I love spring

On the road

My commute home from work site--skirting the storm.

 It's so great to see the hills all green after years of drought.

Check out how the rainbow is doubling itself (at the bottom).

One of the cutest things I've EVER seen: baby killdeer

with its siblings and very busy parents at Merced National Wildlife Refuge.

Check out that TINY wing! =)

Snow goose, also at the Merced NWR.
That beak makes me think of a sock puppet, for some reason... =)

This native phlox was SO frothy & pink (on highway 166) we HAD to pull over

during our drive to Carrizo Plain NM.

The Carrizo Plain NM: a fascinating place.

Heaven for a minimalist, and I was anxious to visit, since

the last time we saw it, it was 4 years into a drought.

 Soda Lake stirred by wind.

Carrizo Plain had greened up nicely, thanks to El Niño.

Desert candle (Caulanthus inflatus), a species I'd never seen before, at Carrizo Plain NM.

Another thing we saw from the car & stopped to investigate. =)

We drove up elevation from Carrizo & found purple puddles of Phacelia. So great!

Closer shot of Phacelia--love those flamboyant anthers. =)

More wildflower puddles, north and uphill of the Carrizo Plain.

Back home

Band-tailed pigeons appeared under our bird feeder—that was a first!

They are SO much bigger than mourning doves (upper left corner).

Love their bright beaks & feet.

Ladybird beetle upon lilac. Ah, spring! =)

 The new climbing rose we just bought is making me swoon.

 I have a thing for anthers...

Wavyleaf soap plant (Chlorogalum pomeridianum) beading water beautifully. =)

Lovely variegated miner's lettuce (Claytonia spp.) on our property that caught my eye.

So stylish! =)

Last, a wild hyacinth (Dichelostemma capitatum) on our property.

What an elegant beauty.

I hope you all are having a marvelous spring (or fall).

It's a pretty amazing thing.

xoxoxobb

Friday Foto Fling

and Happy Flehmen Response Friday!*

Ridiculously beautiful day at Mono Lake. Kinda stormy.

Driving home. Road trips are ROUGH when there's nothing to look at... =)

View during (brief) traffic stop at Yosemite. Again, hard to bear. =)

Note debris on road at right. Brief, intense rainstorm washed stuff onto the road, hence road work.

Finally landed on a term for dahlias: absurdly beautiful.

iPhoto plot: it opened onto May 22, 2014 & I saw this guy. HAD to re-post. Cute little hopper!

 LOVE those eyes...

I added mulch one day and I SWEAR the NEXT DAY everyone looked happier.

Gaillardia infront of chrysanthemum. 

Perusing lovely images of gardens (& listening to gardening podcasts)

it occurs to me that many people don't have the

gophers, rabbits, deer, bears, etc. that we have.

Their plants are just OUT THERE, and all's well.

Can't. Even. Imagine.

Here's the deer's eye view of our dahlias:

Looks like flower prison. For the criminally gorgeous. And tasty.

Moby trying to figure out how to GET to those tomato plants.

Nevertheless, I still enjoy gardening; miracles abound.

Soaked these pups 1.5 days, and they had ALREADY started to germinate.

Which may be why this happened 5 days later:

=) Hard to see, as I MUST disguise baby bean plants so birds don't get them all. 

Next day:

SO amazingly fast. SUPER gratifying.

They're scarlet runner beans, so when they mature,

not only will they be beautiful and shade-making,

but also I'll finally have something for the hummingbirds. Hooray!

K. THASSIT!

Have a fabulous weekend, cherished peeps.

xoxobb

*To perk up your Friday, just google image search Flehmen response.

It's PG rated, a real biological thing, and SUPER entertaining. =) Plus, tapirs!

explore...

 … is today's photography theme.

Prickly pear fruits (I believe).

Took these photo whilst exploring the farmer's market in Houston, today.

It's MAJOR.

Had NO idea what many of the items were.

Which makes me very happy. =)

A key to exploring, in my mind, is to:

1st, embrace your ignorance,

2nd, ask someone to teach you.

That way you get to learn,

and they get to be a smarty pants;

a win-win.

=)

There was one item that looked like bags of dried green dodder or Spanish moss*.

A young girl explained to us that it is what you put in the manger for the baby Jesus.

Not for eating--oops.

She was SUPER cute.

I love learning from a 9-year-old.

So, there ya go.

Day 23 of the 30 day photo challenge (by @just_go_do_it): DONE.

xoxobb

*Now that I look at it, I'm wondering if what they were selling IS Spanish moss, which is neither Spanish, nor moss. Apparently, it's an epiphytic flowering plant. And it is native in this region (I'm in Texas)… interesting!

Single shot silent Saturday: Joshua Tree NP rocks

800th post potpourri

classic bb photo of yore: taken whilst upside down & mega happy

at Mt. Rainier NP, hiking w/ marvelous friends.

So, not that I think numbers like this really matter, but

800 posts?!?

Apparently "biobabbler" was apt.

FUN combo of teddy bear sunflowers & pole beans I planted.

Frozen whimsey. Heaven.

I'd been thinking about what this one might be,

like a potpourri of random bio-dorky things

I've been doing & seeing & thinking lately.

'Cause that's what this blog is, really.

freakishly HUGE hole in our heads,

a.k.a. the sinus cavity. FREAKS me OUT.

But, then I randomly clicked on "insert image" in blogger,

and it brought up ALL the photos from this blog.

Trip down memory lane.

Amazing post-storm sunset after cruising Yosemite.

So, I'll share my recent things later.

For today, a random smattering of previous postage.

wetland outside New Orleans, weirdo lighting heaven.

Hi! 

Western toad at our house. Note wee size via clover comparison. *sigh*

& the 4 letter code for it is (was) WETO so we biodorks call it "wee-toe". It is wee.

bb training volunteers in rocky intertidal monitoring by doing a demo plot.

At Cabrillo NM years ago. Upgraded water wear since then. =) & now I am a volunteer.

Bambi in the yard! teeter, teeter....

Point Reyes National Seashore. Heart. Majorly.

beloved coworkers' tootsies. Good shoes for Rattlesnake Land.

Note snake gaiters on lower right. Smart. But, HOT.

Freaky things lakes do when they freeze. Had no idea. Tenaya Lake, Yosemite.

k.

Thank you all for checking in and commenting, etc., over the years.

You are are the BEST!

800 hugs.

bb

don't fall in the desert

Again, not flower blooming time so, like Yosemite, it's kinda dull now.

Joshua Tree NP in October (all these are from 10/2010)

And rocks don't change, so if you've been there once...

Plus last time I went there in fall, it rained.

Bummer.

So, if I think of places that are good to visit in fall,

I'll be sure and let you know.

xobb

p.s. Do you have any favorite places to venture in fall? DO tell. I am curious.

Phriday photo quiz--it's coastal!

 
Working again, now that my visitor is headed back to Canada, and it's a little nutty.

However, I am putting off (only by minutes) my TRIP to the GYM to post this, so you know I've been out and about (and that "I'm not dead!").

So, where's this?

This place does NOT suck.

I realize it's not an easy quiz.

I'll add more photos or hints later, if need be, so perspire not.

Any wild guesses (you know I love them)

 or are some of you SO well traveled, it's obv.?

xobb

nature in art in nature in art...

 

"Mommy, why is that lady staring at the ceiling?"

Because it's really, really pretty.

In the National Gallery of Art,
there's plenty of beauty that is not hanging on a wall,
or perched on a pedestal, protected by plexiglass.

Some of it is photosynthesizing.

I took very few photographs while in the museum;
they were expressly allowed in one particular exhibit.
Most of the images that inspired me to photograph them involved nature, the outdoors.
Mind you, I love portraits. Of people. Love.

However, two artists had captured ocean scenes so perfectly,
I had to photograph them so I could learn more about their work.

This* is "A Quiet Day in Manchester" by Alfred Thompson Bricher (1837-1908)**

I read about Mr. Bricher, and he lived much of his life by the ocean; not surprising.

This next one is "The Stranded Ship" by Asher Brown Durand (1796-1886).

The green in these waves? So true and real. Awesome. I just stare at it.


The pull of the Pacific

When in the NPS, one of my jobs, and its associated walking commute,
allowed me to see the Pacific Ocean four hours a day, five days a week.

The first birds I had to identify as a professional biologist were shorebirds.

The first natural resource monitoring I did was of the rocky intertidal community.

I was born in a beach town.

I still remember walking on the beach with my dad when I was four,
plastic baggy in hand to store all the shells I'd collect.

So, I feel bonded to that big, cold, powerful thing.

Which might explain why, when these painters really captured the ocean,
it stopped me in my tracks.


Love at first sight

Back at the gallery, I turn a corner and BAM,
there is one of my favorite paintings of all time.
I was instantly smitten the moment I saw it (in a book in high school).
And it's never diminished.

I had no idea it was at the NGA.

To direct you to it (since it's still under copyright, via another site),
I had to look up its name (just now, after writing about the Pacific),
which I had not known at all.

"Wind from the sea."

uh...


that's freaky.

You can see it here (and click on it to see it larger).


Art is everywhere

Then, leaving the NGA, stepping out the doorway, I see this:

The beauty doesn't stop when you leave the gallery, and step into nature.

=)

It just keeps going.

Hence my giddy, swoony, continuing love for nature.

It's fairly magical, always inspiring,

and, like so many of the amazing DC museums, it's free.

xo

bb


*I did not straighten this photograph (via post-processing) because that'd reduce the clarity a lot.
**Public domain = 100 years after artist's death (says Wiki),
so these seascapes sail in that marvelous legal sharing space. =)