Definitely worth stopping the car and getting pics. Mega corsage.
1 Like
It’s always preferred to stop at a red light as well. 
Michigan Ave ends at the front of the Capitol. So, I was taking advantage of the light (as well as the detour that took me that way) to get a mediocre shot of the building and the tree. If you enlarge the tree a lot, though , you can teel it’s in bloom.
1 Like
I enjoyed these. Thanks. I remember the Capitol on a field trip with my class in 4th grade, when we were on furlough!
1 Like
The grand tradition!
The Capitol building was thoroughly renovated, and the work was done in the early 2000s I think. It’s just stunning now. There’s a lot of information about it here.
Whenever you’re in Lansing, I would love to introduce you to my friend, who is one of the Capitol Historians. She’s an amazing guide with a deep knowledge and love for all things historically Michigan. She knows every inch of the place, and her husband has photographed most of it. Just down the street is the Michigan Library and Historical Center, where the Library of Michigan and the State History Museum reside. Plan a family field trip!
1 Like
I’ve taken lots of detours for plants. I’m lucky to have a very adventurous garden designer living just a few blocks from me midway to the school I used to teach at. Many of the plants I grow were inspired by his. Though I’ve discovered a few on my own a few of which he grows or has used in his designs I credit him for my adventitious trials too.
2 Likes
They do not grow here, but I remember reading stories of how the worms (catipillars) that feed on their leaves are prized as fish bait.
1 Like
A few pics from the house. The jackrabbits were from a few weeks ago, the nursing deer just a few minutes ago. It was startled by a passing car, then resumed nursing in the series.
COU.jpeg)
4 Likes
The baby deer is very dear but the jack rabbits take me back. They lived around where I grew up in San Diego in the canyons. But my fondest memory is of driving into the parking lot at Havasu, Arizona (I think) with my brother after midnight for a camping trip. We were on a good country road paved in places and jack rabbits were everywhere. They’d cross in front of our head lights like ghosts or come up beside us and speed off, and I was going as fast as the road would allow. They run mega fast.
We got into the parking lot in my brothers two seater and spread our sleeping bags just behind the car. It was pitch black without a sound. When we woke up we discovered we’d slept less than ten feet from the top of a cliff hundreds of feet high with no barrier between us and a quick trip to the bottom. When we drove home there was one more wildlife sighting. Well not so wild and no longer alive but there was the bloated body of a cow the shape of a beach ball in a field next to the road. Possibly the victim of a run in with a jack rabbit?
2 Likes
All the more grateful to have a chance to get to know you a bit!
2 Likes
I’ve never seen caterpillars on the tree. Maybe they tend to stay in the warmer climates where the catalpa comes from?
My new policy is if I don’t know the lay of the land I don’t close my eyes. Not really a needed policy as I can barely get through six hours sleep on the best mattress I can find. Bare ground? Nope, nope, nope. That chapter is so over.
3 Likes
Yep, my bucket list has rafting down the Grand Canyon, but the thought of sleeping on a camping pad for the trip makes me not make the reservation.
1 Like
When I first retired I thought a tear drop trailer with a great mattress in it and we could go wild flowering in the spring. Reality check says go less but stay at motels at least. Concessions.
1 Like
Yes, that rare treasure, sleep. I finally bailed bed this morning about 4:22 after being awakish for over an hour.
There are stunning overnight camping/hiking trails in the western Upper Peninsula, almost to Wisconsin. When we were up there last summer, I thought “How wonderful this would be to try.” Stupid city kid. You’re being delusional. Enjoy the day walks and the tour books.
2 Likes
First time in a while I had to slow down. It’s been 92°f since this morning at 8am. It’s now 106°f and have been above hundred last 2 hours. I’m working in straight sunlight. I’ve already drank a 3/4 gallon of water. But finally felt like I breath deeply or fast enough and so sat down in the shade letting a breeze go by. Figure I’ll take an hour lunch today. Still have six hours to go.
2 Likes
Whatever conditions Passiflora incarnata (maypop, the southeastern US-native passionflower) likes, it seems to be getting them in this part of our yard, given that this one has quadrupled in size since last year. The longest vines are about 2.3 meters long. This being the host plant for Variegated Fritillary, and the fact that I saw a caterpillar from one on it earlier in the spring, suggests that the camera-shy one out today grew up on this plant.
6 Likes
That is one nice looking Passion flower. I grow a cultivar called “Coral Seas” that Red Admirals use as caterpillar food and I get a lot of Monarch adults feeding on a Buddleja davidii cultivar growing out along the street, but I need to grow more butterfly weed. Around here the holy grail is to build up a planting of Aristochlia californica to feed baby Pipevine butterflies.
Today I finally spotted the only old growth redwood left standing in the San Francisco east bay in Oakland, not far from where thee we largest ones grew before being cut down to build San Francisco. This one was left because it was a twisted old runty thing growing in a steep canyon where it might shatter if cut down. You can see that it’s upper branches are larger and more misshapen relative to the regrowth youngsters growing nearby.
Finally spotted the right marker at the nearby elementary school’s parking lot. So based on a core drilled it is about 470 years old, young by old growth standards but we’re lucky to still have even this standing. Before we went up there we went to the park entrance at the bottom of the canyon.
5 Likes
Saw this on Twitter and had to share, esp. for @Mervin_Bitikofer.
What’s a gigantic jet? Screenshot for explanation:
4 Likes
Does it good afternoon shade? I always have best luck when it gets good shade at like 2pm onward.
2 Likes
Did it last any longer than normal lightning? Gonna sell it to the weather channel?
3 Likes