Bluebirds

Eight of them!

Happy Holidays

My ocean movies

Atlantic Ocean

November 17, 2012

A few pictures from a hike

Southaven County Park, October 21st

Oh, oh, New Jersey!

Though I've lived on Long Island for more than 40 years, I was born and raised in the Garden State. Here's a tribute to New Jersey for these difficult post-Sandy times.

New Jersey video

New Jersey video, part 2

Video of Malala (2009)

This brave little Pakistani girl, who only wants an education for herself and all the other girls of Pakistan, was shot by the Taliban two days ago.

It has roused the nation. A friend reports, "she is a little better now. shifted to a better hospital .good thing that the whole nation is mourning...prayers in almost every school. media is giving minute by minute update on her."

Here is Malala speaking out at the age of 11 (NYTimes report):

Video of Malala and Swat situation

These things sprout up like mushrooms

Moochers (ducks)

Feeding them bread trains them into dependency.

Farewell, Old Friend

Enough of this timewasting bother of trying to sell a car with 207,000 miles, even one as reliable and beautiful as this. So I decided to donate my Prizm to NY Public Radio (WQXR) through the Car Talk Vehicle Donation Program. It was an easy process, and I'll soon hear how much it fetched at auction. I wonder which country it will end up in?

Beach rose

Out walking fill your pockets with the petals.

 Pot pourri

New old poem

"Scholars led by Paul Schubert of the University of Geneva have translated a poem discovered in the nineteenth century among the papyri at Oxyrhynchus [Egypt]. The poem, written in Greek, deifies Nero’s wife Poppaea Sabina, who is portrayed as a loving spouse as she ascends to the heavenly bodies. Schubert thinks the poem may represent a lost genre of poetry written for members of the imperial family. It is also possible that the piece was part of a longer astrological poem, or it may have been composed to honor the deceased wife of an Egyptian official." (Archeological Headlines)

Whenever I think of the enormous quantity of writings from the ancient world that we know to have been lost -- plays of Aristophanes, Euripedes, Sophocles, Menander; poetry of Ennius; history by Livy and Tacitus; and so much more -- it makes me sad. And the fact of all the mountains of contemporary trivia and trash now being preserved carries an irony that is heavy as lead. So whenever some writing such as the poem praising Poppaea  and Nero is discovered and translated, it lifts my spirits just a little. Perhaps someday they will dig up an ancient library containing all those lost works! (I can dream, can't I?)

Dragonfly

It's a sprawler

This is how big the giant seedum gets, K.

 It's one of those neglectable plants
and bugs leave it alone (except bumblebees)

Giant seedum

Just before dark

Dancers: Dani and Hanya

Rain lily blooming again -- in the rain

Another 2 flower stalks shot up after Sunday night's thunderstorm. They grew several inches between morning and evening yesterday. Never saw anything grow so fast! It's like a rainbow, you have to drop everything and watch because it won't stick around long. Taken a little while ago, at 6:40  pm.

Bits of color in all the heat

Batchelor's buttons, Veronica

Golden sage

Japanese maple with new growth

 Coleus, geranium

White strip is wicking excess water from the rain lily

Petunia

I just bought a new air conditioner

And look what was attached to it!!

2012 Honda Fit.

Now I can have a fit every day!

Rain lily one day later

Kate's rain lily

Just as you said, Kate, these two flower stalks sprang up after the thunderstorm 4 days ago. Can't wait to see the blossoms! They grew very fast!

New imp

 Impatiens walleriana

Rockapulco Coral Reef

 from the SCC plant sale in May.

 Blossoms look like small roses.

Needs no deadheading.

Can't get enough of these sundrops

What do I care if some gardeners call them evening primroses and consider them invasive weeds? They're beautiful! Don't care, don't care don't care!

No transit of Venus visible

Clouds are always interesting, but they were not at all welcome yesterday at 6:30 pm when the transit of Venus was beginning. Went home and watched it on the computer.

Pakistani highway

 On the way to A's village.

Just a taste -- send more.

Yes, it does resemble the LIE out East!

Sweetgum

Liquidambar styraciflua -- beautiful name.

It does well here on Long Island.

Can you see the woody capsules forming?

Teacher Hanya

Relief map of the Greek Isles?

No, just the roots of an old beech tree

Muttontown Preserve -- another great hike

 Jane, our leader, talking about monkey vines, I mean wild grapevines

 Perfect weather yesterday brought out a large group (25)

 This preserve in Nassau County has 550 acres of varied terrain:

 old woods, fields, estate grounds, ponds, marshes, and many trails

 "Horse on trail, all move aside" calls our leader

 we step into the brush hoping the tick-repellant works

 Euphorbia's subtile tones

 The speedy half of the group waiting for the rest of us

 who are admiring the neat horse pasture

and photographing the buttercups, etc.

(Pictures of tree frog and little

praying mantis hatching were no good)

 And then we came upon the colony of pink lady slippers!

 Endangered, protected,

in bloom for just one week a year,

 and utterly gorgeous

 the highlight of the day for me

 The way back was downhill, thank goodness

It was about a three mile hike in all, one of the best I've been on.

People were from the Sierra Club and a few other groups.

Muttontown Preserve is well worth a visit!