saffron

saffron sunset

Black Hills of South Dakota, November 19, 2009

prickly

prickly cactus

glacial

glacial branch

scarlet

scarlet amaryllis

fuzzy

fuzzy gosling

statuesque

statuesque penstemon

groovy

groovy pumpkin

This week my 9th grade English class has been struggling with nouns and adjectives, so we'll help them out. Kind of a photo Madlibs to ease the pain.

laundry Day

Do clothespins qualify as Art, I wonder? 

Veterans Day, Main Street, USA

Rapid City Stevens Blue Raider Marching Band and friends honor America's Veterans.

Main Street,  Rapid City, SD

November 11, 2009

thanks Veterans!

Factoid: The 45 star American flag, created in 1896 after the admission of the state of Utah to the Union. It was the "Star Spangled Banner" for 12 years. When Oklahoma became the 46th state it had to be redesigned. The 45 stars flew over the White House during the administrations of Grover Cleveland, William McKinley and Teddy Roosevelt. This particular 103 year old flag belongs to my parents, Robert and Helen Booth of Plattsburgh and Chazy Landing, NY.  

They are of what Tom Brokaw describes as the "greatest generation". Those who served both overseas and on the homefront, not for glory or recognition, but because it was the right thing to do.

warts and All

A pile of mini-pumpkins at my favorite local greenhouse.  These are the variety called "Jack Be Little" on the opposite end of the spectrum from "Dill's Atlantic Giant", the darling of the giant pumpkin contest aficionados. These little guys are 2" high and 3" in diameter, not the 1500 lb giants of the contest world.

Did you know that the first pumpkin pies were an invention of the colonists? Pumpkins were divested of their seeds and strings, filled with spices, eggs and milk and then placed in the ashes of a fireplace to bake. The sweet, spicy custard was then served to eager diners. I like the idea of no pie crust to wrangle with!

there is a Reason...

...that my birdbaths are empty every morning, this is IT!

do you know Gibbous?

The waning gibbous moon of November, 62% illumination at 7:30 this morning. I got curious, what exactly does gibbous mean? The word comes from late Latin, gibbosus, meaning "hunch-backed or humped".  

Astronomically, it is used to describe a celestial body viewed from Earth that is more than half, but not entirely illuminated by the sun. Gibbous moons are convex on both edges, last quarter is approaching within a day, the moon will become crescent within about 48 hours. The moon is gibbous both waxing and waning.  So, now you know...

gentleman Caller

He is wary enough that I had to take his picture through the window of the garage door. While I did get one for documentation, hoping to shoot a more elegant photo soon. I have had bobwhite and sharp-tailed grouse in the yard foraging under my feeders, but this is the first pheasant to show up ever! My back door neighbor spotted him about 10 days ago when his golden retrievers were having a fit in their yard adjacent to ours.

Wondering where he came from, we aren't exactly what you think of as pheasant habitat, probably someone's hunting preserve. My daughter saw the local coyote tribe drifting like shadows through the side yard last night well after dark, wonder how long he will be visiting. We shall see.

colors chase the stars to Bed

 

November 6 sunrise, in less than 10 minutes,

Ma Nature goes technicolor from horizon to horizon.

Quasar! Quasar?

Sirius, the Dog Star

 This is not the Dog Star, Sirius, in Canis Major. Nor is it the Captain of the Black Pearl.  It is, however, Captain Jack Sparrow, stargazing schnauzer.

Sirius, is the brightest star in the night sky, the eye of Canis Major, one of Orion's great hunting dogs. Sirius is visible from nearly all parts of the planet Earth. On close observation, it reveals itself as a binary star system, not a single star. To locate Sirius, draw a straight line through the three stars of Orion's belt, follow the line to the left and it will point directly at the star.  

(diagram from News Tribune, Duluth, MN)

moon and the winter Constellations

The man in the moon came to earth in my flower bed, but his night time companions, the winter constellations, are beginning to arrive in the late fall skies. Orion, the hunter and his dogs, Canis Major and Canis Minor are visible from anywhere on Earth. 

Astronomers estimate that the three stars in Orion's belt will be visible as that same pattern for 1-2 million more years before they move apart enough to alter the alignment. It is arguably the most recognizable star pattern throughout all of human existence, cultures around the world have stories explaining what the pattern is. The stories are as varied as the people who tell them.

I am watching YOU

Their red-brown coats have been replaced with gray-brown, winter is coming. The long guard hairs of a white-tail's winter coat are two times longer than the summer hair, a thick undercoat develops to help insulate their bodies against the cold. Winter guard hairs are hollow and can be fluffed out to add extra air space for warmth, giving a sometimes ratty look to winter deer. The insulation is so effective that snow will lay unmelted on a deer's back during a storm, body heat is not lost enough to melt it off.

back up the Train

Back to Mountain Standard Time!

Did you know the original proposal for Daylight Savings Time was suggested by the ever inventive Benjamin Franklin? He published an essay entitled "An Economical Project" in April 1784 when he was serving as Minister to the court of Louis XVI. His proposal touted the thriftiness of utilizing natural daylight instead of artificial light as a way to save money. Novel idea.