Ten Little Celebrations – September 2022

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The 10 celebrations I am featuring in the September 2022 of this monthly post are about foods and health and getting things done. There is also a lot to celebrate about the outdoors this time of year.

Frito pie. I have discovered Dickey’s Frito Pie with brisket, beans, and cheese. It is packed with the Fritos in their own bag for takeout….and I like it without the Fritos! It’s a good thing for me to get when my husband is hungry for a barbeque sandwich…celebrating that the barbeque places where we live now are much better than the ones convenient to us in Maryland.

A birthday. We celebrated by daughter’s birthday. I was chagrined that ice cream cakes are harder to find these days, but she said she wanted ice cream sandwiches…and those were easy to purchase!

Getting the flu and COVID vaccine. I celebrated that the shots were available in time for me to get the shots early enough for them to protect me during my upcoming travel.  

Legal updates completed. My sister and I collaborated to get my parents legal documents updated according to their wishes….and celebrated the completed milestone.

Rings of Power series. I don’t watch much television but I am enjoying the Rings of Power….celebrating the quality of the production and seeing more of Tolkien’s world.

Our large wind chimes. My office is situated where I can hear the wind chimes on breezy days…I celebrate their sound and the memory of when we bought them too.

Poke weeds. Yes – they are weeds…but they are native, and they do produce berries that birds eat. I celebrate that I have several plants that out of the way in my landscaping so I can leave them rather than battling them all through the season.

Springfield Botanical Garden. I find something to celebrate every time I go! This time there were lots of insects to photograph.

Spider Lilies. I don’t know how I missed the orange spider lilies in my parents’ garden in previous years…but I was there at the right time this year to see them!

Great weather for being outdoors. There were still some hot days but as the month progressed, I celebrated some cooler temperatures….the ease of getting outdoors without being concerned of high heat or poor air quality.

Springfield Botanical Gardens (plants) – September 2022

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Last week my husband and I headed over to the Springfield Botanical Gardens for some early fall photography. I quickly opted toward macro shots with my phone (Samsung Galaxy S10e) even though my external shutter clicker had a dead battery. I was pleased with the results.

Early fall is a great time for seed pods and drying flowers. There are the cheery yellow flowers and green foliage (sunflowers of various kinds, goldenrod)…it seems like some plants are throwing a last burst of energy into their flowers.

Tomorrow’s post will be about insects and spiders. We skewed toward the meadow and pollinator gardens – and found the ‘wildlife’ just about everywhere we looked!

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 17, 2022

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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.

Federal flood maps are outdated because of climate change – The challenge of record rainfall events becoming more common and resulting in flooding of places not seen as vulnerable previously.

Hundreds of Monumental “Kites” Spotted in Arabian Desert – Low stone walls that could be enclosures used to guide game for capture/slaughter as early as 8000 BC.

The mystery of the human sacrifices buried in Europe's bogs – Sacrifices or maybe burial for anyone that died mysteriously or unnaturally. I remember being fascinated about the ‘bog bodies’ back in 1970s…buying the book about them by P.V. Glob.

Diet change may make biggest impact on reducing heart risk in people with hypertension – Too bad that the study also found “the availability and affordability of healthy food sources does not easily allow people to follow the DASH diet.” Diets are hard enough to sustain without those extra challenges.

Despite its innocently furry appearance, the puss caterpillar’s sting is brutal – The don’t look vicious….but the hairs have poisonous barbs! There are other caterpillars that also have ‘hairs’ and can deliver painful stings – like the saddleback caterpillars. In general…I avoid handling caterpillars with hairs or bristles!

Cancers in adults under 50 on the rise globally – Earlier detection could account for some of the increase…but it is unlikely to be the sole reason. 8 of the 14 cancers on the rise are related to the digestive system. With those types of cancers, the hypothesis is that the food we eat has changed dramatically and has changed our microbiome composition…and eventual these changes influence disease risk and outcomes. There is still a lot of work to be done but it appears that the drastic rise in early onset cancer began around 1990.

The biggest myths of the teenage brain – Hopefully some of these findings will be factors in decision making for things like high school hours and how to help teenagers better understand themselves.

NREL Study Identifies Opportunities & Challenges of Achieving the U.S. Transformational Goal of 100% Clean Electricity by 2035 – No single solution….having multiple pathways to the goal is probably a good thing.

Arctic lakes are vanishing a century earlier than predicted – Warmer temperatures and more abundant autumn rainfall have caused permafrost around/beneath Arctic lakes to melt…and the lakes shank between 2000 to 2021. The reduction in lakes impacts migratory birds and other wildlife…and human communities in the Arctic.

Fall Foliage Prediction Map – My road trips this fall will offer many opportunities to see fall foliage: 1st week in October in Michigan and Canada, the rest of October around Missouri, then Texas later in October into November.

Trek to and in Druid Hill Park – Part II

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On out way to Druid Hill Park through Baltimore, there were some trees that still had most of their leaves! All the ones around our house in the suburbs to the south of the city and the airport have lost all their leaves.

I wondered if it was the heat island effect of the city or the disruption of wind by building and walls; there are some city microclimates that cause the trees to keep their leaves a bit longer…very noticeable right now. I also noticed tents periodically on medians and places along the road with a little more space (see tent on the right under the trees in the picture below); is this the way the homeless people in Baltimore are surviving this winter?

There is graffiti on buildings…but there are also bits of city art on otherwise mundane buildings. I wondered if the height and lights are have kept the art intact in some places.

On the way home – the GPS routed us through downtown and I took pictures of the Bromo-seltzer Tower as we stopped at lights. It’s used for artists studios now….next to a fire station.

Overall – the birding walk was a tiny step back to ‘normal’ for us although both by husband and I are beginning to realize that we’ll probably never be quite like we were pre-pandemic. It’s not just the pandemic that has changed us; more on that thought is few days when I write my month COVID-19 pandemic post.

Last Images from Texas

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I was checking my SD cards in all my cameras and discovered some ‘new’ images from my last days in Texas during November.

There were still roses blooming on the oldest rosebush at my parents (about 30 years old)..

The cosmos were attracting butterflies. There might have been monarchs migrating through since some seemed larger than others.

The place still had a look of summer.

Over at Josey Ranch Lake….there was a different story. More winter migrants had arrived.

Scaups

American Wigeon

Pied-bill Grebe

There were also more American Coots that before…and they were not happy to have so many of their kind around…squabbles were happening frequently with one or both birds running across the surface of the water.

A Great Egret was hunting in the shallows and

A Great Blue Heron had waded into deeper water for a bath.

Overall….the images were a way to savor the good experience of my weeks in Texas last month.

Zooming – November 2021

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Three locations for my zoomed image collection this month: Maryland (home), Texas (Carrollton), Missouri (Springfield). Enjoy the slideshow of the whole group then look below for thumbnails by location!

Maryland

Texas

Missouri

Mowing Leaves

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There were several days with no rain…conditions were finally right to mow the leaves. There were a lot more leaves than our usual because no mowing occurred in the two weeks I was gone to Texas and the trees in the back of the house seemed to drop all their leaves over a couple of days instead of weeks. I did a before and after picture of the back yard.

The maple and sycamore leaves were thick back there with some oak leaves that had blown over the house or from a neighbors’ trees. Some of the sycamore leaves were bigger than dinner plates and were thick enough to make a different sound when the lawn mower chopped them up. I had raked a pile of them off the deck (there is one corner that they seem to collect in) and others from under the deck since I didn’t want to mow the ferns that are growing there.

Mowing over the areas of thickest leaves must have thrown up a lot of dust because I found my eyes itching and coughed several times. I need goggles and a mask! Maybe I’ll remember for the leaf mowing next fall.

Volunteer Celebration Hike

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The Howard Country Conservancy chose a great day for a hike in Howard County’s Western Regional Park for their volunteers. While we were gathering in the parking lot, a bald eagle soared overhead….starting the celebration!

It was an easy hike on paved trails for about 1.5 miles. The day was sunny and crisp…perfect for being outdoors. Most of the leaves had fallen but there were still a few trees full of fall color….and even the bare branches looked ‘new’ with their leaves recently blown away.

My attention for most of the hike was more focused on conversations with fellow volunteers than on the scenery of the hike. It was good to socialize…begin to emerge from the limited social interactions that happened during the pandemic.

One sighting in the woods: a large wasp nest high in a tree. It would not have been visible when the leaves were on the trees.  Now that it is no longer maintained by the wasps, it will begin to deteriorate. It seemed precariously attached to the tree branch; I wondered how long it would stay in the tree.

Overall an excellent morning and we all munched on cookies that looked like pumpkin pie slices before heading home!

Springfield MO to Home

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I said goodbye to my daughter in Springfield MO and headed out at dawn. Her street was full of fall color – more on the ground than in the trees.

I had decided to take a different route east from Springfield to avoid the traffic on I44 toward St. Louis. I drove on US 60 toward Poplar Bluff MO. There were a few stop lights, but the traffic was light and it was a sunny day. I made stops at a grocery store, a fast-food place and then gas station. None were very photogenic although the Dino Mart name caught my attention.

While I was driving there was lots of beautiful scenery. There were signs for Missouri state parks and trails all along way. As I continued toward Paducah KY the road became two lanes (one in each direction) with no shoulders (often on the top of a levee) and there were two long bridges over the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. It was the type of road that begs for scenic overlooks…but it didn’t have them!

In Kentucky I travelled the Western Kentucky and Blue Grass Parkways to Lexington KY. There was one rest stop with some fall foliage along the way and I managed a picture of some fall color across the road.

I was relieved that my route from Lexington the next morning was on an interstate with frequent rest stops – and I started out with a full tank of gas so I would only need to stop once for gas during the day. The foliage along the route in eastern Kentucky was probably the best of trip even though many trees had already lost their leaves.

I set my destination to the New River Gorge National Park visitor center just off I64 in West Virginia. It was a very scenic drive, but I realized when part of the route was toll road that I was off the route I had used previously through West Virginia. I walked around the outside of the visitor center enjoying the fall foliage; I didn’t have time to stay very long since I wanted to be home before dark.

At first, I thought my route would still take me up to I70 eventually…but it didn’t. I was on the heavily travelled I81 before I knew it and then was locked into taking I66 (lots of construction) toward Washington DC. Traffic was a little better on the Washington Beltway. And I made it home before dark even though I was exhausted from driving in heavy traffic at high speeds.

My husband claims our maple tree lost its leaves while I was driving…there were still a few at the base of the tree the next morning.

I noticed a black walnut tree near where I parked for a doctor’s appointment later in the day: no leaves…but nuts still attached like decorative balls!

It is good to be home again even though I missed the best of fall foliage there this year.

Fall in Springfield, MO

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I arrived in Springfield when the squirrels were eating the jack-o-lanterns

And many trees had just dropped their leaves. At my daughter’s house, the maple and oak leaves collected in drifts on the driveway/patio, a mixture of leaves were staying where they fell on the grass (needing to be raked or mowed soon), and redbud leaves lined the stone walk at the side of the house.

We spent an hour vacuuming up leaves on the hard surfaces while I was there and put the shredded leaves in beds around the yard. I’m not sure all the leaves will be so easily dealt with although many can be mowed into the yard.

My favorite plants retaining their leaves were the magnolia (with some pods still holding their red seeds) and the oak leaf hydrangea with its drying flowers and red leaves. I think the oak leaf hydrangea moves to the top of my list for bushes I’d like to plant at my house!

The hosta’s are responding to cool temperatures with a yellowing of their leaves – a last bit of beauty from the plants before winter.

After we were done with our yard work, we cut some of the last Asian hydrangea flowers to take inside…maybe they will retain some of their color as they dry out.

Overall – it was a beautiful day in Springfield before I continued toward home.

30 Years Ago – November 1991

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In November 30 years ago, my two-year-old daughter wanted to be outdoors as much as possible. Playing in the leaves was her favorite activity there. She was relatively neat about it most of the time. She kept herself busy while I raked our back yard.

She developed a strategy of saying ‘not yet’ rather than ‘no and her day care provider was trying to teach her to whistle (with some success). Her favorite movie was “Fantasia.” I was already beginning to look at preschools for her to start the next summer or fall…had a Montessori school identified.

We were saving for a grand piano…more on that in upcoming months.

Both my husband and I were busy at work…and I was getting 4 crowns (temporaries at first and then the permanent ones). All 4 of those crowns were very durable; the first replacement happened this year; the other three seem to still be in good shape.

It was a mostly at month we spent at home (my husband made one short business trip to Boston)…catching up on work and getting ready for a busy December!

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 13, 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.

The great experiment to put a price on nature – Whether it’s toting up ecosystem services or simply realizing that Mother Earth is our one and only…we should all realize that we need to start taking care of ‘nature’ a lot better than we have in the past.

Microplastics May Be Impacting the Climate, Study Finds – A starting point for combining climate science and microplastic science into a model….still a lot if refinement/additions. We already know that the microplastics in our atmosphere are increasing so whatever impact they have it will likely be increasing during the time the model is being refined.

Ancient Stone Ram Heads Unearthed on Egypt’s ‘Avenue of the Sphinxes’ – New finds…and part of an advertisement for some restored places reopening in early November. Are tourists ready to travel again to places like Egypt?

Spending time in nature promotes early childhood development – A study from metro Vancouver of 27,372 children from birth to age 5… that pushes us to get serious about making sure spaces for children include a lot green space…that includes day care and preschools and K within the age range for this study. And while we are doing that – let’s think about how important green space is to everyone else too.

Meet the muskrat: push-up champion of cattail marshes – This article made me wonder if muskrats eat phragmites – and a plant that is taking over marshes. I found an article that says they do…at least in some situations.

Changing ocean currents are driving extreme winter weather – Looking at the impact of the slowing Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and extreme cold weather (like in Texas last February) using a high-resolution global climate model. They’ve only done the simplest model (turning off the AMOC) so far…but plan to refine it to address the more complex reality.

Finding Fall Colors At Bandelier National Monument – I hope everyone found someplace to enjoy fall colors these past few weeks. My main opportunities were in my own backyard and as I was driving down the highway between Maryland and Texas!

Cheers! Wine’s red grape pulp offers nutritional bounty – Not compost or fodder...getting more than wine from vineyards!

Hit the sleep ‘sweet spot’ to keep brain sharp – Evidently 5.5-7.5 hours of self-reported sleep is about right.

2021 EPSON International Pano Awards Celebrate the Creativity of Panoramic Photography – Enjoy some eye candy as the last of this week’s gleanings!

A Carrollton, Texas Yard

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There is still looks a lot of green in Carrollton, Texas….maybe looking better than summer since it is not so hot that everything looks parched. The cosmos are at their tallest…a mini-jungle of green and orange – still blooming and attracting insects.

The vegetation in the garden areas is intermixed with leaves that have fallen and are beginning to decay; the leaves are not deep enough to smother the plants that are still growing. The old toys and watering cans are almost covered with summer growth. An old bird house is rotting among the thick growth of the garden.

How long with the summer garden linger this year? There have been some cooler days…but not a frost….yet. Many will have a sudden demise at the first hard freeze.

Road Trip: Maryland to Texas

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I made the drive from where I live in Maryland to Texas in two days (best case about 21 hours of driving)…confirming that I really don’t want to do drive it in 2 days again. There were no accidents either day and I made only quick rest stops that only prolonged the original time my nav system calculated for the day by about 30 minutes each day. I was exhausted (mentally and physically) at the end of each day and beginning to ache every time I got out of the car. I had a painful back my first day in Texas! My solution is to do the trek over 3 days instead of two from now on…and take more time at rest stops to move/stretch. The pandemic strategy of having all the food I need in the car saves time and makes it easier to eat my normal diet…I will probably keep that as part of my road trip strategy.

The first day was from Maryland…through Virginia just west of Shenandoah National Park…and halfway through Tennessee. The first hour was in darkness and through the heaviest construction zone of the entire trek; it’s good to get the challenging part of the drive over with as early as possible! I only saw one sign about masks and very few people were wearing them at the rest stops; I did put a mask on when I was in buildings even though I have gotten the booster vaccine already; the whole purpose of my trip was to visit 90 year old relatives and our family is taking precautions to reduce the risk of them getting a breakthrough infection….and I don’t want to get even a mild case of COVID-19! It was a very cloudy day with a lot of mist and light rain…a few patches of heavier rain. It was weekend and there seemed to be less traffic. The fall foliage was wonderful during the short periods where the weather did not obscure it! There were several rest stops along the way that had roses blooming. I was surprised by the strong exhaust smell as several rest stops; it was a cool day, and perhaps more vehicles were keeping running than usual – or maybe the weather was holding the fumes closer to the ground; I didn’t linger. My car has a range of about 400 miles, so I don’t have to stop for gas very often; usually that is where I anticipate some vehicle smell rather than at the rest stops. The hotel was just west of Nashville. I was glad I had brought my air purifier along since the hotel room smelled of disinfectant when I first went in.

The second day route completed the trek across Tennessee, crossing the Mississippi River on the bridge that was shut down with the discovery of structural issues a few days after I crossed it last spring (evidently repairs were completed), and then across Arkansas. I’m about 200 miles to my destination when I cross into Texas. The weather started out foggy in Tennessee…then sunny in Arkansas and Texas. The temperature started out at 50 and climbed to 80. The drivers seemed to get more aggressive as the day progressed – and the speed limits were higher with more traffic! Fortunately, there were no accidents along the route to slow me down (as there had been in the spring). I learned more about the solar panels around one of the rest stops in Tennessee since there was a person at the desk (they feed the grid and the university that installed them gets the credit!). I appreciated a rest stop in Arkansas that is closed but has port-o-potties; it was perfectly placed for when I needed a stop and, of course, I had hand sanitizer in the car. The trees were still green on the second day….fewer trees along the route. The welcome center in Texarkana had its usual neatly trimmed landscaping. There some roses blooming at my last rest stop.

I acquired a TxTag for the toll roads in Texas and Oklahoma to make it a little less expensive and avoid having to stop for tolls in Oklahoma when I head back on a more northern route though Springfield.

Overall – a good trek. I did it in 2 days and made it to my destination when I wanted…but I don’t want to do it that quickly again!

Ten Little Celebrations – October 2021

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Celebrating fall…

Fall view from my office window. The view from my office window includes a tulip poplar and a red maple…the first has leaves of yellow…the second red although it will be the last to turn completely and let go of its leaves. Celebrating the most colorful views of the year from my office window.

Haircut. We’ve perfected getting haircuts while wearing a mask…still wait a little longer between haircuts than we did pre-pandemic – so it is a celebration to have neatly trimmed hair!

Morning walk in the neighborhood. Cooler mornings and days. Celebrating very pleasant temperatures for the whole day (although a jacket may be required in the morning).

Middle Patuxent River with students. Celebrating the restart to volunteering that I did pre-pandemic. The river is so beautiful when I am standing in the shallows in my big boots!

A new low weight for the year and a beautiful sunrise. Taking off the pounds is hard….but I am doing it! I celebrate every new low weight for the year. Recently I was in the right place to see the sunrise on the same day. I bought and enjoyed a slice of pumpkin roll to celebrate both!

Getting out cool weather clothes. It’s not a whole new wardrobe – but one I haven’t worn in months. I always celebrate my favorite clothes as I hang them up (and also the ones I am packing away). I didn’t have anything that I decided to put in the donate pile!

Patuxent Research Refuge. Celebrating the closest wildlife refuge to where we live. There is always something to see there and I always chide myself for not visiting more frequently.

Smell of butternut squash in the oven. It’s that time of year where the smell pumpkin pie spices fill my kitchen…celebrating the special foods and family events that will continue through the end of the year.

Popcorn with butter. Most of the time I eat popcorn with just garlic salt….it’s a special celebration to have it with butter (and much higher calorie)!

Longwood Gardens. A beautiful place…and a celebration every time we go. Some parts I enjoy again and again…and sometimes there are sights that are totally new.

Gleanings of the Week Ending October 16, 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.

How to Easily Catch Spotted Lanternflies Using a Water Bottle – These insects have invaded Maryland, but I haven’t seen them yet. Maybe this is a reason to put an empty plastic water bottle in the car – just in case.

Exposure to deadly urban heat worldwide has tripled in recent decades, says study – On of the topics in the schoolyard field trip for 6th graders was heat islands – it’s a good example of the impact of climate change around the world.

Smoky Clouds That Form Over Wildfires Produce Less Rain – Drought…forests burning…and then less rain. Aargh!

8 Fall Nature Experiences to Enjoy – There are so many things to enjoy in the outdoors during the fall – as the heat of summer fades away.

Exploring The Parks: 10 Historic Sites To Visit This Fall – More ideas for fall activities. I’ve been to all the sites they list that are on the east coast…but not necessarily in the fall.

NASA and USGS Launch Landsat 9 – The first Landsat was launched in July 1972 – the year my husband and I graduated from high school.

A new solid-state battery surprises the researchers who created it – Solid state electrolyte and an all-silicon anode – faster charge rates at room to low temperatures. There is a lot of battery research going on now …coming up with batteries that will help achieve the grid storage and transportation needs of the future.

Young People Are Anxious About Climate Change And Say Governments Are Failing Them – It’s not just young people that have this anxiety. Everyone I know has climate change anxiety….and say governments are failing us all.

Wind energy can deliver vital slash to global warming – It’s a component of the technology we need….it can’t solve everything alone but we have it ready to deploy now – and should just do it as quickly as we can. And it’s cheaper than using fossil fuels!

Yale Climate Change Maps 2020 – Results from a spring 2020 poll about climate change.

Neighborhood Walk

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It’s early fall in our neighborhood. There are a few leaves that are turning and falling. I found a pretty one at the base of our oak at the very beginning of my walk. The tree is struggling with the infection that is impacting (eventually killing) many oaks in our area and has already dropped about half its leaves. It will linger for a few more years. The one across the street has lost almost all its leaves already and I wonder if it will not survive the winter.

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As I walked toward the storm water pond, I noticed another oak that was mostly green…except for one branch of yellow leaves.

The pond was too peaceful and quite – no frogs or red-winged blackbirds making morning songs, no turtles coming out to warm up in the sunshine. There was no algae or floating water plants and I wondered if the treatment used to control that ‘problem’ killed the other life in the pond. They are not mowed as far down the slope as they did at one time, but it seems like it would be better to let the vegetation grow a little further up the slope.

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There were plants going to seed…some with candelabra type branches supporting their fluffy seeds.

There were two types of goldenrod. Do you see the out-of-focus bee at the right side of the second picture? I didn’t notice it until I got home and looked at my images on a big screen….glad I captured the image since it shows the value of these late blooming plants to pollinators.

The willow has a tall branch that is dead – lower ones that are still green with slender branches gracefully sweeping the bank and hanging over the water. There are shelf fungus growing up and down the dead trunk.

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There are a few plants still blooming. One was down in the grass and the picture I took looks like it has an arching fuzzy boa spilling from the flower! In reality the fuzzy boa is an out-of-focus grass seed stalk.

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One of the houses has several Rose of Sharon buses planted on the pond side of their fence. I liked the extra wrinkles of the purple one (not completely unfurled).

The milkweed stand at the back of the pond was a disappointment. It was still there was overgrown with invasive pear seedlings that have grown rapidly over the summer. Maybe they will mow the area later in the fall to try to control that invasion for next season although the pear will come up from roots as well as the milkweed.

Overall – a worthwhile walk on a coolish weekend morning before many other people were out in the neighborhood.

Patuxent Research Refuge – Misc.

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Of course, there are other things besides waterlilies, milkweeds and goldenrod to see this time of year at the South Tract of Patuxent Research Refuge. I did some experimental photography with some grass seed heads and asters…liked the results.

The cattails are exploding with fluff. If it doesn’t float away fast enough it becomes matted around the stalk.

Many plants are going to seed in the meadow.

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In the forest there are hits of color…just a few leaves at this point. Green still dominates.

There was an old jumble of trunks…some upright and others leaning over…with shelf fungus in profusion.

There is a bird blind around a collection of feeders but I wasn’t quiet enough to walk up to it without all the birds taking flight. I managed to notice finches on the feeders and mourning doves below.

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Sometimes something appears that I don’t expect – like this fire hydrant in the meadow. It isn’t that far from the visitor center but far enough that I would have thought one closer would be more useful and it was surrounded by wild vegetation – a little surprise. It was rusted enough that I wondered if it was still functional.

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Overall – every time I got to the refuge, I notice something that I haven’t seen before!

Patuxent Research Refuge – Waterlilies

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Last week, my husband and I spent a morning at the South Tract of Patuxent Research Refuge. It’s about 30 minutes from where we live. The weather was a sunny and cool – typical early fall and a great time to be out and about.…and there were waterlilies blooming!

The first ones I noticed were in an area where the water level had recently dropped, based on the number of lilypads that were out of the water rather than floating. There was also a lot more vegetation in the water in that area other that water lilies.

Toward the end of our walk, we were between two ponds and the light was right for reflections. I liked the light pink of this first flower…even though a lilypad bisected the reflection.

The next flower I photographed I remembered to apply the rule of thirds after I took the first image….and have to admit – I like the second one better!

The visitor center was open but we didn’t go in. We’ll be back to see fall foliage in a few weeks!

Ten Little Celebrations – September 2021

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Celebrating the waning of summer…the beginning of fall –

Brookside Gardens field trip. Spending a few hours at Brookside always results in at least one mini-celebrations. This month there were three: hummingbirds – bees – and roses.

New low weight for the year. With a whole month at home, I managed to control my diet….and achieved a low weight for the year --- 3 times (lower each time). I’m celebrating the achievement and working to continue the trend!

Easy flu shot. I celebrated how easy getting the flu shot was…no waiting, the pharmacy already having all my information.  And now I’m as protected as I can be for my next road trip.

Macro photography. Celebrating images capture with my phone, a clip on lens and a clicker!

Melons. The season for melons was winding down but we celebrated 2 tasty cantaloupes from the Farmers Market in September.

Early morning in the grocery store. I enjoy grocery shopping….and celebrate that I have the store almost to myself…a low risk return to ‘normal.’

Volunteering. Returning to volunteer gigs – doing outdoor programs with students.. it’s another celebration of going back to a pre-pandemic ‘normal’ that isn’t quite the same but just as satisfying.

Beautiful weather. Sunny days…cooler…a little breeze – this is the time of year that it gets easier to celebrate a day outdoors.

Ferns under the deck. I celebrated that there were more of them than I expected this year!

French fries. I have been dieting so carefully….it was a celebration to have French fries (and cut back enough on other foods that day to not make it a “weight gain” day)!