Brookside Azaleas

The azaleas were glorious at Brookside Gardens last week. The day was cloudy – the best we could do with the weather pattern that seems dominated by rainy days recently. I got 3 selective focus shots that I liked - successfully tricking the automatic focus algorithm of my point and shot Canon Powershot SX710 HS to create the image I wanted. There were dark pink with the same color blurred in the foreground and side,

Light pink with some purple azaleas making the blur in the foreground,

And yellow azaleas with yellow blur in the foreground bottom and sides.

I also tried pictures of azaleas with other plants – like these flowers that had fallen onto a bed of ferns

And some that were blooming next to a pine.

While I was photographing the azaleas near the pine – I noticed a relative of the azaleas that also blooms this time of year – a rhododendron.

Even though the clouds were pretty thick – it was bright enough to see the reflection of azaleas in the pond.

Everywhere we walked was full of azalea color. If it has been drier – the benches would have been used! Walking around it was still a celebration of springtime in Maryland.

Goslings at Brookside Gardens

Last week one of the high points of our visit to Brookside was a group of 7 relatively new goslings making their way through the garden. When we first saw them they were on a grassy slope near the center of the gardens. There were two adult geese herding them along.

I made a last photography just before we left – they had made is safely to the little stream that runs along the edge of Brookside Gardens. The stream is a much better place for the goslings than the ponds because there are turtles in the ponds that are big enough to drown the little ones. (A larger version of the first three images is available by clicking on the pictures.)

In between the grassy hill and the stream – the little group crossed a parking lot with sloping curbs easy enough for the goslings to climb,

Continuing though pine needles and buckeye debris,

Traversing a patch of grass,

Circling some rounds from a recently cut tree,

To reach a gentle slope down to the stream,

The goslings frolicked in the water (it looked like they were rejoicing to finally get to water),

They stayed relatively close together and to the adults at first,

Then became braver – exploring the sides of the stream!

Earth Day Celebration at Dallas’ Fair Park

There was a 3-day Earth Day event at Fair Park in Dallas while I was there and I enjoyed walking around the exhibits. It was a warm spring day and I forgot my hat – but I stayed in the shade enough not to get burned. I took pictures of some of the restored art deco facades while my sister stood in line to tour one of the Tiny Houses.

We saw some other exhibits and then stopped for lunch (and rest) at the Old Mill Inn. They had a dress your own hamburger basket that was well worth the price. The dining room is in the main room of the mill with beams originally held together with pegs (some metal brackets have been added at the ends of some of them) and a wonderful stone fireplace. The water wheel still turns outside. The building was evidently built very early in Fair Park history and has been used for various purposes over the years.

The Earth Day event was well attended and I hope the area can be revitalized. One time when I was in the area previously it seemed abandoned. For this event, exhibit buildings were put to good use but many of the museums and rides (like the swan paddle boats) were closed. The water feature that held the swan paddle boats did not seem big enough for them – not sure how they are supposed to work.

The best freebie from the event was a mini-garden tool bag. It is perfect for small pots. It won’t stay pristine for long!

Zentangle® - April 2016

Several changes this month:

• I am doing a selection at the end of the month – forcing the number of Zentangles® in this post to be no more than the number of days in the month.
• I bought some colored pens used them for the tiles I made while I was in Texas then left them as a gift. I’ll buy myself another set sometime in May.
• Toward the end of April, my husband and I bought a scanner to digitize all our older pictures and slides….and it works for Zentangle tiles as well. This is the first month for scanned versions of the tiles and they do look better than the photographic method I had used previously.

Enjoy the slide show of the April Zentangles!

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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.

Learning Log - April 2016

The majority of learning in April was experiential rather than formal course work although it seems that I always have at least one course in progress or scheduled!

I learned about mealworm cookies and Fresh Paper (for keeping strawberries fresh longer) while during my volunteer gig at my county’s STEM Fair and

Realized that I was glad cooking for 12 people was not the norm for me (it is quite a bit more work that cooking for 2-4) and

Was pleased that I didn’t panic when an opossum carcass turned up beside the stream where 7^th graders were going to appear to search for macro invertebrates in a few minutes (no shovels were available so we pushed the stinking mess into a bucket and dumped it into some nearby brambles).

I did take a macro photography class via Creative Live: The Art of Seeing: Macro Techniques for Flowers and Plants with Frans Lanting. I wanted the course on the day it was broadcast (and thus ‘free’) and then have been experimenting with selective focus since then. One of my first attempts is the picture below. It is fun to ‘fool’ the autofocus on my Point and spShoot camera (a Canon Powershot SX710 HS) into creating blurs in the foreground and background.

I also finished the second unit of the Soul Beliefs course available via Coursera from Daniel Ogilvie and Leonard Hamilton at Rutgers. I’ll do the third and last unit after the spring field trip season is done – maybe start in mid-June.

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 30, 2016

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.

Sharing a Passion for ‘beautiful’ bees – A nature photographer’s project to tell the story of North America’s native bees. There is some information about how he gets his images without stressing the bees too.

Getting to the Root – 18 genes are related to hair related traits --- but we are only beginning to understand how they work.

How do we get our drinking water in the US? – With Flint, Michigan’s water problems, awareness is increases across the country that we should not take our drinking water ‘goodness’ for granted. For a more chemistry perspective – take a look at Water Treatment – from Reservoir to Home from Compound Interest.

Sugar: The Benefits of Cutting Back – The results of a study involving children and teenagers.

7 Tips to Reduce Food Waste (and Save Money) – Nothing truly new in this list…but all good ideas. Now to just apply them all the time.

Genetic Resilience – A study of half a million human genomes, reveals 13 adults that had mutations for 8 different severe childhood genetic disorders…yet had no reported signs of the disease. We have a way to go in understanding how genes work as a system; none of them work in isolation and our studies of them in a standalone fashion is a simplification too far.

Are hazardous chemicals in your cosmetics? – The 4 to look for and avoid are: phthalates, parabens, triclosan, and oxybenzone because they interfere with the body’s natural hormones.

Thyroid tumor reclassified to curb over diagnosis of cancer – The detection of tumors has outpaced the research about what tumors need treatment versus those that are relatively benign. This is a case where a type of thyroid tumor previously classified as ‘cancer’ is being reclassified as non-invasive and with a low risk of recurrence. Are there more tumor types that patients are worrying about now that will eventually be reclassified along these same lines?

America’s Ten Most Endangered Rivers of 2016 – The one near me is the Susquehanna but the 10 rivers on the list are all across the country.

Dirty Dozen Update! Fruits and Veggies Worth Buying Organic – The latest list from the Environmental Working Group.

Ten Days of Little Celebrations – April 2016

April was full of springtime activities. Volunteer activities took me

Outdoors with 7th graders in a stream looking for macro invertebrates (and seeing bluebirds and tree swallows on the way to the stream),

To my daughter’s elementary school (15+ years ago) for an outreach program with a barred owl and his expert handler

Into the flurry of activity helping preschoolers craft butterfly models (our of coffee filters, clothes pins, pain, and pipe cleaners), and

To the county STEM fair as a judge – hearing about a project that taste tested mealworm cookies!

There are multiple reasons I celebrate these volunteer activities --- the interaction with the students, the topics, and the frequent connection to the natural environment.

I saw two birds that were worth celebrating (along with the bluebirds and tree swallows already mentioned): a male wood duck at Brookside Garden and loons at Centennial Park.

I enjoyed some traveling and celebrated

Being TSA Pre for both flights – it makes the passage through security faster (and not feeling like I have to get stuff out and off…then back together)

Helping build a chicken coop,

Baking carrot cakes that turned out yummy for 2 birthdays,

Earth Day at Dallas’ Fair Park (and remembering times I had been to the Fair Park many years ago).

And finally – I celebrated a day just being at home!

Intimate Landscapes - April 2016

I skipped February and March for an intimate landscapes post (after Eliot Porter’s Intimate Landscapes book available online here) but am starting them again this month.

In the roots and moss on a path in Centennial Park – I saw a parallel to crossroads on a map or visualized a decision at the fork of a road that has been taken by others but not enough to wear away the moss.

Low growth thrives at the base of a tree and surrounds a stump. A Jack-in-the-Pulpit is blooming there too.

The skunk cabbage surrounds the trees along a now hidden stream and the ferns are filling in the remaining spaces under the trees.

The thick oxalis almost overwhelms the cairns when the sun is shining (the plant’s flowers close up at night and cloudy days). Other plants cover other items with their foliage. The lighter green in the background will be pink lilies later in the summer.

Here an old stump provides a dark backdrop to the pink and yellow of spring flowers.

Beautiful Food - April

The two beautiful foods that I picked this month are from opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to food processing:

Dandelion greens are wonderful when they first come up in the spring – before they develop any bitterness. These grew in the old turtle sandbox on my deck and I cut them to use immediately in a salad. There are several plants in the sandbox that I am harvesting by simply cutting the leaves – leaving the root in place. So far the plant has continued to put up new leaves and even managed to bloom and produce seeds while I was away in Texas.

Homemade carrot cake with marmalade icing – yum. I started with the recipe from the King Arthur's Flour site. It occurred to me that before food processors, carrot cake was a lot of work; grating 3 cups of carrots is so easy with a food processor...quite an endeavor with an old style grater. I liked that while the recipe listed 1.5 cups of nuts – they suggested other ‘additions’ that added up to 1.5 cups. I used 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut and 3/4 cup raisins for my husband’s birthday cake. The homemade marmalade icing was substituted for the cream cheese icing since I am lactose intolerant. I simply poured the warm marmalade over the sheet cake while it was cooling. The cake was better the second (thirds and fourth) day because the spices ‘matured.’ Later in the month I made the recipe again for my sister’s birthday – with pecans and raisins as the ‘additions.’ I made a sheet cake with marmalade icing and cupcakes that were left plain with a tub of the cream cheese icing for people that wanted it. Some people at her party preferred the plain cupcakes…this carrot cake is that good!

About Trees

I volunteered to be the ‘tree lady’ - staffing the tree nature station at the family event following the 5K Green Run at Belmont last weekend. Some of the children just enjoyed looking at tree cross sections (tree cookies) and buds cut from trees around my yard earlier in the morning (tulip poplar, black walnut, red maple, and sycamore) with magnifiers while others were keen to fill in all the blanks in the booklet to earn the Howard County Conservancy’s Junior Naturalist Badge. Most of them left my table and headed down the slope to look at some trees up close – sweet gum, white pine, and sycamore. The sugar maple around the corner from the carriage house got some attention too.

It was a good day to be outdoors – sunny and a near perfect temperature. The turnout was not huge – but enough to make it worth the effort.  It was good to see children learning something new about the natural world…and enjoying the outdoor activities (the tree nature station was one of three stations).

I didn’t take a picture of the whole table – just two of the small branches I took as ‘living’ examples. The black walnut has leaf clusters coming out of knobby stems.

The sycamore is just beginning to pop its buds! I had some sycamore leaves pressed from last summer to illustrate how big the leaves would eventually get. Looking at the branch at it is now, that size increase hard to imagine.

The black walnut and sycamore are far behind the tulip poplar that already has leaves as big as a hand and big flower buds. The red maple is already shedding its seeds while the green leaves rapidly unfurl.

Zooming – April 2016

The images I selected for zooming collages this month – all reflect springtime. The Carolina Wren that scouted out nesting locations and selected an old gas grill that we had not gotten around to arranging to take to the landfill (not it won’t go until the wrens are finished with it, the blossoms of a fruit tree and maple samaras…

Horse chestnut leaves, gingko male flowers and leaves, and a daffodil….

Another type of maple samara, a dove in the sunlight, and dogwood flowers….

A goldfinch, robin and bluebird looking a little scruffy (getting their spring/summer plumage) and the beginning of dandelion flowering….

Morning glories and irises from Texas (they had a very mild winter in the Dallas area and lots of rain so the gardens are well developed) ….

A lizard and water lilies (also from Texas).

It’s a vibrant spring and we’re enjoying the cool mornings and near perfect afternoon temperatures in Maryland.

Texas Garden

I was visiting in the Dallas area last week. It rained most of the time so activity was skewed more to things done indoors…..but the sun came out long enough for some garden pictures. The plants are growing well with the early warmth (and following a milder than usual winter) and plenty of moisture.

Irises are still blooming. The bulbs have been moved around as they have gotten too thick in beds either in this yard or in yards of friends and families. My mother remembers where they came from originally.

Pink Preference Sage that was planted years ago by my grandmother is showing its color too. It fills it area with its pleasant pink and green. She got the first plant from one of her sisters.

Mourning doves inspect the garden from the pathways.

The Oxalis is growing in rounded mounds. The mounds grow and the flowers open when there is plenty of light then close again at night or when the clouds are thick.

Garden ornaments peak through. The plants have been propagated from a small bed that my grandmother had started in her last gardening years.

The same is true for the white and yellow clumps of flowers that interrupt the edge between the patio and grassy yard.

The buttercups started the same way. These come back from seed every year at the base of a 24-year-old rose bush my grandmother received as a gift for her 80^th birthday; it had huge blooms that were just past prime so I didn’t photograph them.

A morning glory blooms through a fence – grown from seeds found when cleaning out a room after an aunt died.

The garden is the past translated to present beauty!

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 23, 2016

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.

Cancer’s Vanguard (exosomes) and Immune Influence and Under Pressure – From The Scientist, graphics explains some recent research findings about cancer.

Texas and California have too much Renewable Energy – There have already been instances where spot prices for power have turned negative. Large-scale storage is needed for renewable energy…and does not exist.

Fertilizer’s Legacy: Taking a Toll on Land and Water – Massive amounts of legacy phosphorous has accumulated and will continue to impact aquatic ecosystems for a very long time. The study used data for the past 70 years for 3 rivers.

The Impact of Climate Change on Public Health – Four Infographics…. there is no good news.

Buzz Aldrin’s Plan for a Permanent Presence on Mars – Part biography…part of what ‘going to Mars’ should mean.

Breakthrough Toothpaste Ingredient Hardens your Teeth While You Sleep – Not only new technology to ‘significantly reduce tooth decay’…but new ways of marketing to both professionals and consumers. I thought at first that it was all about new ways of getting the positive action of fluoride in a more effective way but toward the end of the article it says they are working on a fluoride free version.

Behind-the-Scenes…Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum – Warehouses of collections.

8 Great Food Documentaries – Short descriptions and links to trailers for some food related documentaries.

Photographer Michael Nichols on Yellowstone – A place I’d like to visit again…once is not enough.

Effects of BPA Substitutes – Not good at all. Why wasn’t research done on the replacements for BPA before they became replacements?

Belmont Manor and Historic Park – April 2016

I volunteered for a preschool field trip and finished up a Master Naturalist project at Belmont Manor and Historic Park this month so was able to look around at the spring unfurling there. Early in the month – the maples provided a lot of color. The red maples are indeed very red.

The sugar maples are more subdued but still colorful compared to a lot of other trees that were still looking like winter time in early April.

I’ve already posted about the Horse Chestnut buds and the Ginkgo from earlier in April. Someone commented that there was a female tree somewhere because last fall there was an awful smell from some kind of fruit tracked into the nature center by a field trip group. I had somehow missed the female tree, so I made a trip specifically to photograph it. The male tree was unfurled a bit more – everything a little battered looking because of some frosty mornings.

The female tree is not as far along and the structures are not as large. The buds near the base of the tree are still tightly curled. I’ll continue to take pictures of both trees through this season (and try to avoid stepping on any fruit in the fall since they are reported to smell like vomit).

The black cherry was full of new leaves and reproductive structures by mid-April

And the Dawn Redwood (a deciduous conifer) was getting new needles.

I enjoy the stands of lilacs at Belmont. They remind me of several family homes I visited as a child.

Dandelions are everywhere.

I checked the bald cypress by the pond in mid-April. Tree swallows were buzzing past close to my head as I hiked down – they must have already staked out the nesting boxes and are defending them from anything that comes close. The bald cypress was not as far along as the one I photographed at Brookside earlier. The buds on the lower branches were still very tight.

Higher up the buds were just beginning to open.

And the dried cattails from last season were full of noisy red-winged blackbirds. They’re defining their territory too.

Mt. Pleasant Farm – April 2016

The Howard County Conservancy’s Mt. Pleasant Farm is bursting with spring scenes this month.

The pear tree in the orchard was blooming profusely at the beginning of the month;

Most of the blooms were gone within a week.

The apple trees in the orchard were just beginning to bloom when the pear tree was mostly done.

The wood frog’s eggs had hatched and the tadpoles were numerous in the Honors Garden pool.

The trees were just getting new leaves but it was enough to almost hide the farmhouse in this view from the meadow.

Montjoy Barn has more color around it – more than the old red doors.

The nesting box in the meadow is a choice place for both blue birds

And tree swallows. They had a tussle as I was walking up the path and the bluebirds were in possession as I continued my hike.

We’ll have to wait until almost May for some of the trees near the farmhouse to get their leaves.

Thundercloud Plum

Our Thundercloud Plum tree blooms at the same time as the cherry tree and is overshadowed by white frothy blooms of that tree just beside it. The blossoms of the plum are smaller and pinker than the cherry…and the leaves (purplish red) seem to come out more quickly than those of the cherry.  These pictures were taken on March 25^th.

I looked back at other posts about the Thundercloud plum and saw that the tree was blooming on April 12^th in 2013. That must have been a last spring because by April 12^th of this year the Thundercloud Plum was full of leaves with the flower petals gone for a couple of weeks.

Centennial Park – April 2016

Last week I walked part of the way around Centennial Park – observing and enjoying spring.

There were a few flowers in the raised bed by the headquarters but you had to look for them.

The boat rentals are not open yet for the season but are neatly stacked and are colorful.

Redbuds have been planted. Some are quite small. Even the larger ones have a delicate look about them.

Many of the trees are starting the process of making seeds.

Some are further along than others.

Some just seem to have leaves that start out very colorful and then turn green as they unfurl completely.

The Canadian Geese were loud on the lake as usual but some of the them were comparatively quieter --- laying low and keeping their eggs warm.

There were loons in the center of the lake. Most of the time these birds are closer to the Atlantic coast.

The lake itself took on a different character with changes in light – dull compared to the springtime shore

Or brooding as the camera adjusted to a too bright sky.

The path was rimmed with green – grass

Or moss.

Pine cones look different with the backdrop of grass and dandelions

And pine needles.

Last but not least – the dogwoods flowers are open and on the verge of expanding.

At this point, they have a tulip-like shape.

Photographs through a Window – April 2016

The juncos are still around but there at not as many of them at the feeder recently. Some may have already left for their nesting ground further north. A Carolina Wren has visited several times.  It is full of song either from the railing of the deck or atop the weather station. The birds always seem to sing facing the forest (the daffodils that are blurs of yellow in the background of the photo series are at the edge of the forest). By mid-month, this bird had built a nest in our old (unused) gas grill.

Sometimes brown-headed cowbirds come to our deck. There was a pair that seemed more interested in glaring at each other at first.

Then they noticed the bird feeder and

Patiently took turns getting a snack (when they both were on the feeder the seed was blocked by the same mechanism that makes the feeder squirrel proof).

During the latest (maybe last) snow flurry of the season, some mourning doves visited the bird bath. They fluffed their feathers against the cold.

The one sitting with its tail in the water seemed be totally unaware. Maybe there are not nerves in tail feathers?

The cardinals are still about. I hear them singing more that I see them. It’s the time of year that the male stakes out his territory. In this picture you can see that the buds on the sycamore are beginning to enlarge.

I couldn’t resist collecting these pictures of a dove from a few days later. The red line on the beak almost give the bird a smile. The different positions on the eyelid almost gives the impression of coyness (upper left) and smugness (upper right). The middle one just looks to me like the bird is ready for anything.

Now for another dove mating. It happened in about the same place on our deck railing as the one in February that I posted about shortly afterwards (here). Perhaps the time has come to start on a second brood. The slide show below was taken last week. This time a pair of birds flew to the railing. On started grooming (1) then walked away along the railing toward the bird bath (2). Another arrived with fluffed feathers (3). The smaller one approach and the feather’s fluffed even more (4). A lot of grooming of the larger bird ensues (5-10). They ‘kiss’ (11-14). They mate (15). They cuddle (16). They separate and the female preens (17-20). The female walk past the male stepping on his tail (21). The female flies way and the male chases away the bird that had originally arrived with the female (and had watched the action from other side of the deck) before flying away himself.

3 Free eBooks – April 2016

My picks this month range in publication date from 1850 to 2015!

King, Derrick. Cambodia, Laos, Thailand – 9900 km, 7 Weeks. 2015. Available from Internet Archive here.  I liked that this was a book with lots of pictures of these countries…and relatively recent (early 2012). Many of the pictures included people that provides scale to the rest of the structures – such as the tree and ruin in the one a clipped to include with this post. There are other books about his travels that he has posted on the Internet Archive as well.

Thomas, Edward; Cameron, Katherine. The Flowers I Love. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co. 1910. Available from Hathi Trust here. I didn’t look much at the poetry…the visuals were too wonderful.

Bacon, M.A.; Jones, Owen. Fruits from Garden and Field. London: Longman & Co., 1850. Available from Hathi Trust here. Skip the poetry (the font makes it a challenge to read and just enjoy the visuals. I liked that the flowers and fruit were almost always included….then maybe an insect as well.

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 16, 2016

Microscopic Iridescence of Peacock Feathers – I’ve always been fascinated with peacock feathers. This article zooms in closer to the feathers and uses photo stacking to get the depth of field so that the structure is in focus.

Longer maternity leave is better for infant health – The article is about a study done comparing outcomes of paid maternity leave in low and middle income countries around the world….but toward the end, there is a reminder that the US is one of the few countries in the world that has no paid maternity leave mandate. Aargh! I was lucky enough to work for a company that paid 8 weeks of maternity leave when I had my daughter; it was considered a medical leave.

Disparity in Life Spans of the Rich and Poor is Growing – Wealthier Americans live longer than poorer Americans…and the gap is getting larger. For women born in 1950, the delta is about 12 years.

Soil: Getting the Lead Out – Our soils contain our legacy --- which includes lead from gasoline and paint over many years before it was banned in recent decades. There is remediation, but one has to detect the problem

Genetically engineered immune cells are saving the lives of cancer patients – It’s still early….but the initial result are very promising.

The Four Biggest Hazards Facing Monarch Butterflies, and how you can help – Make sure to get to the end of the article for how each person can make a difference for monarchs.

Real Animals that you didn’t know existed – Hooray for biodiversity!

Could new class of fungicides play a role in autism, neurodegenerative diseases? – Yet another reason to stick with organic vegetables and fruits. The particular fungicides in this study are used on conventionally grown leafy green vegetables.

The Rogue Immune Cells that Wreck the Brain – It appears that microglia might hold the key to understanding not just normal brain development but also what causes Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, autism, schizophrenia, and other intractable brain disorders.

How NASA turns astronauts into photographers – I’m glad the astronauts have made time for photography!