"Two More Denizens To Share...And A Baby Update!"

As if I didn't shoot and share enough "Denizens of the Daisies" with you two weeks ago, I did get a couple of more that are worth a look and admission to the grouping.

First up is a spider I've not really seen the likes of, not up close anyway...revealing 'spikes' and spots all over the legs, munching on a common house fly...eat away, my friend, eat away!

Next, the patterning on this butterfly looks like it has been air-brushed on...couldn't resist throwing in the secondary shot with the daisies in the background either. As always, you can click on any pic to enlarge it for better viewing and detail.



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Mom is flying up today to lend an experienced helping hand with her newborn grandchildren up in Massachusetts. "Floyd and Eunice", aka William and Ellen Grace, are doing swimmingly. I can only imagine the innate connection twins have...


I would love to get up there myself, but our hands are greatly tied at work for the next couple of months. We just got the August schedule which reflects the absence of Jess Torpey, my former compatriot AM meteorologist in Raleigh who left a week ago for a private sector job. As yet, not a public peep from management on a replacement after 6 weeks of 'looking'. And with that I'll sign off before brutal honesty takes over...hope you are enjoying this incredibly dry and cooler weather!

"Daisy Follow-up, and Other Stuff..."

Couldn't help but to pass on a few more photos from the daisy patch...since the post two days ago dealt with the denizens of said daisies, these are just some interesting 'side' shots, sans insects.

Late Monday there was a hard but brief rain, with the sun quickly returning to create a veritable steam bath outside...and I got the pic below immediately after the sun came out (remember to click pics to enlarge...even neater bigger!)

In just looking through the daisies, I noticed that this one below was fused, a true double-daisy with one forlorn petal coming through the center of the head...

On a nearby tree I saw a butterly of sorts land after flying right by my face...for obvious reasons, it took me a minute to figure out just where it landed...camouflage is alive and well in the insect world, in case you ever wondered...

And because I was keeping the former post purely about the daisies, I didn't include these pics from the few day lilies nearby that this big ol' bumblebee found appealing..."Bobbing For Pollen" I call this one below...


And so a little more small talk on small sights that are anything but small when you stop and muse over Nature's perfection...
...the natural balance struck even with ebbs and flows...
...how all of Life interrelates cooperatively...
...how seemingly very different organisms help each other prosper...
...how things are supposed to work in this beautiful world...

Humankind has most definitely done a bang up job of screwing all that to Hades in a handbasket. We've got a lot of repair work to do, friends...

"Travelogue: Toadstool Geologic Park, Nebraska"

Welcome to Toadstool Geologic Park in northwest Nebraska...

What I remember most about this area is the number of long-term South Dakota residents who knew nothing of this unique area only an hour south of Hot Springs, SD, just over the NE border.


Full of fossils and unique "toadstool" formations, this special geologic attraction is well worth visiting if you are anywhere close by. There is even a very comfortable (yet small) National Forest Service campground there, albeit with primitive support services...and a sod house reproduction, to boot (the park is part of the Oglala National Grasslands).

Some call it Nebraska's Badlands, though the scope of the formations is much smaller in size compared to its SD and ND siblings. Still, the formations are quite unique in their own right, providing wonderful photographic opportunities at every turn.


On a sunny summer's day, Toadstool will cook and tan you brilliantly, given the whitish reflective surface of the sandstone and siltstone formations which make up most of the park. Once formed and then carved by rivers long gone, you can see the layering and rounded erosion forces quite clearly. Aeolian (a.k.a. Eolian) forces (wind-driven erosion) have added their final artistic flairs, as well.


Age-wise, the geologic formations were deposited from the late Eocene to the Miocene age 30-40 million years ago...starting about 10 million years ago, this region began the uplifting process which dried up the riverine sources, leading to the formations seen today. The sandstone layers are far more erosion-resistant, creating mushroom 'caps' when overlying the softer siltstone formations.

FYI, the photos shown were taken with an older camera, which shot much smaller images than the large ones you are used to seeing from my newer camera in many of my prior travelogues. For TV and computer screens, they still look quite nice...but for printing onto paper, they're simply too small. So enjoy them on the blog!

"Travelogue: Sunrises, Amelia Island, FL"

(REMEMBER: you can click on each pic to enlarge)

Fresh from last weekend are these images I had a hard time paring down...given the opportunity I love looking for form and texture, well beyond the traditional postcard-type of picture. Mind you, there are a couple of those as well...just thought I'd give you beach lovers something to dream about...

SO much is going on in the natural world at this time of day....the birds are active, searching for an early breakfast, gliding in the gentle breezes, all enjoying the relative coolness of a new day...

Without storms at sea, the ocean begins the day rather placid, still in anticipation of the day's winds and tidal pulls...and the transition from dark to purple-esque dawn to orange-y sunrises is always a joy to watch, as are the ever changing textures...

When I look at a scene, I naturally start with the 'big picture'...but it is a valuable thing to teach yourself to look at parts of the big picture...isolate certain aspects of the environment...focus on it and just look at it by itself...

...note the colors, the textures...note the unique form that makes it look 'different' from the other parts of the scene...then put the camera to the eye and capture that wonderful essence...

One nice thing about my job is that even on 'vacation' I naturally wake up before sunrise, a time of day I dearly love as so few people are up and about. It helps to know your camera, and what it means to adjust your EV settings, or go to selective priorities for certain effects, though for the 2nd of the 3 sunrises I realized my camera had 'magically' switched into monochrome mode...

And yet, even in that after-the-fact realization that something got terribly screwed up, there were some images that made me smile, even in black and white....and I know enough to know that even if something appears to be a 'lemon' there is always a 'lemonade' to be made from it...

And so I've included 3 of my 'oops!' images that I thought looked pretty neat in black and white, anyway...figured you might like them as well...you certainly can't call them 'normal' but as a great bumper sticker I've seen says, "Why Be Normal?"...

3 consecutive sunrises, all with consistent spring weather which helps heal the Soul...finding the uniqueness of each day, for that is what each New Day is: a Gift. A Gift not only to be enjoyed, but to be shared with others...which is the whole impetus of why I bother to write this blog at all...


As my daily mantra says, "Each new day give thanks, help others, and make a difference."

Go in peace, friends. Thanks for stopping in.