Thanksgiving Day
Or American Thanksgiving, as I will always still call it. ;-)
For some reason, this holiday feels more unfamiliar and American to me than any of the others. It's ironic because Canadians also celebrate Thanksgiving, and in a similar way (turkey, mashed potatoes, relatives). I would have guessed that Martin Luther King Day, for example, would have seemed less familiar to me, especially since Canada doesn't have the same levels of racial segregation or explosive interracial relations. But to me, American Thanksgiving is a bit of a mystery. On this weekend, Americans get together as families and celebrate, at some level, being American. I don't know if it's the football or the shopping or the unapologetic consumption of food or the onset of Christmas, but something about this holiday evokes the American identity in ways I still can't relate to. The first time I heard of the practise of deep-frying a turkey in the backyard I thought, "Whoa, this isn't the Thanksgiving I grew up with." And it's not.
This year, our plans fell through and the three of us ended up spending the day at home. We had a really great day together, though, since it was such a beautiful day. While Erik went to the apartment gym for a workout, I took Isabel to the pool. I took some photos of Isabel (they are up on that web site), and while she was playing, I took some photos of the butterflies that were flying around us the whole time we were at the pool.
This is a Clouded Sulphur taking off from a hibiscus flower. When they were first planted at the beginning of the summer, the hibiscus bushes by the pool were only knee-high. They are over 2m tall now, and they have just bloomed again. I wish I had the same skill: my own hibiscus is small and hasn't bloomed yet this year. I'm clearly doing something wrong.
These flowers are so beautiful, I took a photo of one on its own.
I think this is a Painted Lady on the Lantana Camara blossom. I didn't check the underside of the wings to confirm, and I know the American Lady is much more common, but it looks more like a Painted Lady to me.
A Sleepy Orange, also on the Lantana Camara blossom. The Lantana is a great plant for attracting butterflies, which is one of the reasons why the pool area is such a nice place to be.
I'm so interested in insects in Texas I am thinking of setting up an amateur online insect collection with photos of the bugs we find along with descriptions of where and when we found them. Hm, I'll have to talk to Erik about that...
For some reason, this holiday feels more unfamiliar and American to me than any of the others. It's ironic because Canadians also celebrate Thanksgiving, and in a similar way (turkey, mashed potatoes, relatives). I would have guessed that Martin Luther King Day, for example, would have seemed less familiar to me, especially since Canada doesn't have the same levels of racial segregation or explosive interracial relations. But to me, American Thanksgiving is a bit of a mystery. On this weekend, Americans get together as families and celebrate, at some level, being American. I don't know if it's the football or the shopping or the unapologetic consumption of food or the onset of Christmas, but something about this holiday evokes the American identity in ways I still can't relate to. The first time I heard of the practise of deep-frying a turkey in the backyard I thought, "Whoa, this isn't the Thanksgiving I grew up with." And it's not.
This year, our plans fell through and the three of us ended up spending the day at home. We had a really great day together, though, since it was such a beautiful day. While Erik went to the apartment gym for a workout, I took Isabel to the pool. I took some photos of Isabel (they are up on that web site), and while she was playing, I took some photos of the butterflies that were flying around us the whole time we were at the pool.
This is a Clouded Sulphur taking off from a hibiscus flower. When they were first planted at the beginning of the summer, the hibiscus bushes by the pool were only knee-high. They are over 2m tall now, and they have just bloomed again. I wish I had the same skill: my own hibiscus is small and hasn't bloomed yet this year. I'm clearly doing something wrong.
These flowers are so beautiful, I took a photo of one on its own.
I think this is a Painted Lady on the Lantana Camara blossom. I didn't check the underside of the wings to confirm, and I know the American Lady is much more common, but it looks more like a Painted Lady to me.
A Sleepy Orange, also on the Lantana Camara blossom. The Lantana is a great plant for attracting butterflies, which is one of the reasons why the pool area is such a nice place to be.
I'm so interested in insects in Texas I am thinking of setting up an amateur online insect collection with photos of the bugs we find along with descriptions of where and when we found them. Hm, I'll have to talk to Erik about that...