contact
Further along
Only one sunspot still visible
Frown in the sky
Diamond ring (no filter)
Baily’s beads and solar flares/prominences (no filter)
More solar flares/prominences (no filter)
Corona (no filter)
Nearing the end of totality (no filter)
Diamond ring (no filter)
Smile in the sky
I took one picture with my phone holding my solar glasses over the lens after totality. I was klutzy to hold…but worthwhile to try.
My husband had an app running that was providing prompts leading up to totality…when to remove filters…the mid-point of totality…filters back on. It was good to have the audio rather than having to check the time some other way. He had a more complex set up with several higher end cameras – one of which had automated tracking (which didn’t work quite the way he expected). These were his three favorite totality shots.
The road trip home was prolonged with heavy traffic. A lot of people traveled to see the eclipse, and all were heading home afterward at about the same time. We stopped for dinner along the way and the traffic cleared a little. It was a long day for us: leaving home at 5:30 AM and returning at 9:30 PM. It was worth it!
Here is a mosaic of my pictures featured above plus others. Click on the thumbnail to see a larger version.
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.
Touching Image of Intergenerational Love Wins Black and White Minimalist Photography Prize – Minimalist…but powerful.
How an English castle became a stork magnet – 30 White Storks from a rescue project in Poland introduced in the rewilded habitat at Knepp Castle in southern England in 2016. At one point, storks even built nests on Knepp Castle itself although they usually build their nests in the crown of huge oak trees. The young storks started migrating in 2019. The colony has grown to about 80 storks…and is the first breeding colony in Britain in 600 years.
Evidence for Domesticated Chickens Dated to 400 B.C. - A study of eggshell fragments unearthed at 12 archaeological sites located along the Silk Road corridor in Central Asia.
Noisy Summer Ahead for U.S. as Dueling Broods of Cicadas Emerge - It is the first time these two broods are going to be emerging in the same year since Thomas Jefferson was in the White House. Mating season will last until July.
California’s Live Oaks in Focus - Some centuries old, the oaks are magnificent giants that can grow up to 100 feet tall and are what remains of a forest that once blanketed the region.
New approach to monitoring freshwater quality can identify sources of pollution, and predict their effects - Analyzing the diversity of organic compounds dissolved in freshwater provides a reliable measure of ecosystem health. Microparticles from car tires, pesticides from farmers' fields, and toxins from harmful algal blooms are just some of the organic chemicals that can be detected using the new approach.
Cars & Road Trips Made a Huge Difference in Women’s History – One of the first cars ever built got taken by a woman, without permission, on the world’s first road trip! Bertha Benz wanted her husband’s invention to be seen out in the country so people would buy it, but her husband Karl Benz was being timid about it. So, she took the car out on a road trip with her kids.
Common household chemicals pose new threat to brain health - The new study discovered that some common home chemicals specifically affect the brain's oligodendrocytes, a specialized cell type that generates the protective insulation around nerve cells. Loss of oligodendrocytes underlies multiple sclerosis and other neurological diseases. They identified chemicals that selectively damaged oligodendrocytes belong to two classes: organophosphate flame retardants and quaternary ammonium compounds.
The Soundtrack of Spring on the Platte River – Sandhill cranes staging last month along the Central Platte River in Nebraska. So many birds….lots of sound.
These Are the Most Polluted National Parks – Many national parks are suffering from air pollution and facing threats stemming from human-caused climate change. 98 percent of parks suffer from visible haze pollution, while 96 percent are grappling with ozone pollution that could be harmful to human health. Four of the nation’s parks with the unhealthiest air are in California: Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, Mojave National Preserve and Yosemite National Park. Another California site, Death Valley National Park, also made the top ten list. 57 percent of national parks are facing at least one threat stemming from climate change that could permanently alter its ecosystems, with many parks grappling with multiple issues at the same time. Invasive species were the most prevalent issue.
W. Stevenson Smith’s The Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt was published in 1958 and is available on Internet Archive. It has 192 black and white plates which are well worth browsing. There are familiar images of Egyptian artifacts/ruins, but the ones I enjoyed the most were either new-to-me or a different view of something familiar.
For example, the different perspective of the Ramses II statue and Tutankhamon’s chair and chariot drew my attention (click on the sample images to see a larger version).
Many statues and smaller items like axe heads were shown large enough to make out details. It is also evident that the author included images of artifacts from many museums.
The architecture of ancient Egyptian sites is shown at locations and via reconstructed versions (models and drawings).
Enjoying browsing the images that are grouped after the text of the book! Research and excavation continue in Egypt so keep in mind the vintage of this book.
Continuing about our visit to Dickerson Park Zoo…
The animal sculptures in various places around the zoo are interesting as sculptures…and sized to provide good climbing experiences for young children.
I realized about halfway through our visit…that I was somehow skewing toward photographing birds more than other animals. The grey-crowned cranes are one of my favorites in zoos I visit.
There were children feeding the giraffes….and I tried to get a picture of the youngest one. It is still the smallest…but growing fast; the adults don’t give the youngest a break at the feeding platform, but the human children try to hold out to feed the ‘baby.’
There were two white storks. I wondered if they had an egg.
The red ruffed lemur responded to a sound my son-in-law made…I took a picture through the glass of its enclosure.
The king vulture enclosure contained two birds…they have very unusual heads (the glass between my camera and the birds was not very clean unfortunately).
Several capybaras were relaxing in the afternoon sun. Just before I wrote this, I found out that my grandnephew had gotten a plush toy capybara at the San Diego Zoo on the same day as our visit to the Dickerson Park Zoo; what a coincidence!
We enjoyed the Dickerson Park Zoo (Springfield MO) on a cool sunny day in late March. My husband and I got a gift membership from my daughter, so we’ll go several times this year. The zoo is always a great opportunity for photography.
The peacocks that roam freely are always photogenic. The birds are very acclimated to people although all the visitors gave them plenty of room too. I only saw one in full display – tail up and expanded; there was no females around, so it wasn’t clear what prompted the display. The males seemed to be the only ones out during this visit; I wondered if the peahens were sitting on eggs.
The flamingo enclosure is one of my favorites because there is an area where there isn’t a barrier (mesh or fence) between my camera and the birds. I zoomed in on one I thought was sleeping; I liked the arrangement and color variation of the feathers; I discovered when I got home that the bird was evidently awake!
The Trumpeter Swans were living up to their names as the made their way around the pond…very noisy. Beads of water on the swan’s back show how well the feathers keep the swan from feeling wet!
The zoo still has a lot of daffodil/narcissus flowers. Our shifts between warm and cold days (and back again) seems to be prolonging the blooms this year. They are planted around naturalized rivulets.
More pictures from the zoo tomorrow….
Picking 10 little celebrations is only challenging because there are so many of them to choose from! I help myself by only noting one each day, but I realize when I look at the list at the end of the month that there are even more, in retrospect, worthy of celebration. Here are the top 10 for March 2024.
My mother’s life. The phrase ‘celebration of life’ is more like a savoring because there is an overlay of grief that is part of every gathering after a death. I stayed focused on making sure that someone was with my dad for the duration and providing narration of the images in the slideshow for him…varying what I said a bit each time it repeated and realizing that she had a very full 92 years!
Getting the check deposited after the sale of my parents’ house. What a relief to not be carrying around a big check!
Home again. I made multiple short trips to Dallas for various reasons and was always very glad to be home again. Even though the time away is only a couple of days, the stress of driving, my task while in Dallas, and staying in a hotel takes a toll. I don’t really relax until I am at home. Hopefully, when I am only going down to see my dad, it will not be as stressful.
Sequiota Cave Boat tour. What a great tour. I liked the non-commercial nature the tour…seeing the tiny bats roosting.
Springfield Botanical Gardens. Full of spring blooming trees.
Dickerson Park Zoo. My daughter gave us a membership for Christmas, so we’ll be enjoying the zoo often over the next year. I liked the roaming peacocks (and other things too). The post about this visit is coming day after tomorrow.
Feeling better. I got sick with something that caused sinus and throat problems. I tested for COVID for 3 days…and was negative for that. And then I recovered rapidly and I celebrated. Also celebrated that my husband did get whatever it was.
Creating more hosta locations. I divided some of my hosta plants as they first began to come up and was pleased that the new plants adjusted very quickly to their new space. I am looking forward to their lush growth this summer…and will divide more plants next spring!
Burning sticks. I enjoyed the fire in my chiminea after cleaning up the small branches and pine cones around my yard….celebrating with some pictures of the fire!
Butterfly and pollinator seeds planted. I celebrated getting the beds prepared and the seeds planted…right at the mid-March suggested planting deadline.
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.
Floating Solar Array Is Designed to Take the Rough Stuff - Rich opportunities for solar co-location with offshore wind. By combining floating solar with offshore wind farms and thereby leveraging the same energy infrastructure and export cables, the resulting energy production capacity per used area could be drastically improved. Prototype has been developed…should be in the water by June 2024.
Lessons In Rewilding the Scottish Highlands – Working with nature…increasing biodiversity…reducing monoculture.
Five Shocking Animal Hybrids That Truly Exist in Nature, From Narlugas to Grolar Bears to Coywolves – I’ve heard about a few of these…the pictures were interesting.
Pregnancy advances your ‘biological’ age — but giving birth turns it back - Brewing a baby leads to changes in the distribution of certain chemical markers on a pregnant person’s DNA — changes similar to those that are a hallmark of getting older. But new research shows that, several months after a person gives birth, the chemical patterns revert to an earlier state.
Did You Know Sandhill Cranes Dye Their Feathers? – The birds rub iron rich mud onto their feathers…staining them. And some trivia about sandhill cranes at the Platte River (Nebraska) in the early spring:
The birds find a lot of waste corn in farm fields, as well as small invertebrates in marshes near the river. A crane can add 20 percent to its weight during two or three weeks in the area.
At night, the cranes move to the Platte River for safe roosting in the shallow water.
Sandhill cranes are the most numerous of the world’s crane species.
In the Central Flyway, more than 500,000 cranes – more than 80 percent of their population.
The heat index -- how hot it really feels -- is rising faster than temperature - Researchers looked at Texas's summer 2023 heat wave and found that the 3 degree F rise in global temperatures has increased the state's heat index as much as 11 degrees F on the hottest days! Arizona's most populous county, covering most of Phoenix, reported that heat-associated deaths last year were 50% higher than in 2022, rising from 425 in 2022 to 645 in 2023. Two-thirds of Maricopa County's heat-related deaths in 2023 were of people 50 years or older, and 71% occurred on days when the National Weather Service had issued an excessive heat warning. With climate change, the relative humidity remains about constant as the temperature increases, which reduces the effectiveness of sweating to cool the body.
158 Cherry Blossom Trees Will Be Cut Down in D.C. in Effort to Withstand Sea-Level Rise – Part of the project to reconstruct a seawall around the Tidal Basin.
Landscape Architecture Strategies Reduce Impacts of Dangerous Extreme Heat – And these apply to what we do in our yard too!
Increase tree percentage in parks and green spaces
Provide shade on sites
Use plant materials and water instead of hardscape
Switch to green ground cover, including grasses and shrubs
Plastics Contain Thousands More Chemicals Than Thought, and Most Are Unregulated – Scary! The report also highlights 15 chemical priority groups of concern. These include phthalates, which are used to make plastics more durable and have been found to affect the reproductive systems of animals, as well as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which break down very slowly over time and have been linked to health issues including reproductive and developmental problems and increased cancer risk.
Only seven nations meet WHO air pollution standards – The US is not one of the seven: Australia, Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland, Mauritius and New Zealand. Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Tajikistan and Burkina Faso were the top five most polluted countries in 2023 with PM2.5 levels nine to 15 times higher than the WHO's standard. Columbus, Ohio, was the most polluted major city in the United States, while Las Vegas was the cleanest and Beloit, Wisconsin polluted U.S. city overall.
This ‘book of the week’ post introduces a collection found on Internet Archive that features slideshow collections of art works from artists from around the world and different time periods. There is a lot to browse in this collection and I will probably feature it again from time to time since I enjoy the images and learning about the artists. I have chosen 5 for this first post…hopefully the sample images will provide enough of an incentive to take a look at these artists and the rest of the collection.
Lots of birds in the Zooming slide show this month – from the Whooping Crane Festival in south Texas as well as Josey Ranch (Carrollton TX), the Springfield Botanical Gardens (Springfield MO) and Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge (near Sherman TX). I find myself picking images that show bird behavior rather than portraits.
There are spring flowers in this collection as well…more of those coming in April!
Enjoy the March 2024 slide show!
Springfield Botanical Gardens is one of my favorite places; I will try to go at least once a month for the rest of this year. We went on a sunny cool day in the late morning. The sky was almost clear and the light was very bright….making for some ‘almost high key’ pictures of the blossoms on a tree growing close to where we parked.
There were other trees/bushes in bloom as well.
The maples were already making seeds (i.e. past blooming). The seeds were still colorful.
Spring bulbs were still blooming….
But I was more interested in the new growth all over the hosta garden. It will be very lush this summer.
I took some pictures of the garden mosaic…carefully avoiding getting my shadow in the picture.
Lenten roses were blooming. My daughter has some in her yard too. They do seem to grow well but I tend to not like them because their blooms face downward.
There were birds in the gardens too. Lots of robins. We heard a brown thrasher and then saw it high in the tree….too high for a good picture. I did get a picture of a blue bird though!
My husband was very tolerant of my walking around to take pictures even though he didn’t see anything he was interested in photographing. He seemed very intent on macro photography….and didn’t see any opportunities. I find that the zoom on my bridge camera (Canon Powershot SX70 HS) is good enough to take some ‘almost macro’ pictures without being close to the flowers (or birds) at all!
My daughter’s yard in Springfield MO is full of springtime. I visited to help get pollinator/butterfly garden seeds planted. After we got that done – I enjoyed the beauty of the yard which has been a work in progress since the house was built in the 1950s…and my daughter’s since 2021.
The oakleaf hydrangea is leaving out; the plant gets more sun this time of year before the big trees get their leaves. I noticed it as we were picking up sticks around the base of her river birch and oak tree.
The vinca, growing in a bed thick with leaves from last fall, is blooming.
Her wood hydrangea still has flowers dried from last fall…not leafing out yet in its shady location.
A Japanese quince was blooming. I hadn’t noticed this in her yard before, but I must have just missed being there at the right time.s. Would birds get ‘drunk’ from the (probably fermented) fruit?
The crabapple tree was full of buds – and some crabapples left from last season. Most of the fruits had been eaten and I wondered why there are still some on the trees. Would birds get ‘drunk’ from the (probably fermented) fruit?
There is a young cherry tree near the corner of her front yard. The blooms were everywhere.
A red bud is in the other corner also full of blooms. My daughter commented that it really is misnamed since it isn’t red.
We also observed that most of the plants damaged from a too zealous application of herbicide by a yard crew last year seem to be recovering with the new season.
What a great time to get outdoors and into a garden….
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.
6 chemical stories of colors through time – A little history of these colors….some very toxic!
Possible Neolithic Body Piercings Unearthed in Anatolia – Over 11,000 years old…found near ears and chins of human remains.
Under Threat in Their Native California, Giant Sequoias Are Thriving in Britain - First introduced to country estates in the 19th century, half a million sequoias now grow in Britain, compared to just 80,000 along the western flank of the Sierra Nevada in California, where they are increasingly imperiled by warming. Up to a fifth of all large giant sequoias in California died in wildfires in 2020 and 2021. The trees in Britain are still relatively young — sequoias can live for more than 3,000 years — and squat. In Britain’s cool, mild climate, sequoias are growing nearly as fast as in California.
Whales That Go Through Menopause Live Longer and May Help Care for Grandchildren - Female tooth whales that go through menopause (narwhals, killer whales, false killer whales, short-finned pilot whales and beluga whales) have longer lifespans than those that don’t, surviving decades past their reproductive prime!
A healthier diet is linked with a slower pace of aging, reduced dementia risk - We have some strong evidence that a healthy diet can protect against dementia…but the mechanism of this protection is not well understood. This study suggests that slower pace of aging mediates part of the relationship of healthy diet with reduced dementia risk, and therefore, monitoring pace of aging may inform dementia prevention. Additional observational studies need to be conducted to investigate direct associations of nutrients with brain aging.
The next pandemic? It’s already here for Earth’s wildlife – The pathogenic strain of avian influenza has killed millions of birds and unknown numbers of mammals. Between January 1, 2003 and December 21, 2023, 882 cases of human infection were reported from 23 countries, of which 461 (52%) were fatal. To prevent the worst outcomes for this virus, we must revisit its primary source: the incubator of intensive poultry farms.
Ultra-fast fashion is a disturbing trend undermining efforts to make the whole industry more sustainable - Ultra-fast fashion is marked by even faster production cycles, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it trends, and poor labor practices. Without change, the industry will account for 26% of the world’s carbon budget for limiting global warming to 2°C by 2050. Established brands such as Gap introduce 12,000 new items a year and H&M 25,000. But Shein leaves them in the dust, listing 1.3 million items in the same amount of time.
Seven ways to improve your sleep according to science – Science and historical perspective.
Warming Waters Bringing More Sharks to the Alabama Coast - Globally, warming waters are driving sharks to new areas where they were previously scarce. Great white sharks, tiger sharks, and bull sharks have all edged northward. From 2003 to 2020, the number of juvenile bull sharks swimming through Mobile Bay rose fivefold.
Incredible Winners of the 2024 British Wildlife Photography Awards – So many great images!
There is a lot going on in our yard this month. The bulbs I planted last year have thrived. The crocus bloomed first followed by the hyacinths and daffodils. The hyacinths don’t seem to bloom as well here as they did years ago in Maryland.
The forsythia bush in the corner of our yard is blooming profusely. I cut some to bring inside…and took some macro pictures of the flowers there. After the bush finishes blooming, I will trim it back significantly. I planted pawpaw seeds under it and I am hoping they come up…start my grove of pawpaw trees with the forsythia’s protection from the hottest parts of the summer days.
The fragrant sumac is blooming. I bought the young plant last spring after the bloom time so this is my first season to observe the small flowers.
The lambs’ ear is returning. The clumps that get more sun did not die back like the largest clump on the north side of the house. There are two in a sunny place that might merge over the summer.
The small hens and chicks are pretty with additional color forming on the tips of their leaves over the winter. There are still two chicks. I’ll be moving more rocks away from them so it will be easier for them to spread.
The vinca under one of our cedars is blooming. It seems to be well contained. I don’t want more of it!
I’ve planted more pollinator/butterfly garden seeds in two places: enlarging the existing wildflower garden and a sunny area under a pine tree where I cleared away most of the pine needles (it is sunnier there because I cut some low branches).
I’m not sure if the bulbs I planted from my parents’ garden are going to survive. They had to be planted in the winter…not the optimal time. Hopefully they will become established over this summer although I doubt they will bloom.
The mound where a pine tree used to be (it fell and had to be removed) is going to fill out nicely with irises and I planted a tiny oak there (I cut it from my flower bed last fall and put it in a vase to enjoy the fall color….it grew a root and put out green leaves! It will take years before it gets big enough to impact the bed but could eventually dominate the back yard!). The beautyberry that is there has not leafed out yet.
The hostas are beginning to emerge…in dense clumps. I decided to divide two clumps…since I have a shady place that I’d like to convert from grass.
I planted divided clumps (roots plus a furled leave or two) at the pine needle and flower bed boundaries with grass. I covered the grass with extra pine needles (from under the tree where I planted pollinator/butterfly garden seeds) and clippings from some bushes). I was thrilled when the hosta leaves unfurled within a day or two after they were planted!
There is still a lot to do in the yard. I get a little done every day I am at home and it’s dry…over 60 degrees.
The chiminea left by the previous owner of our house comes in handy for burning sticks and pinecones that would otherwise be difficult to get rid of. The sticks come mostly from our neighbor’s river birch (the tree sheds into our side yard every time we have a strong wind!) but there is a mixture of crape myrtle and oak….and some branches trimmed from the forsythia last season that were thoroughly dried in their pile under a pine tree. The first two fires were all sticks! Most of them broke into short enough pieces easily enough but a few poked out the opening of the chiminea until they burnt enough that I could slide them the rest of the way in. The mornings were cool enough that I enjoyed watching the fire burn. My husband asked why I smelled like smoke when I came inside!
As I trimmed some lower branches off our largest pine, I realized that there were way too many pine cones and that I was going to need to burn some of them – particularly the ones that had fallen onto grass rather than the carpet of needles directly under the tree; otherwise the lawn mower was going to be challenged by them every time I mowed in the upcoming months.
I piled the cones into a wagon along with the forsythia sticks (which had broken easily into short lengths) and loaded the chiminea with the sticks and half the cones for the third fire of the season. I lit a paper towel wadded under the sticks to start the fire.
It was an interesting fire to watch. The forsythia sticks and most of the cones caught fire easily although some of the cones might have been damp enough to slow their burning. As the fire progressed, I enjoyed the movement of the flames…the shape of the cones and the way they changed from their brown color to black with glowing red crescents to black and white…and then ash. I added the rest of the pinecones once most of the initial load had burned….and they caught quickly. After they had burned down, I stirred the ashes and was surprised at the chunks that still hadn’t burned. I closed the screen on the chiminea and watched the fire die before I went inside – realizing how much I had enjoyed photographing the pinecone fire.
Sometimes I get in the mood for macro photography. It has happened several times this month.
The first was at my mother’s funeral. I was thinking about the bouquet of daffodils/narcissus that her neighbor cut from their old yard (with the new owner’s permission) and decided to take some macro views of the flowers while we were waiting for the service to begin. I thought about all the joy my mother experienced with her garden…with the flowers growing there and the ones she cut to bring inside. And that she transmitted that joy to her daughters.
The second round of macro photography was when I trimmed some low branches from one of my pine trees and decided to take a closer look at one of the branches.
Pine cones are so sturdy….they are hard on my lawn mower…but there is a fragile aspect to them too. At close range they are wrinkled and folded and etched.
The bark on a small stem shows where needles once grew and the expansion of the stem making brown islands in gray green.nce.
The bud at the end of stem looks reddish surrounded by green needles. Once again – I realize how much color there is that is unnoticed until we take a closer look.
The last macro photograph is one my daughter sent via text when she visited the Memphis Botanic Garden recently. She knows how much I enjoy finding fiddleheads….and evidently had caught the macro photography bug too. These were interesting because of the felt-like covering that must have protected them until they started to unfurl.
Copyright © 2024, Gwen Morrison. All rights reserved.
Celebrating the whole of life....
Thanks for visiting my blog! Enjoy the photo picks from 2023:
Copyright © 2024, Gwen Morrison. All rights reserved.
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