dr_phil_physics | Entries tagged with drought

More Photo Wandering

Two weeks ago I shot some thistles by the driveway (DW).

They're all grown up now. (Click on photo for larger.)

On Friday I had errands to do in Holland MI and finished by getting some tomatoes at Potters. But the sign also said they had raspberries. Still? Apparently yes, because as I was selecting the tomatoes a breeze wafted by and I could smell them. They had some dark red autumn raspberries, but also some freshly picked summer ones -- the ones with the fragrant bouquet and near perfect soft, fluffy plumpness.

Despite the losses of many crops and a lot of the tree fruit, we have managed to get some good produce -- even some decent Flaming Fury peaches. And lovely tomatoes.

So on Saturday I saw these big crates of butternut squash in the fields on 84th Avenue. (Click on photo for larger.)

The Old Monarchs Home

We've raised a few monarch butterflies this season, and after a slow start we actually found a few caterpillars and eggs. Yesterday Mrs. Dr. Phil realized there were holes in some leaves of what she thought was a jar that didn't take -- little bugger had gone into hiding until it was nearly half an inch! Today she released another big male at work and there should be another butterfly tomorrow.

The last couple of weeks I've seen some monarchs fluttering through our milkweed stand, but until this Saturday they haven't lingered long enough to shoot. Pretty much all my butterfly photos the last two years have been our releases. As I drove down the driveway I saw one monarch, but it flew away. But when I came back from town, I paused by the milkweed to look for signs of caterpillars. When one monarch lit on a plant, it stayed around long enough to swap lenses on the D1 and then shoot through the weeds.

Could be a male. And is that left wing damaged? (Click on photo for larger.)

Second shot after it drifted down into the shade. The wings look tired and dried up. Shouldn't be a surprise, especially given the heat, but I've just rarely ever seen old butterflies. (Click on photo for larger.)

Heavy weighs the crown of the old monarch as the dog days of August wane. (grin)

Dr. Phil

A Lovely Day

After two days plus of rain, mostly a long light soaking rain, and colder temperatures -- much of Friday was around 59°F and we actually switched the heat pump over to Heat mode for a day -- Saturday was full of sun and clouds and breezes and pleasant temps.

So I had to drive into town and check the P.O. Box, and decided it was a good day to take some pictures and packed up the Nikon D1. I'd been meaning to shoot some of the dry corn fields -- the rain has done a little greening up around the area and the bugs at night seemed very happy -- but really, it is too late for many crops and the rains may have even hurt some.

But... amazingly Mrs. Dr. Phil came home Thursday with actual Michigan peaches. Not sure where the orchard got them, since the fruit trees were so decimated around here, but these were Flaming Furies. Not quite as good as Red Havens, but they smell nice, are plenty juicy and taste lovely.

Not bad bounce illumination from Wendy's old tiny Nikon SB22 Speedlight. (Click on photo for larger.)

On my way down the driveway, I stopped to shoot these thistles. (Click on photo for larger.)

In Allendale I was quite surprised to see a white Lotus Europa -- late 60s/early 70s -- my favorite car, though I'd rather it was in black with gold pinstripe John Player Special. (grin) Turned out there must be some sort of classic car drive or show, since there were about a dozen neat old cars.

The picture's not very good -- not only was I shooting through the windshield, I had to deal with the glare off the glass and the wrong lens. On the other hand, I did get three shots. (Click on photo for larger.)

This is the BBQ operation that I wrote about a while ago (DW) -- operates most weekends in Allendale on 68th Avenue just north of M-45 Lake Michigan Drive. (Click on photo for larger.)

I noticed this corridor running deep into this corn field on M-45 west of Allendale on the north side of the road. I think it's a path for the irrigation system. You can see the corn nearest to the road hasn't had as much water. (Click on photo for larger.)