Walking and Writing

 



Ellen came, and we did go for a short walk. My stupid leg was too sore to go any farther, and I didn't do it any good. Now I'll have to be really careful for a few days. We ended up just doing the loop along the Pere Marquette River that you've seen before. Above is the small creek one must cross to reach the trail section that is right along the riverbank. Some times of the year the bridge is underwater! But today we were able to hike the whole loop.


This picture shows another potential adventure. The river is running across the picture from right to left. The waterway coming toward you in the center of the picture is a small creek. It would be interesting to explore that gully some time. I looked at the local topo map, and it's just a short creek, no name, and probably all on private property. But I wonder if I could get permission to follow it?


These pictures are of a very pretty, but problem plant. It is Japanese Barberry, Berberis thunbergii. The shrubs have very sharp thorns and it is often planted to create hedges for security, or under windows. However, in most of the northeastern US, it has escaped and is now listed by the US Department of Agriculture as invasive. It displaces native plants and reduces wildlife habitat and forage. Whitetail deer avoid eating it, which gives it a big advantage. It will grow almost everywhere, and makes the soil more basic, which can change the plants which will grow in an area.


Here's a closeup of the berries. They look so pretty for Christmas! But it's a really bad plant in our part of the world.

Writing? I did take a third place in the Accentuate Writer's fiction contest for October! I'm quite happy with that! It was a theme that I had to stretch a bit to come up with an idea for. The November theme was even "worse!" So I wrote a spoof. I'm not sure how well I pulled it off. That one is still in judging. I'm not sure I'll be able to get one done in December, but I have found another contest I may enter if I can find time, since that is due Dec 7. Anyway, here's "proof" of my win. First Love Contest Winners. Sorry, I can't share it; the contestants agree to allow the contest anthology to have first-time publication rights. But the title was "Invisible," and the theme was First Love.

See A Walk By the River See National Park Service info on Japanese Barberry

First Snow Winter 2009 - 2010

 



Yup, we finally got snow today. It probably won't last, but it's supposed to continue through tomorrow. The picture on the left is the apple tree outside my kitchen door at 3:30 this afternoon. All the pictures below were taken next, and the picture on the right is the same apple tree at 5:50 pm, just as it was getting dark.



So Maggie and I went for our walk despite the snow and my pulled muscle. It's better if I exercise it every so often. It's not too bad as long as I don't twist my hip. The picture looks out of focus, but look at Maggie. She's not blurry! It's just that the snow was coming down fast by then!



This is how the snow was beginning to gather on the small plant called Herb Robert. It's a rather ubiquitous little member of the geranium family.



Since this is the first snow, all of the fragile foliage is still upright, and I just like the way the wet snow catches on each leaf. All this grass will soon be beaten down and hidden under the heavy weight. Maybe even tomorrow!

Ellen and I are going out for our first monthly adventure tomorrow. I'll be sure to take the camera.

See Kayaking on Nov 21 for the last adventure with Ellen See First Snow and Last Hike for last year's first snow

Nature's Alphabet: P - T

See Nature's Alphabet K-O See Nature's Alphabet A-E

Contest Day - Win an Ad for a Month!

Entries received to date - 3

Here's your chance to win an ad for a month on My Quality Day. If you can read the numbers in the poll results graphic, you will see that there is a great disagreement in how people feel about the contests. Let me first thank all the people who voted! But then you can see that 4 people like them just the way they are, and 4 people thought that I should just drop them altogether! Well, I guess I get to cast the deciding vote, and I say they stay!

The next most chosen answer is that people for get about them. I've tried to give you some warning that this was coming up, so perhaps a few more people will recall that it was "that time" again.

OK, here we go. You know that I love words, just for their own sake. I haven't done many blog posts about them, because I keep finding cool nature things to show you. But these questions are almost all based on words that are very similar. You can look up the answers, or guess, or whatever... but the winner will have a 125x125 banner and link for a month. There are 15 possible points. Send me your answers at jhy@t-one.net before midnight EST on Friday, Dec 4.

1. I was writing an article about traveling and suddenly found myself confused about Baltic vs. Balkan. Give me the names of 3 Baltic countries, and then 3 Balkans. (6 pts total)

2. I just started reading a book about the Underground Railroad in Ohio. What was the technical difference between those who sought abolition of slavery and those who favored emancipation of slaves? (2 pts)

3. I managed to pull a muscle this week. Darn and ouch! Did I pull my sartorius or my sartorial? (1 pt)

4. It's December. Wow! Name three other words that come from the same Latin root word. (3 pts)

5. The sun appears to move from north to south and back between the two yearly Solstices. In the northern hemisphere, at the winter solstice, is the sun at the most northern point of its track, or most southern? (1 pt)

6. For me, it's always about learning new things. Just tell me any two new things that you have learned from a blog recently. (2 pts)

There you go! Again, email your answers to jhy@t-one.net before midnight EST, December 4.

Finally... I leave you with today's sunset.

Not Geometer but Lygropia rivulalis

OK, the quiz is going to start tomorrow. I just didn't get it ready today. What I did manage to do is finish an entry for a writing contest that was due tonight. They haven't announced the winners from last month yet, but are supposed to really soon. It's probably good that I didn't know how well or poorly I did before I finished the current entry. If I didn't even place I'd probably have been too disappointed to continue. I'm trying to think that one of the 3rd tier prizes would be nice. That's $25.

Instead I'm showing you a little moth that I found dead on my dining room table in September. I've been saving it to show you. Its colors are so drab, but the pattern is lacy and intricate. It's slightly less than an inch across, in real life. And the most interesting thing is that it is just a little bit shiny, like the sheen on silk when you move it through the light.

I tried to identify it, but the best I can do is that it's and I thought it was a Geometer. That means "earth measurer." Ha! I should have saved that for the quiz! Well, that's the official name for... inchworms. The Order is Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), Family Geometridae. They are also called loopers or spanners. The moths all look a lot alike! I found one that has a very similar pattern to the wings on this little guy, but it's European, and I doubt that he wandered that far before kicking the bucket in my house.

Added March 2011: I have now gotten a definite ID from Bug Guide. It's a Lygropia rivulalis, or Bog Lygropia. They are found from southern Canada to South Carolina, and the adults fly in July and August, so my September find makes perfect sense. End of edit

P.S. I hate not being able to ID things.

See Moth Memories