Ten Little Celebrations – June 2024

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June 2024 ---- the transition to the heat of summer ---- celebrating June days.

Sunflower in the window…following the sun. I cut a sunflower from my wildflower garden and put the vase on the windowsill in my office…and celebrated when that it followed the sun!

Peachicks. I had never seen a peachick before and had walked more than halfway around the Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, MO before I spotted three peachicks with a peahen. Celebration! The young birds already had the beginning of the topknot on their heads but none of the iridescent color.

Corn muffins. Sometimes deciding to make a food remembered from childhood is about celebrating more that the food itself. The dash of cayenne pepper in the batter provided an extra flavor pop.

Mowing the whole yard. My plan at the beginning of the season was to mow the front yard on one day and the back another…but I am doing great mowing both on the same day. I am celebrating that I am physically able to do more than I anticipated!

Blueberries. Picking blueberries was another first this June. I celebrated the experience – and that the orchard is less than 30 minutes from my house.

Breakfast with my daughter. My daughter wanted to try breakfast at a coffee shop she frequents…invited me to meet her there. I celebrated the serendipity of the event (and savored the breakfast  and spending more time with my daughter too).

Hummingbird. I’ve seen a hummingbird buzzing around our yard several times. I celebrate every sighting and am determined to plant some ‘big nectar’ plants for them for next year.

Young robin. I celebrated seeing a small robin – about half the size of the adult feeding it – on our backyard fence. And it could fly!

So many good books. There are so many books available electronically from my local library and Internet Archive that I am never without reading material. I celebrate living at a time when technology makes books so available.

Scissortail flycatchers in the neighborhood. I hadn’t seen scissortail flycatchers in our neighborhood during the two previous summers….so am celebrating seeing a pair of them this month!

Lake Springfield Meadow (2)

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Continuing from yesterday’s post about our photography at Lake Springfield….this post features the images from my bridge camera (Canon Powershot SX70 HS).

The water at the edges of the lake was low enough for lotus to flourish. There were still a few blooms. The sun was shining though one of the leaves showing its intricate veins.

I used my camera’s zoom to photograph the meadow from the path or mowed area. There were plenty of flowers to photograph.

And critters too. There was a large spider that was mostly hidden behind its web.

The grasshoppers were still enough for some photography. One was much smaller than the others and I wondered if it was an earlier instar of the larger ones.

The skippers were active. I didn’t see larger butterflies…maybe it wasn’t warm enough yet.

Dragonflies were flitting about…harder to photograph. One stayed on the asphalt path for a few seconds…a terrible background but the image shows the great color and structure of the body (too bad that the wings don’t show up very well).

Another was on a grass head for longer and I moved to get a better angle. The light on the body showed the structure and colors better than I remember seeing in the past. There was a notch out of one of the forewings and some wear on the trailing edge of both wings on that side. This was not a recently emerged dragonfly!

Overall – a lot to see and photograph with a short walk.

Lake Springfield Meadow (1)

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My daughter suggested that we see that meadow near the Lake Springfield Boathouse…and it was a great end-of-August photography session. I took by phone (Samsung Galaxy S10e) for macro photography and my bridge camera (Canon Powershot SX70 HS). Today’s post contains the macro images and tomorrow’s post will showcase the bridge camera results.

When I use my phone for macro photograph, I almost always use my remote clicker to capture the image; that makes it easier to hold the phone still and at the right distance from the subject to get the composition/focus that I want.

There was a large sunflower near the boathouse that was full of insects. Since we parked near the boathouse, I photographed the plant at the beginning and end of the visit….mostly at the beginning. The only one of the series below from the later stop is the grasshopper! The morning was still cool enough for the insect to not be moving around yet.

In the meadow itself there were thistles and other late summer/fall flowers. There was a heavy dew that morning which had not dried up completely. The skippers were already flitting about but one of them was still for long enough for me to get close with my phone.

Stay tuned tomorrow for more from the Lake Springfield Meadow….

Springfield Botanical Garden – July 2022 (2)

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There are insects and birds in the Springfield Botanical Gardens too…although they sometimes require more luck…and searching. I was disappointed that the only butterfly I saw was a cabbage white – although I saw it right away on the walk between the parking lot and the hosta garden.

There was rabbit nibbling among the hostas…squirrels and robins were there too.

I spent more time in the English Garden…just a short path off the South Creek Greenway Trail…and I was glad I did because there was a hummingbird moth enjoying the flowers! They really do move about like a hummingbird!

The zinnias and sunflowers were far enough in their development for goldfinches to be eating the developing seeds. There was a small flock of the birds moving among the flowers near the Butterfly Garden.

As I hurried on the route back to the car (my husband had texted he was there and ready to leave), I took a picture of a robin perched on a garden sign. I see them frequently at home too. Somehow - they look a little smaller and scruffier than the robins I saw in Maryland. Maybe the drier conditions this year?

30 years ago – June 1990

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Thirty years ago – June was a busy month. I had rejoined the work force part time and my daughter was adjusting to day care very well. The high with her in June 1990 was her enjoyment of a small swimming pool. The first time was a little too cool for her, but she still liked being outdoors and in the water. The next time was warmer and even better.

The low with her was a trip to the hospital early one morning when she had croup. I held her in the vapor tent, and she got better…enough that they didn’t have to medicate her. There were evidently other children with the same problem that night. We were all very hungry for breakfast when we go home.

I picked 7 pounds of strawberries at a farm that is now a housing development. It only lasted a couple more years after 1990.

We had a chipmunk that came up to our deck. My mother-in-law put out seed for it. The baby and the cat were intrigued by the rodent’s antics.

We were on the wait-list for a senior living facility for my mother-in-law…hoping that she would get in before I went back to work full-time and she would be alone in the house too much of the time.

We were primed for a bit of travel in early July….a weekend away for a road trip.

Unique activities for yesterday:

More pictures from Texas. Since I had yard pictures from 2 of my 3 sisters, I asked the other sister for a picture and she sent more than one: sunflower, lantana, hibiscus….and a bunny!

Then she realized that there was more she wanted to share: lavender hibiscus, blue salvia, dusty miller, and red yucca.

Her yard probably has less grass as the years go by! She has quite a riot of color.

Longwood Gardens – September 2019

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Now for the highlights from the rest of the Longwood Gardens. Before the waterlilies we enjoyed the plants around the main entrance to the conservatory.

We always stop at the indoor children’s garden at the very beginning since later it will be a busy place. This time we got there before any families, so it was very quiet. The place it full of accessible water and natural materials made into art.

On the way to the waterlily courtyard, I noticed different colors of cannas and a bird-of-paradise flower.

After the waterlilies we walked through several more ‘rooms’ of the conservatory including one with plantain and banana plants (both with heavy pods of fruit). And the orchid room was there too.

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Then it was outdoors to the trial gardens. They are particularly lush right now after growing all summer. The sunflowers were heavy with the forming seeds.

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We walked to the chimes tower going up the steps of the tower

And then more steps to follow the water to the Eye of Water. Last time we’d come to Longwood, the eye had been closed for renovation, so we wanted to see it this time.

We trekked to the other side of the visitor center for the flower garden walk. There were beginning to be more people around by this time. A hummingbird flew ahead of us but wasn’t stopping for long; too many people about. Just past the Whispering Bench, there were pots with pitcher plants. I remembered them being there last time as well.

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We made our way around the Large Lake to the Italian Water Gardens.  I zoomed in on some of the sculptures. The renovation several years ago is holding up well.

The day was warming up, but we decided to head out to the meadow anyway. The plants are well established now, and we hiked all the way across to the Forest Edge kiosk/bench. I saw taller Joe Pye Weed than I’d ever seen before…lots of goldenrod…a few thistles…skippers and buckeyes…large dragonflies. We were glad to get back to a shady part of the trail. It was a good morning to be at Longwood!

Gleanings of the Week Ending October 13, 2018

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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.

Free Technology for Teachers: Frostbite Theater - 87 Science Experiment Video Lessons – Short videos…fun for more than just students!

Sunflower pollen has medicinal, protective effects on bees -- ScienceDaily – Sunflowers – a nice addition to pollinator gardens.

Research forecasts US among top nations to suffer economic damage from climate change -- ScienceDaily – The study found that the top 3 countries with the most to lose from climate change are the US, India and Saudi Arabia. China is in the top 5.

Do MoCA and Other Cognitive Screening Tests Work? | Berkeley Wellness – A short article that introduces some terminology….but not very satisfying. This is not an area where medical intervention has made great strides – unfortunately for an aging population.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week: Birds in Flight – National Geographic Blog – Birds in motion…a photographic challenge.

BBC - Future - Do we really live longer than our ancestors? – Life expectancy has increased because more of our species are making it to old age; life span has not changed much at all through history. The emperor Augustus lived to be 75 in the 1st century (his wife live to 86 or 87 years) and Japan’s Empress Suiko lived to be 74 in the 6th century. Cicero’s wife lived to be 103.

Prehistoric art hints at lost Indian civilisation - BBC News and An Unknown Ancient Civilization in India Carved This Rock Art | Smart News | Smithsonian – The same story from two sources. The first one is more detailed.

The Seven Cs of Education | What's Next: Top Trends – 2 items: the 7 Cs and the nature of creative thinking.

Secondary forests have short lifespans: Most don't last long enough to provide habitat for many forest species -- ScienceDaily – Making large scale commitment on reforestation requires long-term vision….and that appears to be lacking. The study was done in Costa Rica.

Infographic: Light Pollution Threatens Species | The Scientist Magazine® - It not just birds and bats….light pollution impacts a lot of organisms…including us (not the last item on the list ‘desynchronization’).