tied to Earth

Gliding across the lake surface is all they can do at the moment. The Canada geese and some of the ducks at Canyon Lake are in their summer molt and are flightless. The lake shore is littered with worn out feathers, the new flight feathers are growing rapidly and the year's goslings are acquiring their adult plumage. They should take to the air again soon, but right now they are earthbound.

waxing Moon

The oldest known photograph of the moon is a Daguerreotype taken on September 1, 1849. Samuel D. Humphrey exposed a 2 3/4" by 1 3/4" piece of silverplated copper, then developed it using mercury vapor to create the picture. Mr. Humphrey, photographer, of Canandaigua, NY, then sent photo to Harvard University which still owns it.

That is a far cry from stepping outside with a digital SLR and then to Photoshop for printing on a July afternoon 151 years later.  

 Full Thunder Moon will be July 25, 9:37 pm.

it's Chowtime!

The violet-green swallow babes are nearly ready to be out on their own, but not quite yet. Ma and Pa are shuttling birdie McDonald's at an amazing pace these days.

and at the End

High on the wall, near the 7th Street end of the Alley,

is the Mediterranean on canvas.

Fine Art and fine art together.

not so Serious

Whimsy

art alley Artist

Creation

unexpected Utility

Industrial

Words

faces of the Alley

FACES

art alley Redux

I have taken you on a tour of Art Alley before, the ever changing outdoor art exhibit in downtown Rapid City. The alley between 6th and 7th Streets is a fascinating place, a constantly changing pallet for self expression by artists who work in every medium imaginable. The businesses whose back doors open on the alley allow and encourage the work, both locals and tourists alike are fans of these artists.

It is a wildly popular backdrop for senior portraits, family pictures, photography class projects and wedding photos. Things are never defaced, although over time they may be painted over, which is not seen as disrespectful to fellow artists, just part of the evolution that takes place. Take a walk down Art Alley as it is in early July 2010.

oh, Baby!

She is 18 today, where did the time go?

Happy Birthday, Sweetie

breakfast of Champions

which would be Ponderosa pine seeds, if you are an American red squirrel, AKA pine squirrel or chickaree.

This one is a familiar neighbor, both winter and summer, a lady squirrel with an Attitude and a very saucy tongue.

do turkeys Yawn?

My youngest once asked me if turkeys yawned when they are tired. Beats me, but apparently lady mergansers do when you disturb their afternoon siesta! I had no idea I had gotten this picture till I got home.

My wiseacre little brother says, of course turkeys yawn, they are full of tryptophan.

evening Comes

Evening comes to the prairie

Nature draws a gentle cloak of rain across the Hills

A peaceful close of day for curlews and meadowlarks

 Earth settles to sleep

she and He

Did you ever look closely at the bits of a corn plant that bring you that delicious, butter drippy corn on the cob in midsummer? The she is the cornsilk on the infant cob, the he is the male tassel providing the pollen.

If some romantic compares your eyes to cornflowers, they probably mean old fashioned bachelor buttons, and if your hair is "like cornsilk", it is probably cornsilk in August. Otherwise you would resemble some Dr. Seuss-like creature with strange eyes and funky  hair.

The Lorax

high Summer

High summer, high clouds, early morning, after fireworks

independence Day #2

At 6:15 am, he and his siblings were surveying the outside world and being stuffed with breakfast...

by 8:15 am, they had launched themselves into the air for the first time and were scattered throughout the Thicket and being fed a snack!

Live long and prosper, little bluebirds.

ADDENDUM

A quick snapshot of one of our babies, a Monday afternoon visit to the deck railing.

Independence Day

Happy 4th!

Happy Picnics!

Happy Fireworks!

July is...

a

and BLUE

July is...

WHITE

July is...

RED

briskets and rump Roasts

mystery Solved

I wondered why my little "Florida Swamp" garden (that is a water hyacinth and water lettuce in a pot on the deck, a reminder of Sanibel trips), was having such a problem with evaporation. Searched for leak, then caught the guilty party in action! Ma Nature has been getting a little help from Lucifer lowering the water level, I have a suspicion that Jack Sparrow, his partner in crime, is also in on it. I just haven't caught him yet.

redbirds in a Tree

I just put this penstemon cousin in one of my perennial beds, what do you think? Does it look like birds in a tree?

Being a birder meant I had to have it just because of the name. Seriously, the name of the plant is Redbirds in a Tree, an offering from High Country Gardens in Santa Fe.

keeping Company

Still life with starlings and bovines

June day on the short grass prairie

Golondrina verde-violeta

Tachycineta thalassina

Golondrina verde-violeta

Hirondelle a face blanche

Violet-green swallow

Sharing the same habitat and ecology as the tree swallows, these are our swallows of the West, the Black Hills being the easternmost part of their range. Although we have this pair, there are others in the area, they seem to forage together, sometimes riding the thermals to dizzying heights after flying insect prey. 

They nest every year in the birdhouse offered high over our small deck on the sunrise side of the house. The swallow kids will have a featherbed to grow up in, courtesy of the wild turkey troupe that frequents our neighborhood. They will also cheerfully take offerings of parakeet feathers and down from expensive bed pillows.

tranquil and Tumbled

 

Rapid Creek on the way to the Cheyenne river to the Missouri to the Mississippi to the Gulf. Fresh water traveling to that which is fouled, wishing it could help make it clean again

la Grenouille

Bon Voyage, Becka and Andy as you hop on the plane tomorrow. Safe travels, have a wonderful time!

Okawita Paha

Known to non-Lakota people as Harney Peak. Okawita Paha is a sacred place in the Black Hills (Paha Sapa) of South Dakota, a place of ceremony and reverence to the Lakota. At 7244' above sea level, it is the highest point in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. View is looking west about a mile from our house, you can see a similar view from our roof. I prefer this one.

Summer Solstice !

The sunflower is the symbol of the Summer Solstice, this one is waiting to greet Helios.

Enjoy this day of the longest daylight hours and the shortest night-time hours of the year.

and

Happy Birthday, Fearless Leader

the bearded One

Here is the reason they are called "bearded iris". Mme Chereau has a white beard, just like the Bearded One, whom my daughters call Daddy. 

Happy Father's Day, DS

weather Weirdness

These are mammatus clouds, a rare example of clouds forming on sinking rather than rising air currents. It is a common myth that these warn of an imminent funnel cloud or tornado, however, they are harmless. They are seen after the passage of a strong summer thunderstorm, after your garden has already been turned to coleslaw by hail. The hail missed us this time.

morning Ablutions

on my favorite pond, the drake blue-winged teal (Anas discors) does his morning ablutions, his lady was out breakfasting among the water plants