New For Me and Sadness Since hunting seasons have opened, making Sweet Marsh not a good place for paddling and nature photography (I do not want to disturb the waterfowl hunters), I came up with a different outdoor activity for Kristy and me. We traveled to the Blackmun Prairie in Butler County. …
Mother Nature Is Not Suffering From Fluid Retention I first shared this on my social media web-page, so if you visit both places, I apologize for the duplication. From all appearances it appears that Mother Nature is not suffering from fluid retention this month. Actually, she has had no issues with fluid …
An Interesting Moth or Butterfly… Late this afternoon I found a very unusual butterfly or moth attached to the side of my truck. My first guess was this was a moth due to its shape and furry appearance, but after looking at the antenna, I tend to suspect this may be a butterfly. I …
A Monoculture With a Bonus Monocultures – a situation where all of the vegetation is of one species – are not natural. Examples of monocultures are cornfields, soybean fields, weed-free backyards, and similar environments. Corn and bean monocultures are intentional for livelihoods. Perfect backyards are intentional too, but are not necessarily healthy if/when it …
How Long Will It Rain Over the years I have noticed that when it is raining, birds and other wildlife will be active if the rain will last for a while. Short showers usually mean the wildlife won’t be seen. Longer periods of rain, like we had this morning, usually mean the birds and …
Shoot the Pictures When You Can If I have learned anything over my years of shooting photos, it is that when a photo opportunity presents itself, by all means take advantage of it. Such times are fleeting and are seldom available if you try to go back later. Lighting changes, shadows appear (or disappear), …
Two Activities…Complete Opposites Picture this… You have a fire truck, ambulance, police car, Air Care Helicopter, soil boring equipment, an asphalt roller, a cement pumper, a skid loader, and many more types of equipment/machinery on display for kids of all ages to climb on and in. And you also have the Children’s Museum open …
Grandson/Grandpa Outing My time with my granddad left me with countless fond memories. I want my grandkids to feel the same way about their relationship with me when they are adults. To do that means I must help to create those thoughts for each of the kids. Today’s memory-making efforts were focused on the …
A Late Start To the Pontoon Boating Season Here we are, we’ve reached mid-September and I have finally had time to get our pontoon boat on the water. Boating via a pontoon boat is great fun. You can walk around and have much flexibility. But, trailering, putting the boat on the water, and then …
If These Could Be Eaten Based on our current census of Jack-in-the-Pulpit seeds and amphibians – both frogs and toads in the yard – we would have plenty to survive on if the species could be eaten. Since they cannot, I will be satisfied to shoot pictures of them. It does seem odd to …