Puddle of Sun
This is what the weekend is supposed to be. A veritable feast for the mind with a smattering of visceral experience to back it up. I was hoping to come out of it with a smorgasboard of images and stories to tell, but in all truth, the stories are stories of relaxation, mostly of interest to none but me and all parties involved. So I'll leave you with the images and the few stories worth repeating to you, my fearless blog-readers...
PinkyThe pictures were expressly taken at our favorite local park, the arboretum. Many of the pictures were taken by my wife, so unless I say otherwise, yea, assume it was her. She really loves taking pictures of our daughter, so I had to whittle down the number of her pictures to a few, as not to overwhelm. And, so the pictures don't overwhelm into one conglomerative mess, I sized them down, so feel free to click on them for larger versions. Wow, this is reading less like a blog and more like an end-user license agreement eh? Exciting!
Mama & ChildAren't you in for a treat. This is a better find than any Yeti photo, more rare than a clear Loch Ness picture. My wife actually committed to having her picture taken, by me none-the-less. I can't even begin to tell you how astounded I am with her bravado in this respect. Normally she refuses any such request. But here she is, sitting on the bench overlooking the pond with our little munchkin nestled in her arms, and a little sprout going through the most rapid growth process in her tummy. As you can see the day was immaculate; blue skies, a few clouds, and bright warm sun-shine to ilght up our faces, both literally and figuratively. We had just arrived at the park, saw some great looking fish and had a quick lunch of no consequence.
Papa & ChildOf course my wife had to have her chance to out artsy me, so she took a picture of me and the pinkersmith on the same bench, only she used sepia. Doesn't it give an authentic old-fashioned look to the picture? With me in my sneakers and molded black plastic sunglasses. Still, it's an awesome picture, I think I'm losing weight, or the light was just perfect for the picture. The face Pinky is making is her 'squinting in the sun' camera wink. She seems to think that's the camera equivalent to smiling sweetly. And my smile? hmm, It's just some old thing I put on for the occasion.
Luna Moth
Eastern Black SwallowtailNow that you know who the players are, let's get down to the real reason why we were out, well other than the whole quest for recreation thing we do every weekend. The local arboretum houses this amazing butterfly house, and it just opened for the season again this weekend. On your left you see the Swallowtail butterfly, pictured underneath. I tell you, my wife takes amazing pictures. You can really see the blue and the yellow stand out in the image. And on the left is a moth, the Luna moth, but their antennea are amazing to look at. There's a closer close-up if you click on that picture. Mostly only the moths were fluttering around, the butterflies were all mostly still caterpillering around. Though there are some pretty amazing caterpillars to see.
Spicebrush Swallowtail Head
Spicebrush Swallowtail BodyThe caterpillar that we loved to look at the most was the Spicebrush Swallowtail. The head is amazing, a great example of survival tactics. The head sports two big black spots ringed in yellow that make the caterpillar take on a snakelike appearance. The one on the right shows how they wrap themselves up in the leaf for some added protection. It was amazing watching these clever critters chew through leaf after leaf. And the change they go through, from that bright green to a deep rich black as a butterfly. Astounding.
Blue DragonflyWe spotted some other beautifully illuminated eartly residents on our stroll around their grounds. Take for example this vibrantly blue dragonfly. This big guy had his picture taken by me. After narrowly missing swallowing him, I noticed how brightly colored he was. Somehow dragonflies don't make me think of insects, they're above the pest category if you ask me. I've always been amazed with their coloration, their flight, and their shape. They just look like nice torpedos.
Sunning TurtleRight next to the dragonfly was a fat happy turtle. I was able to snap a picture of him before my daughter freaked him out and caused him to all but jump back into the water. He looked so cozy sitting there in the sun. He's probably an average sized turtle that they have on their grounds. They do have one extremely huge snapping turtle swimming around in their dual ponds, but we didn't see him out that day.
Ohio CardinalAnd we were lucky enough to snap this picture of the great Ohio state bird, the Cardinal. Usually these buggers are way to fast and nervous for a good picture of them to be taken, but we were able to pull the camera out in enough time before it flew away in a child-fearing frenzy. And that was the extent of our outdoorsy excursion for the day. We did end up at the pool that day and the next, and enjoyed basking in the heat of the sun, and the chill of the water. Our weekend was thoroughly enjoyable, filled with sun, heat, water, fauna, and family. The chance to get back out and connect has repaired my nature-misgivings for the most part, and has left me with a smile and some hope for my next weekend off.
Bye, thanks for stopping in...
PinkyThe pictures were expressly taken at our favorite local park, the arboretum. Many of the pictures were taken by my wife, so unless I say otherwise, yea, assume it was her. She really loves taking pictures of our daughter, so I had to whittle down the number of her pictures to a few, as not to overwhelm. And, so the pictures don't overwhelm into one conglomerative mess, I sized them down, so feel free to click on them for larger versions. Wow, this is reading less like a blog and more like an end-user license agreement eh? Exciting!
Mama & ChildAren't you in for a treat. This is a better find than any Yeti photo, more rare than a clear Loch Ness picture. My wife actually committed to having her picture taken, by me none-the-less. I can't even begin to tell you how astounded I am with her bravado in this respect. Normally she refuses any such request. But here she is, sitting on the bench overlooking the pond with our little munchkin nestled in her arms, and a little sprout going through the most rapid growth process in her tummy. As you can see the day was immaculate; blue skies, a few clouds, and bright warm sun-shine to ilght up our faces, both literally and figuratively. We had just arrived at the park, saw some great looking fish and had a quick lunch of no consequence.
Papa & ChildOf course my wife had to have her chance to out artsy me, so she took a picture of me and the pinkersmith on the same bench, only she used sepia. Doesn't it give an authentic old-fashioned look to the picture? With me in my sneakers and molded black plastic sunglasses. Still, it's an awesome picture, I think I'm losing weight, or the light was just perfect for the picture. The face Pinky is making is her 'squinting in the sun' camera wink. She seems to think that's the camera equivalent to smiling sweetly. And my smile? hmm, It's just some old thing I put on for the occasion.
Luna Moth
Eastern Black SwallowtailNow that you know who the players are, let's get down to the real reason why we were out, well other than the whole quest for recreation thing we do every weekend. The local arboretum houses this amazing butterfly house, and it just opened for the season again this weekend. On your left you see the Swallowtail butterfly, pictured underneath. I tell you, my wife takes amazing pictures. You can really see the blue and the yellow stand out in the image. And on the left is a moth, the Luna moth, but their antennea are amazing to look at. There's a closer close-up if you click on that picture. Mostly only the moths were fluttering around, the butterflies were all mostly still caterpillering around. Though there are some pretty amazing caterpillars to see.
Spicebrush Swallowtail Head
Spicebrush Swallowtail BodyThe caterpillar that we loved to look at the most was the Spicebrush Swallowtail. The head is amazing, a great example of survival tactics. The head sports two big black spots ringed in yellow that make the caterpillar take on a snakelike appearance. The one on the right shows how they wrap themselves up in the leaf for some added protection. It was amazing watching these clever critters chew through leaf after leaf. And the change they go through, from that bright green to a deep rich black as a butterfly. Astounding.
Blue DragonflyWe spotted some other beautifully illuminated eartly residents on our stroll around their grounds. Take for example this vibrantly blue dragonfly. This big guy had his picture taken by me. After narrowly missing swallowing him, I noticed how brightly colored he was. Somehow dragonflies don't make me think of insects, they're above the pest category if you ask me. I've always been amazed with their coloration, their flight, and their shape. They just look like nice torpedos.
Sunning TurtleRight next to the dragonfly was a fat happy turtle. I was able to snap a picture of him before my daughter freaked him out and caused him to all but jump back into the water. He looked so cozy sitting there in the sun. He's probably an average sized turtle that they have on their grounds. They do have one extremely huge snapping turtle swimming around in their dual ponds, but we didn't see him out that day.
Ohio CardinalAnd we were lucky enough to snap this picture of the great Ohio state bird, the Cardinal. Usually these buggers are way to fast and nervous for a good picture of them to be taken, but we were able to pull the camera out in enough time before it flew away in a child-fearing frenzy. And that was the extent of our outdoorsy excursion for the day. We did end up at the pool that day and the next, and enjoyed basking in the heat of the sun, and the chill of the water. Our weekend was thoroughly enjoyable, filled with sun, heat, water, fauna, and family. The chance to get back out and connect has repaired my nature-misgivings for the most part, and has left me with a smile and some hope for my next weekend off.
Bye, thanks for stopping in...