Macro

That's One Impressive Pansy

2011-07-30T13:41:00.000-06:00

Why are pansies considered weak? I guess calling someone a nosegay is too politically incorrect? Rose is a verb. Daisy is too Dukes of Hazard. Iris is anatomical. Poppy has drug inferences -- or sounds like your grandfather. Bird of paradise has amazingly narrow targeting potential. Day lily, night lily.

This pansy is one of hundreds taking over the neighborhood. Hardy little fellers.

Spider Satisfaction and Insect Fix

2011-07-30T12:36:00.000-06:00

This summer has gone by very quickly. Our lives have been up in the air (see my Blogspot Pivot blog for more info), so we've not had enough adventures. But there are still insects and bugs for my jonesing.

The orange jumping spider is a species that I've caught up with twice, each individual had recently caught prey. I flipped the leaf over to get better lighting, but the spider wasn't overly eager to pose.

Next is a group of bees which are members of a mystery species. I saw a similar group a couple of years ago. Like last time, I spotted these near dusk. They congregate on grass seeds, some flying off and then coming back to the same stalk. I'm not sure what the social structure is, but they do seem to be a group of some sort so they aren't solitary, but then, I saw no evidence of a physical hive. I have to read some more bee books.

Super Weevil

2011-07-12T02:37:00.000-06:00

I was thrilled to get a good shot of both sets of wings. As amazing as they are though, beetles still look pretty comical when they fly.

Rubber Shell and Other Local Trash

2011-05-23T13:16:00.002-06:00

Here's logarithmic trash. I think it's a part of a balloon. We found it walking in one of the local creeks.

Web-cicles

2011-03-08T11:27:00.002-07:00

Jumping spiders affix a safety line before making a jump. You can tell if a jumping spider has been around because of the single strands of thread draped over leaves and branches.

It got misty, windy and frozen quickly enough to form horizontal icicles.

Meta-Needles

2011-03-08T11:20:00.002-07:00

We've had one of our spring snowstorms. Sixty degrees Fahrenheit down to 30° F. There should be a rule that the average high temperature should not be allowed to drop more than 10 degrees per 24 hours. We could deal with the weather just like the Dow regulations...

If before 2pm the comparative average temperature (CAT) has decreased by 10%, the weather activity will be terminated for one hour.
If before 2pm the CAT has decreased by 20%, the weather activity will be terminated for two hours.
If the CAT has decreased by 30%, the weather activity will be terminated for the weather day.

... on the other hand maybe that's not such a good idea.

Tribute to Mo Willems

2011-03-01T13:01:00.000-07:00

I love Mo Willems' books.

This is my Etch-a-Sketch portrait of Knuffle Bunny. Be kind to me, it's my first portrait in this medium.

That is NOT a little leporid reproductive organ at the bottom.

Post-Holiday Decorations

2011-01-12T23:38:00.000-07:00

Kai and I went for a walk and saw great things in the snow, including these tiny icicles. They will be gone by tomorrow. Yesterday it was below freezing, today almost freezing and tomorrow we're expecting mid-fifties.

Solstice Lunar Eclipse

2010-12-22T02:36:00.001-07:00

It was the first lunar eclipse on the winter solstice since Gallileo's time. The kids' sleep schedule is a wreck. They did fall asleep outside in their sleeping bags which was oddly funny.

Astronomy pictures are hard. I definitely need some more practice. This one was hard for me particularly when there was as much moon in shadow as not. The contrast was too high and I managed to gray out the reflected light and gray out the red shadow. Oh no, I'll have to take more pictures...

I can has cricket?

2010-10-26T09:43:00.003-06:00

That's Rowan's title for a mantis we found. It's a line from a website devoted to captioning animal pictures. If you're unfamiliar with the site, check out the lolcats also known as "I Can Has Cheezburger?"

A Peek Inside

2010-10-17T15:08:00.000-06:00

I like that I can see both the more camouflaged underwing and the bright blue upperside.

They'll Need A Crane

2010-08-24T22:01:00.001-06:00

I like the TMBG song, They'll Need A Crane, but with regard to this picture, it's only titular.

I think crane flies are really neat. If Tolkien were adapted to play to an all-fly audience, I think the elves would be played by crane flies.

The little clubs beneath the wings are halteres. As I understand it, they are balancing and stabilizing rudimentary hind wings. If instead the forewings were the rudimentary pair, we'd have to call flies "halter tops."

Did I mention I've been on a stream of consciousness kick lately?

Isn't that Dandy?

2010-08-18T09:33:00.000-06:00

It's like the love child of a snowflake and a weed. I hadn't noticed the hexagonal symmetry before I took this picture. I also thought it looked like the puff had tilted its head into the frame and said, "Boo".

Close up dandylion pictures seem kinda cliche, but I suppose they're popular for a reason.

Cpt Tribble of the 3.14th Airborne Division

2010-08-17T19:22:00.000-06:00

Perhaps this little thing really escaped from a Dr Seuss book.

I like these. They always make me laugh.
I'm more sure about this id as a bee fly or Bombyliinae. :)
http://bugguide.net/node/view/40598

Thanks Anonymous for the Lynx spider. I must be distracted.

Hum vs Buzz

2010-08-17T18:53:00.000-06:00

This little bird was buzzing around us, eating mosquitoes while we were playing catch and release with crawdads.

I'm sure that day was the first time that I thought a hummingbird really should be much, much faster. She might have just thought it was good sport rather than an actual meal.

Just about everyone in our little group was being eaten alive. I don't usually react to bites, so I can often neener-neener. Skeeters are an annoyance, but the bites aren't painful and won't raise a bump or itch. For all my other allergies, I'm relatively immune to mosquito bites. This day, the sheer number of mini-vampires that were trying to enter my ears was enough to send me packing. I hate that buzzing sound when it's actually in my ear.

When I got home I think I found a red dot on my arm. That was surprising. I couldn't find it the next time I checked, so maybe it wasn't a bite.

Dragon Overhead

2010-08-17T17:14:00.001-06:00

'Nother present for Matt.

I was in a swampy area with cat tails standing six plus feet high. This dragonfly was patrolling the area. A few times he came to hover and buzz a couple feet in front of my nose, but I guess I looked mostly harmless.

No news yet. IBM fires Theo today for job desertion. The HR people are trying to figure out if the kids and I can apply for COBRA or not and if so will IBM contribute. Previously it was yes, then maybe, then yes with perhaps little help, then today it was that Theo would need to fill out and sign the forms.

As Matt said, there is a certain irony that they are terminating his employment since he's missing, but in order for his family to get COBRA he needs to sign forms -- presumably including why he isn't there to sign the forms.

The Catch 22 is alive and well.

Missing Person: Theo Petersen

2010-07-27T14:39:00.003-06:00

We've filed a Missing Person report on my husband. If you've seen Theo Petersen please contact Det Jason Weaver with any information 303-660-7588 jweaver@dcsheriff.net Missing Person Case 10-68523. You can also see Theo's profiles, picture and related information at: LinkedIn Public Profile, Web Development with Apache and Perl, and Good Reads. He was driving a white '94 Saturn station wagon with Colorado plates the letters are GBL, but the numbers I'm not sure of, maybe 683. He said that he was headed for Indianapolis, but no one has verified that he arrived there.

Since his last communication on June 30th, he hasn't contacted his work and his family haven't heard from him either. Various details of his departure have worried us about his safety and/or well-being. We are in the midst of a divorce, so he could be under a significant amount of stress. As of this writing, I have not located either his passport or mine. The police have not called me with any information.

Mini golf Daddy Long Legs

2010-07-27T02:09:00.002-06:00

I wasn't sure I wanted to celebrate my 40th birthday (7/3) , but my kids wouldn't let me out of it. It's a cake and ice cream event and it was going to happen whether or not I wanted it.

I took them to a mini golf place with some shade trees. I was trying to keep Jasmine comfortable, but she only lasted about 9 holes before she just retreated from shade tree to shade tree. We need to get super-dark glasses or something that will comfortably work with kids' sunglasses. She's been miserable this whole bright summer. Generally she loves mini golf, but this time I think I should have switched it to bowling.

Anyhow, on the course, I found this beautiful spider with which I wasn't familiar. I loved his acacia-tree like legs. I took a ton of pics, but the profile was the most illuminating for narrowing it down to the family Pholcidae. In layman speak it's one of the daddy-long-legs spiders. I still think daddy-long-legs should refer to the non-spider arachnid the Opilione, here's my pic of one.

Even with this find and my cheerful children, it was a melancholy day. The cloud over my head was that the kids were still under the impression that Dad intended to return from a road trip. I had already received an email from him informing me that he had no plans to return but I was still attempting to get more information before I was going to tell them.

I think the kids were coming to terms with the idea of divorce, but abandonment... the first talk was a cake walk. The kids are still in shock but soldiering through. I'm really amazed by their bravery, but I wish I could do more than I am. They've asked some painful questions and my answers have been less than emotionally satisfying I'm sure. But how can one explain to three young kids events that have stupifyed all the adults? I've told them what I know and ended with things like, "I don't know why," and "I don't know what's happening but I'll tell you as soon as I do."

I'm preparing for rough water ahead. If there is a bright spot it's that the home atmosphere is much less tense -- like a cold, sodden woolen blanket has been removed. Co-habitating with your soon to be ex is one of the most stressful situations I think a person could be under. That or bomb squad work.

[Addendum] My friend Anonymous pointed out that the spider is actually a Lynx spider. Goofy me. :)

Current Favorite, A Tiger and His Ball

2010-07-18T02:08:00.000-06:00

I took this at the Cheyenne Mtn Zoo in May. It was snowing at the highest part of the zoo. Yes, the zoo is actually on the side of a mountain and the weather is very different from the lowest point to the highest.

I had a fairly slow shutter speed and the tiger was playing to fast for me to adjust it. I didn't want to missing seeing any of it.

I was thrilled at the motion in the rest of the picture and the sharp focus on the head. I hear they can do that sort of effect in photoshop nowadays. :P

A Dot Theme

2010-06-30T01:14:00.000-06:00

More 70's - type dots. I think the grouper was more 50's. This fly is definitely more psychedelic. I'm waiting for an ID from BugGuide, but maybe I can find it first. :)

Blue Dot Grouper

2010-06-30T00:31:00.000-06:00

I didn't remember the name of this fish, but Yea Internet!, I found some info at In Love of Animals. Maybe he's a garabaldi with people-pox. We spent a lot of time at the Tropical Discovery building at the Denver Zoo. Snakes, bats, lizards, frogs, fish, corals, and Komodo Dragons.

Zebra: Check

2010-06-12T19:56:00.000-06:00

Another checkmark on my list of "Animals Photographed While Yawning."

If Shakespeare Wrote for Beetles

2010-06-12T19:47:00.000-06:00

It seems like it could be a balcony scene. I need to look up the species of these two love beetles.

Tiger Beetles in Spring

2010-05-24T10:25:00.000-06:00

Spring is here -- okay, we're already halfway through it, but I've been a bum regarding blogging. I'll see if I can fix this.

Here's the romantic image of the day.

Yeti Mouse

2010-03-11T22:45:00.003-07:00

I don't know why I started calling her mouse. I guess it's just that she looked like a little white mouse when I first got her. She was three months old, living at the Dumb Friends' League and recovering from malnourishment. She was amazingly affectionate (like OGMO, who I got the same day at the same place). When you'd stroke her down her back, her long tail would curl up so much it would touch the top of her head. She used to fetch Q-tips, but only if you threw them to the same place every time.

I had just started living with my boyfriend (and later my first and then ex-husband) when I got her. Then a move and a couple unfortunate relationships, then my marriage to Theo (with his two cats) followed quickly by three children. She managed to tolerate babies and even become enamored with the kids as they grew older and learned the proper technique for petting her. She had a special bar stool, threadbare and apparently comfy. It stood in the threshold between our front room and kitchen. To get anywhere in the house you had to pass her stool. Rowan eventually posted a sign, "Yeti's Petting Station: On Duty".

Yeti was always a fierce defender of the house. No animal would approach our house without a challenge, even if her challenge was made through the sliding glass doors. Dogs, foxes, raccoons, other cats would all know that she was there and ready to dish out some whoop ass. One neighborhood cat would taunt her by sleeping on our porch; I think he knew we didn't generally let her out. One day she did get out and kicked the tuna salad out of him. He never came to taunt her again.

She did suffer a scratched right cornea from that fight and her eye took a long time to heal. Even in the picture above, she still had a bit of drainage. After we ruled out infection and gave her steroid treatments, we could finally see the injury and it was actually healing nicely. I was glad to have that bit of health trauma behind us.

Then about three weeks ago, Yeti stopped eating and her weight loss was dramatic. She was licking odd things like paper, walls, and plaster-like fish tank decorations. I think she was originally about 12 pounds and dropped to eight, then over the weekend to seven. Blood tests all looked good -- at least kidney and liver, the things I'd always worried about with my elderly cats. However, one type of white blood cell count was up. We gave her antibiotics, but this count indicated a long term inflammation. Cancer was mentioned a few times, but she had no tumors. Another blood test showed no leukemia. I was feeling desperate and didn't know what to do. Prednisone seemed to help a little, but by now all she wanted to do was sleep with a minute or two of pets every hour. She was drinking, but fairly quickly couldn't manage to get to the basement litterbox. I was syringing soft food with vitamins, trying to get as much in without giving her so much that she would throw up. I'd stop a feeding session when she'd start growling at me.

Last Friday, March 5th, we got her an ultrasound. Our vet could see lymphoma right away; her intestine was irritated and inflamed as well. We stepped up the steroid treatment, hoping it would go in remission since there were no tumors. The upside was that it might stimulate her appetite and would hopefully help any pain. That was the beginning of a weekend of stress and worry.

Sunday, March 7th was sunny and a little cool. I carried her out to the sunshine on the porch. I took a few pictures of her as she rested in the sun and purred. See the one above.

Monday, she couldn't walk any more, she wouldn't take food anymore. She still purred when I petted her, but she'd get worn out after a minute or two and would try to retreat and rest. I made my decision and made the appointment for after Rowan's arrival back home from school.

I told the kids that I was going to bring her into the vet to put her to sleep, explaining that she would go to sleep and then her heart would stop. I tried to explain to them and re-convince myself that we didn't want her to starve to death, be in pain, have a terrible quality of life, or (what almost seemed the very worst thought) not purr when I came to her. The vet thought maybe the cancer had already spread in her brain, which would explain the rapid degeneration of her health.

Rowan, Jasmine and Theo said goodbye to her and stayed home. Kai and I brought her in.

Bye Yeti. We love you.

Cellar Spider

2010-03-04T17:11:00.000-07:00

From the Butterfly Pavilion's display, a cellar spider and her spiderlings. I was wondering if she ate while they spent their time in her web. If so, how does she recognize them as non-food. If not, how are the "stop monitoring your web" signals turned off?

Vegetation Tresses

2010-03-03T17:46:00.001-07:00

Does this look like a woman wearing a white knit hat? She has wild long hair curling from underneath the hat?

Cat on her Pedestal

2010-03-01T14:11:00.000-07:00

This is Yeti, our adorable and abominable white cat in a typical sleeping pose on her bar stool. She's getting up in years, about 17. A couple months ago she received a scratch on her cornea from a local cat. He's primarily an outdoor wanderer, though he eats and sleeps a few doors down. She's a fierce defender of the house. After weeks of eye drainage and inflammation it finally healed enough that we could see the cause of the distress.

Just as she's getting over that, she fell ill. We're not sure what she has. The vet says everything looks good except her white blood count. She doesn't seem to have an infection, but chronic inflammation. Even so, she's still on antibiotics and we gave her a small dose of Prednisone. I hope it's just getting over her eye injury. He mentioned tumors and cancer. She's losing weight, but still drinking water. We're doing some blood work, and if things keep going downhill we've got an ultrasound appointment. I've started putting soft food on the roof of her mouth to try and keep her weight up.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Uh, I guess you can take my Kodachrome away

2010-02-25T15:50:00.000-07:00

More of the monochrome pictures. Ice has really fascinated me this winter. I've especially liked the shapes of melting ice when the temperature creeps up a little.

This is the top layer of ice above a little spillway near our local playground.

Flake Upstanding

2010-02-23T20:25:00.000-07:00

I need to make a random title generator.

Icicle on the Barbie

2010-02-23T20:11:00.000-07:00

A black, metal barbeque grill is a great backdrop for winter pictures.

Precious Little Snowflakes

2010-02-23T16:40:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I've posted. I've still been taking photos, but it has been hard to focus lately.

A few months back I found myself on the path of divorce. We've had the first skirmishes which were far more emotionally cutting and bruising than I would have ever predicted. The kids have finally been told and we're well on our way to the main legal fights while still trying to live in the same house. The general outcome is still worryingly unknown. Hard to eat, hard to sleep, hard to think.

It's depressing. You look at your children in a far more different way.

Please Make Sure and Wipe Your Feet

2009-12-13T23:52:00.000-07:00

I wonder how quickly a millipede family wears out a welcome ... mat. It sounds funnier if you say it out loud, but then again, that's not saying much.

I took this on a walk up to the top of Castle Rock the namesake of the city just south of Denver, before you get to Colorado Springs.

Duct Tape Takes Wing

2009-11-28T23:41:00.000-07:00

I checked out a book from the library called Ductagami: The Art of the Tape by Joe Wilson. Cute book with instructions to make wallets, baseball caps, shower curtains, etc. It has fun retro graphics and clear instructions, but no traditional forms! Here's my addition. It has about a 9 inch length and 9 inch wingspan.

I think that this crane would make an artsy contribution to my girl-cave-garage-workshop. Okay, it's not really a shop, it's more like a push cart.

Feather in Cat Tail Dander and Algae

2009-11-15T01:09:00.000-07:00

Mucking about in another local puddle. Many birds were congregating such as red-winged blackbirds, ducks, and thousands of starlings. The sun was setting and the wind was blowing the downy seeds of the autumn cattails into the water.

Bleeding Hearts in High Contrast

2009-11-15T01:00:00.000-07:00

Not taking as many pictures. Weather? Illness? Preoccupation? Brooding?

Ghosts of Fall, Raindrops and Cracked Concrete

2009-11-10T00:41:00.003-07:00

Our maple tree dropped its leaves once they'd lost their ruby luster.

A selection found the driveway at the end of their fall.

The stone was cold, the air was wet and snow fell.

The icy weight cast autumn shadows, the color of dried blood, on the cracked concrete.

The leaves were gone and raindrops were falling by the time I saw the evidence.

Gravid-tas

2009-10-15T14:28:00.000-06:00

I finally got my praying mantis shots in. She's a gravid female, very gravid. She had a very calm manner, not as curious as other mantises I've known, nor was she aggressive at all. Quite a regal bearing all in all.

We were due for a significant temperature dip, so I brought her inside. She wasn't so sure about this until I dumped a number of feeder crickets into the terrarium -- then everything seemed to be to her liking.

Triops

2009-10-15T14:20:00.000-06:00

A few pictures of Rowan's Triops. I think they're about an inch long head-to-tail here. The top image may show some eggs there. The images are a bit fuzzy due to the plastic habitat; I need to get another mini-glass aquarium for pictures.

Fall

2009-10-14T20:37:00.001-06:00

All the pretty colors are here again.

So-o-o-o Cute!

2009-09-22T00:48:00.000-06:00

I find the cutest critters at the outhouse/port-a-potty/restrooms. This little thing even has flirty eyelashes.

Aged Scotch (Tape)

2009-08-25T00:17:00.000-06:00

We've been participating in the informal community clothing, furniture and decorating swap. We got some useful modular foot-by-foot-by-foot storage cubes for a kid's room from the Millers, whose son also goes to DCS Montessori.

I de-crayoned a blue cube and then went on to tackle the leftover scotch tape. The more boring the job got, the more interesting the bits of removed tape appeared.

I have to admit, used is the way to go. Since I enjoy repairing, I may have an uncommon viewpoint. Perhaps I should buy, refurbish and sell.

Flying Saucer

2009-08-22T23:13:00.000-06:00

If it isn't a flying saucer, I'd then say it resembles something that says, "Feed me, Seymour!"

Aspen Leaf in Dehydrated Slimy Algae

2009-08-17T00:02:00.002-06:00

We visited Barr Lake State Park today. We didn't have a lot of time, but we were able to take a little walk around. From the boardwalk, we could see sections of the wetlands (we called them swamps until the government people came) in which the water had receded. I don't know that this could really be called a traditional autumn picture. I stepped in, sat in, and cleaned this stuff off myself and the kids; funny how something so icky could look so interesting. Even after discovering its unique texture and goose-poop additions, it was still interesting to look at.

The school year has started. I'm not sure what Rorschach-ian interpretation would be given to my associating this picture to this event.

Incidental Discoveries

2009-08-13T00:34:00.004-06:00

I found these pretty yellow flowers. I like combinations of buds and flowers and sweeping stems.

Upon taking a few shots, I paid enough attention to detail to see the yellow crab spider in the center. These spiders do a great job of matching their host plant's color, so I didn't feel too oblivious.

When I'm on the other side of the camera, the flower and the spider take up the frame, encompass the view. Later, I get some perspective and realize just how neat it was that I found what I found.

Chewing the Words

2009-07-31T01:41:00.001-06:00

Scarlet Globe Mallow (Sphaeralcea coccinea)

I keep saying the name of this flower, but the images that appear in my imagination have nothing in common with this flower. The flower is fuzzy, orangish, low to the ground, and looks nothing like a thing I'd bring to a campfire. This was taken early in June.

Raindrops on Roses

2009-07-30T11:06:00.001-06:00

A neighbor's yellow rose in the drizzle of our weird-weathered July.

Yesterday we decided to walk in the drizzle to a local pond (perpetual puddle with lots of bugs). I became cold very fast. Sweatshirts, rain ponchos and umbrellas weren't enough and we all came home for hot drinks.

Nonplussed Trophy Fish

2009-07-26T00:58:00.000-06:00

Another July 4th picture. This is part of a sculpture by James Christensen that is in front of the library mentioned last post. I really like his artwork because of the strange proportions, odd combinations of elements that meld so nicely together, and the fine detail given to detail.

Water Hazard

2009-07-25T01:02:00.000-06:00

I was supposed to be returning library books ... very overdue books, but then I saw a pair of cormorants in the water hazard of the Lone Tree golf course across the street. I am very lucky in that my children are patient with me (or that they have Nintendo DSes and Dolls) and hung out while I took a few shots.

Primative Adobe Effects

2009-07-20T22:58:00.000-06:00

The fuzz and glow in this picture is from the blades of grass in front of the plane of focus, the sharp focus comes from an unbroken line of sight to the drops.

This was taken around my birthday (the 3rd), my last birthday that starts with a three. Hm. I keep thinking I should feel old.

Wet Flowerworks

2009-07-20T10:01:00.000-06:00

July the 4th threatened and delivered rain until just before sunset. This wet, gone-to-seed, dandelion might have been the only fireworks we saw that day.

Macaroni

2009-07-05T01:24:00.000-06:00

It's the fourth of July, so here's a plume moth. It's late in the evening, so here's the map through the wetlands of conscience: the moths are named for the feather-like, that is, plume wings. Yankee Doodle stuck a feather in his cap and called it Macaroni. I think it's a quite dandy moth actually. Many in the Roxborough park that day. Neat-o. :)

Waterfall Monochrome

2009-07-04T01:23:00.000-06:00

This is part of a playground set that's been installed in the middle of our recreation center's indoor swimming pool. There are a few water features that the kids can turn on and off, aim or dump onto fellow swimmers.

I like photos that look as if they are from black and white film.

A Fruit Loop Miracle

2009-07-04T01:14:00.000-06:00

The boys' shout made me stop inhaling my two-thirds Cheerios, one-third Fruit Loops breakfast. "LOOK LOOK LOOK!" Stopping, I followed the direction of their gaze and I looked at my cereal. Then I looked back at them. "MO-O-O-OM! IT'S Standing UP!" Oh, I see. Hm.

I took a picture in acknowledgment of the amazing phenomenon. Then, unceremoniously, I ate the miraculous Fruit Loop. The boys thought that was very funny because I wasn't acknowledging the gravitas of the situation.

Jasmine announced, "I like the Cheerios."

Neighbor Flowers

2009-07-04T01:00:00.000-06:00

I haven't been much of a gardener of late ... that is, the past few years. But my neightbors are. These are our right-hand neightbors' flowers. These folks are quite the home improvement gardening pair; we've known them for about nine years now, so I don't think they'll mind me snapping a few shots.

We saw these flowers as we passed their house. We were walking in the rain, so the rainwater in the gutter was more interesting than the flowers for Jasmine. Ordinarily she'd have stopped; Jasmine really likes the color yellow. It's easy to see and pleasantly common. I'll admit, I've always liked blue. I wonder what causes us to have a favorite color and what that choice says about us.

Purple Umbrella

2009-06-24T00:07:00.000-06:00

It was about to rain at Roxborough State Park. Many of the Harebell's sheltered bees. The flowers face toward the ground; perfect shelter for a bee. The bees hid early, a full hour before the rain actually hit. I can't say I blame them. We had our rain coats and ponchos out about then too. Mountain rain is like a water balloon. We had a nice downpour for a little bit, the middle third of our mini-hike, and by the end we'd returned to partially blue skies and some sunshine.

Shooting into the Sun

2009-06-22T23:26:00.000-06:00

The past few walks with the kids have been a bit frustrating. Partially, this is due to Jasmine's improved eyesight. Since she got her contacts she has been far more aware of the dangers around her and far more interested in things she otherwise would have missed. So, as a result we go very, very slowly. The lack of progress annoys the boys. I'm torn between wanting to eat up some miles and wanting to show Jasmine all the things she can now see -- that all happen to be within three feet of her. Jasmine's new visual abilities have made things a bit less exciting because she now knows when she's heading off a cliff, most of the time.

A place like this one, Castlewood Canyon Dam State Park, also has a creek that's perfect for wading in. Water is almost impossible to resist for any of the kids. I keep bring them home soaking wet, wrapped in towels, or in a completely different outfit than the one we set out with. Even so, we've done a good job protecting ourselves from the sun, but quite poorly when it comes to the mosquitoes. We're all sporting a few nasty bites and various self-inflicted scratching wounds. These flying vampires are biting through our long-sleeves shirts and pants as well as deeply inhaling the apparently attractive odor of our insect repellent sprays.

Of my landscape photographs, this is one of the few that I like.

White Pelican

2009-06-16T03:12:00.000-06:00

It's not quite the opposite of a macro, but fairly close... I mean far.

Birds are cool, but these are the ones that make me flashback to the natural history museum pterosaur exhibits.

Flower for Mom

2009-06-14T22:28:00.000-06:00

Jasmine graduated from Anchor Center's pre-school this past Friday. It was very emotional for all the parents. All the kids are now moving on to new schools, most to the traditional classrooms. Jasmine loves to go to Anchor and will miss it a lot come Fall. We will too.

At Anchor we never had to explain in agonizing detail the strengths and limitations of Jasmine's vision, how albinism affects the eyes, how to modify regular learning materials or classroom set up so that she could get the same information as the others. It seems to take months to get everyone on board with all the various adaptations necessary to allow her to participate.

Jasmine presented me with this flower during her graduation. Afterward we drove to Cherry Creek Dam for a bit of a walk.

Flax Wench

2009-06-11T23:15:00.000-06:00

I just found out what a "flax wench" is: a woman who spins flax. I just take lotsa pictures of it. I love flax.

One Mushroom Built a House of Wood

2009-06-11T19:15:00.000-06:00

Wood's actually a great choice of housing materials for a mushroom. But then again, I don't think the Big Bad Woof would be trying to eat them. It might make for a very psychadelic story though.

The Gaping Maw of the Echinoderm

2009-05-24T07:43:00.001-06:00

I think it's pretty lacy looking for a "maw". This starfish lives at the Butterfly Pavilion.

Beardtongue

2009-05-18T16:36:00.000-06:00

The name "beardtongue" makes me think of someone who needs to brush their teeth after a bender. Pretty flower, though. We went to the Audubon society/Martin Marietta Nature preserve and caught tadpoles this weekend.

Talk to the Tail

2009-05-06T01:14:00.000-06:00

This is Rowan's betta fish Rainbow, trying to avoid the camera.

Dancing Paper Dolls

2009-05-06T00:15:00.000-06:00

It's a deviation of usual paper dolls. This origami model is one of Jeremy Shafer's. I think it's the first photograph of a model that I've folded. I felt the need to focus on the correct angle since many people don't recognize the forms without some direction.

It's Spring!

2009-05-05T23:34:00.000-06:00

Rowan did an end-of-the-year Interest Project about fire-bellied toads. They're cute little critters, very communal and fairly vocal -- especially this time of the year. The males have an adorable "ooop - ooop - ooop" sort of bark. (When we first heard him, we thought some mechanical aquarium part had broken or needed oiling.) I'm sure if the toads were longer than two inches it would be more impressive. Apparently the lady toads find it impressive enough. We made recordings for everyone at school to listen to.

I took this photo for Rowan's display poster board. I think his new favorite biology term is "nuptial pads".

The male here is encouraging his lady to lay eggs in the water so he can then go and inseminate them. I consider it rated-G since there is no... well, since he's not ... um... never mind, I have young readers whose parents haven't signed waivers.

Continuing on, I think of this embrace as trying to squeeze the eggs out of her. It's actually one of the least risque of the nature's methods for making more nature. I wasn't too worried about the rest of the parental population at the elementary school being overly offended. You never know though.

Home Hairy Home

2009-04-09T00:16:00.000-06:00

All the creatures in the Fish Room, have just gotten housing upgrades. We call it "The Fish Room" because of the mondo 120 gallon aquarium, but currently we have just as many non-fish creatures as fish creatures in the room right now.

Hairiette Curly the tarantula wasn't so sure about leaving her familiar, cozy digs for this new place. The reality was that she could barely turn around in the old plastic critter container that she's lived in since she was a spiderling. Now that she's about the size of my hand, we moved her into a 2.5 gallon aquarium with a subterranean den that we can see into. Since she's nocturnal, it's the only way we can get a look at her without staying up into the wee hours. She also likes humidity and heat, both of which are easier to control in the more air-tight glass aquarium.

Moon and Venus

2009-03-31T11:10:00.002-06:00

I don't actually have the set up for good astronomical pictures, but I'm certainly thinking of working something up. These pictures were from February 28, 2009. I actually like the mistake a lot. The first I like because I can see Venus' crescent a bit. The last, I have some moon details and a nice star pattern from Venus.

Tyrone and Job Seeking

2009-02-12T11:42:00.000-07:00

We're doing the fish thing again, slowly but surely. This is Tyrone, Jasmine's goldfish. For some reason I was having a very difficult time photographing the fish. Granted, I only took a few.

By the by, if you know anyone in Biotech in the Metro Denver area, drop me a line. Like everyone else, I'm ah job hunting. Bonus for any employers out there: MS applied math, bioinformatics graduate school certificate, BS in math with a minor in physics, MATLAB, and UNIX systems administration, and an analyst brain. I also photograph, tesselate the plane in fabric (quilt), do origami, and the occassional balloon animal.

Painterly

2009-01-21T00:32:00.000-07:00

I wanted to take a picture of the over-the-top rhinestone mouse I gave to my step-mother for the holidays. Then I saw the wine and tomatoes. Then I noticed some of the still life paintings hung on the walls. A few arrangements later and voila! Just call it my addition to the otherwise tasteful art in my parents' home.

Toys, toys, toys

2009-01-19T20:45:00.002-07:00

It's mid-January and I'm just getting to posting Xmas pictures. I guess I'm probably not the only one to have a long holiday recovery time.

We have a tradition in our house that many people seem to feel is cheating. We don't open presents on the 25th of December, we open presents on the first day that everyone's vacation has commenced. Why wait for a whole week before opening your presents? You could be spending that week enjoying the presents. Many presents we give and receive are sharing presents or games that we can all play together, so we even get more family time in. The main reason this tradition isn't cheating is that we aren't Christians and we try to be fairly practical. As such, it seems appropriate to celebrate the first day of our family holiday break.

I do like to take note of the solstice to bring back a little Halloween feeling. In a deep, warbling voice I announce solemnly to the children, "It is the darkest day of the year..." At first, they thought I was joking, then they thought I meant something supernatural. So, we had a little astronomy lesson to explain the joke. Jokes are always funnier when you carefully lecture the listener on all the important humorous elements.

Back to Xmas. We went to my folks house where my dad has steadfastly maintained the practice of giving toys. I love toys. I love giving toys. I love playing with toys. The only thing better than toys are in-joke toys. For instance, I've been getting my sister nose-themed gifts for three years running...

Theo got me a whole host of wonderful toys that I'm still happily playing with. The toy in this post though, is a toy my dad received -- a ping pong ball floater with which to practice your nerf shooting skills. Jasmine adored it and spent quite a bit of time perfecting the art of getting all five balls floating. (The main difficulty was her long pony tails or the sleeve of her sweater knocking the balls out of the air.) She giggled like mad every time she had all floating at once. She has the same taste as my Dad for shiny, colorful objects and toys that are slightly absurd or surprising. Actually, I think the rest of the family will also have to admit to the magpie-like predilections.

Driving into the Sunset

2009-01-16T23:17:00.000-07:00

It's not a macro. If anything, a sky like this makes you feel like a micro. There have been some incredible sunsets around here lately. We saw this particular one as we headed down to Albuquerque for the holidays.

My Sister's Eye

2009-01-06T22:11:00.000-07:00

I know, there are two pictures of eyes, but it's the same eye.

I think her eyes are yellow with green rims. Most people tell me I'm nuts and that her eyes are green.

Robotic New Year

2009-01-06T21:28:00.002-07:00

The new year brings such hopes of hitherto unknown productivity.

I'll call 2009 a success: We've done Boxing Day and voluntarily donated some toys for the first time ever. Well, the boys donated some of their toys; I haven't quite managed to separate myself from my collection. We've also done a family, multi-hundred piece puzzle and nearly finished two gear/circuit board/gear box type robots. If anything else productive happens this year, I'll call it icing.

This picture shows the current state of Rowan's robot. We should have it finished this week. Its motion is programmable via a black and white, two-ringed disk. I can't wait; Rowan isn't quite as impatient and likes playing with the gears and experimenting with the various ratios. We should have it finished this week.

Kai's neon purple, wheeled robot is totally completed and merrily running into walls, then reversing and turning to run into another wall. If it hears a shrill-voiced child scream, "STOP! STOP! STOP! STOP! STOP!" it will also change direction. I bet you can imagine, with sympathetic pain and very little effort, the happy and barely-tolerated decibel spikes puncturing our frontal lobes.

We try to remember that the screaming is the result of an educational activity. That lasts about two minutes, then we reach for the remote and speed dial the Cartoon Network.

Dumping the Paint

2009-01-01T22:11:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've had the rottenest luck with photography. Well, I guess it's not so much luck.

I haven't been carrying my camera around everywhere, which means of course, that I see the most amazing things. I wonder if I see them specifically because I don't have my camera. If I had my camera, I'd probably be bemoaning the fact that I can't see something to take pictures of.

I do need to make more photo time. I've been squeezing in a little more.

The ones below were taken while I was cleaning up Jasmine's watercolor painting extravaganza. Since it was at home, I did have the camera. Yea!

Beautiful Eyes

2008-12-12T23:29:00.000-07:00

The mouthparts aren't quite so entrancing.

I've been very bummed that I haven't had as much time to photograph. I find myself more tense. I like to observe, interpret, create and share the work. I haven't figured out how to do it all with my new schedule and massive commute.

Anyhow, I'm putting together the 2009 calendar and I'm finding a ton of photos that I took many months ago. This fly is from an early August camping trip in northern New Mexico with the kids and my Dad.

Enter Fall

2008-10-12T13:55:00.001-06:00

I have my computer set to show one inch by one and a half inch thumbnails randomly selected from my pictures directory. I found this one that I liked a lot. I might have posted it before but I couldn't find it on a general search of frog, hand or holding, so it's probably a good bet I didn't.

It's interesting to me that like writing, sewing, and sculpting, sometimes the true impact (or lack of one) of a photograph doesn't reveal itself for an hour, a day, a week or even years.

Am I changing? Has the photo's subject or my techniques become suddenly more relevant? Has my brain just dropped away the clutter attached to the moment the photo was taken, leaving just a pure emotive image? Or most mundanely did it just not make the cut the first time around and I'd just forgotten about it?

I feel so philosophic today.

I haven't posted often lately. I haven't had the walkabout time I used to. I have a few hundred photos to judge and then a couple three or four to post. Time is always the issue.

It's suddenly Fall; the temperature dropped from 70 to 50 in just a couple days. At least the atmosphere is right for Halloween cloudy, dark and foggy, but it makes me meloncholy. It will probably dump a few inches of snow within the week of Halloween because it always does.

So, here's a calm, maybe meloncholy frog in the last days of July last year. I'm not sure if it's Kai or Rowan holding it, but we found it while in a suburb of Boston.

Dreaming of Lichen

2008-09-25T23:57:00.000-06:00

We found this on a walk in Roxborough State Park growing on scrub oak. I don't know enough about lichen to say anything about it... the round cups may even be fungus. Dunno. I thought it was pretty though.

Western Scrub Jay

2008-09-25T23:47:00.000-06:00

I photographed this jay with my macro lens. I wish I could have gotten closer. I love the color blue. I love the brash, smart personalities of these birds.

Long Horn Beetle

2008-09-07T17:47:00.000-06:00

When we were camping in South Dakota we saw a ton of long horn beetles. They were flying all over the place and landing on us, our tent and most everything else. I didn't realize though, until I looked closely at the pictures that the base of the antenna encroaches upon the eye. Theo (my husband) theorized that there was some interraction of the antenna and eye nerves to the brain. I was wondering if maybe the antenna became more important than having a whole eye; so, in the evolution of the insect's head the antenna took over some eye space.

A Loom with a View

2008-08-22T16:12:00.000-06:00

I like the machinery of the looms of the "historic tents" at the Highland Games Festival.

Wiggly Willow

2008-08-17T19:22:00.000-06:00

It's been raining here in Colorado. We're not used to it so everyone except my friend Ward (an Oregon romantic) wants to crawl in bed and take a nap. Oh, Jasmine also is energized. She wants to play in the rain-flooded gutters.

This is my neighbors' willow tree. I love this tree.

Dusk Challenge

2008-08-04T23:53:00.000-06:00

The plant only opens at dusk and the flowers only seem to last a day, shrivelling up so that new buds can take their place. Almost as soon as they open the Sphynix moth comes to visit. I wish I'd had a better lighting setup, but while camping at Cimmeron State Park in New Mexico, I didn't know I'd need it.

Given all my recent lighting regrets, I think my camera equipment might well outweigh my clothing on my next trip.

Grasshoppers

2008-08-04T23:47:00.000-06:00

It's like the I-spy games. Locate the grasshoppers on the monument plant.

More Fast Flying Things for Matt

2008-07-21T21:51:00.000-06:00

At the risk of alienating myself again, I'm following the theme of catching fast things in flight. These hummingbirds are quite a bit easier than the dragonflies as they hover to eat, not just to assert territorial dominance. This particular bird was fairly shy. I'm not used to humming birds caring about my location. Like dragonflies, I assumed that they assumed I was too slow to be any real threat. I guess it pays to be careful though.

I think this is a broad-tailed humming bird.

Blue Darners in Flight

2008-07-05T19:27:00.000-06:00

Here's a series of pictures from a local mosquito farm. These darners were patroling their territory and occassionally finding a mate. A number of times they came over and gave me the eye in case I might have gotten any ideas.

Widow

2008-07-04T17:49:00.000-06:00

According to Bug Guide, this is a Female Widow Skimmer. New species for me, but I still haven't been getting the close-ups yet. I might need more walks that are light on the kid population load. :)

Sneaking up on Da Frog

2008-07-04T12:28:00.000-06:00

At the end of our tadpole expedition, I saw this fellow. I got the boys quiet, pointed at the frog and took a few pictures. Then I showed them the funniest thing in the pond. Walk up to one and they give the funniest indignant squawk as they kick out into the pond. They laughed all the way to the car.

Spider Blade

2008-07-02T23:15:00.000-06:00

A crab spider in our lawn... I wonder what plant it was trying to hide in prior to it landing in the lawn. We're currently pretty pink and red in our yard. Two weeks or so and it should be colored like it's plant of choice. Sunflowers will be coming out soon. They're always popular.

Bug Envy

2008-07-01T07:53:00.005-06:00

Check this out.

This is completely not my picture, but oh, how I wish it was. It's a beetle molting. My husband Theo sent me the link to this. Perfect for a entomology buff and a VW-lover. (I mean in the tradition sense, not like this.)

South Platte 2

2008-06-29T22:04:00.004-06:00

Here's part two of my picture set.

By the way, these frogs are huge. I guess six or seven inches across. When you walk along the edge of the pond, you'll here a sudden squawk of indignation and then a splashing reminiscent of someone skipping a dinner plate a few times across the water. Quite impressive.

South Platte

2008-06-29T21:39:00.004-06:00

	I went for a bit of a walk today, sans children while Theo took the kids to Mr. Biggs, or as I've been calling it Dà Xiān Shēng. Lots of buzzing insects, mucky swampy water, algae, dust, and sunshine sounded much better than a bunch of screaming kids in an arcade.
The upside is that I got a lot of pics and had a fun time. The downside is that I won't be able to do it again till next weekend. It's a long weekend coming up though. I hope everyone else is busy being social so I can go muck about some more.
	So, here's some pictures of my little adventure; no particular order.
Oh, and I brought home a bullfrog tadpole and was widely acclaimed by all my children. Especially after I told them how I had to trick a warty swamp witch to tell me the location of the land of the bull frogs, wrestle the tadpole from the bullfrog village guards in a hand-to-foot/claw/paw battle that would make Jeff Corwin cower and then make a fast getaway while giant sticky tongues lashed out at me like whips. No one asked me if they should kiss the little fishy things with mini-hind legs already sprouting.

Insect Models, Yeeesh.

2008-06-29T19:32:00.000-06:00

I dunno if you've ever had a photographer put a reflector under your face, at about chest height. It's supposed to counter all the unflattering shadows produced by various bulbous features. (You might have gleaned that I don't like having my picture taken.) Anyhow, this damselfly seems to know the trick.

Au Natural

2008-06-29T19:24:00.000-06:00

Mantises are so cool. Even after you put them down, they'll still hang out with you.

Hey Baby

2008-06-29T19:19:00.000-06:00

Here's another highly detailed shot of my un-manicured hands.

When you're around baby mantises (go to your local nursery and by an egg sac), you become attuned to their funny little hops. That's how I spotted this one. I just saw it out of the corner of my eye, but it was the type of movement that identified it. Adults are much harder to spot.

Now that I've been mucking about in the Colorado bush for a while I'm starting to feel like I'm becoming familiar with a bit of the body language. Moths, skippers and butterflies all have distinct ways of flying, landing and postures. Flies mimicking bees don't fly like bees. Tiger beetles zoom in short bursts low along the path. Gnats fly around my head. (I guess this one isn't really unique knowledge.) Other bugs like stink bugs creep around to the opposite side of a stem very slowly, while grasshoppers creep until you get close and then with a burst of yellow, orange or red explode out of their hiding place -- only to land a few feet in front of you and in your current path.

Then there are the creatures that hide very well, but in predictable spots. Burrowing wolf spiders hang out generally just below the ground. The entrance to their burrow is an almost perfect circle slightly raised above ground level with a silken rim entwining small twigs and dried grass. You can almost always guarantee an ambush bug sighting on the native waist high sunflowers -- or when you see the body of a bee, hover fly or wasp inexplicably dangling from a flower. A shallow funnel shaped web, dirty, water spotted, and covered in little pieces of debris, will always have a funnel web spider at the base, just give an outer web blade of grass a little wiggle and it'll come out.

And finally, there are the creatures that move so fast and often, they're just hard to get a close look at. Dragonflies and butterflies seem to be unpredictable, but you can watch a dragonfly making circuits and stopping at the same twig or cattail. Butterflies are more chaotic. You may know the type of flower but not which on specifically. When in doubt, hang out by damp ground on a hot day. They come to drink.

I suppose these aren't great or grand revelations, just things I didn't know when I first began to wander slowly. It does make me feel just a bit more nature literate.

... that pops into your head

2008-06-27T23:20:00.000-06:00

Polynesian headdress velvet man-eating space flowers anenomes doesn't 'clematis' sound like an STD sunkist sunkissed eggplant babaganoosh a flower does bloom in the yard when there is no one to see it OGMO used to sit under these I need to install a new trellis that looks less like a kids' make believe what were they using it for it still flowers even on the ground cool roots sunny leaves makes a clematis happy as can be-ves I miss OGMO what will I do with the kids this weekend zoo or hike or feeding the ducks I wonder is clematis have a Chinese name time to practice some more and pet patient soft Yeti.

Sunset Backlighting

2008-06-27T23:02:00.000-06:00

It was a twelve hour away-from-home day. When I got back, all I wanted to do was veg out with the bugs in the grass as the sun was setting.

If I was of a mythical mindset, I might say the damselfly is a bamboo dryad.

Butterflies

2008-06-24T22:19:00.000-06:00

This top one is a Green Hair Streak, very flashy in contrast to the reddish-brown soil. The bottom one I'm not sure of. When I first spotted it, I thought it was a cabbage white til I got closer and saw the different wing shape and more extensive black markings. It might be a Rocky Mtn Parnassius (Parnassius smintheus) .

My favorite butterfly ID site has moved. For anyone who likes to look these things up, the USDS site is now hosted by the Montana State University at: http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org

Nom Nom

2008-06-21T22:37:00.004-06:00

Our tarantula, a Curly Hair (Brachypelma albopilosum), is generally slow and shy, reticent and reclusive, except when there's a cricket around. Then he/she moves too fast for us too see. He/she prefers the Petsmart large variety generally, but here deigned to nosh on a Reptilian Haven breed. We have gone out to the back yard and caught crickets and grasshoppers, but from the lackluster reaction I think they must taste fairly 'gamey'.

We tried to measure her/him recently, but she/he slowly crept away. It was like a dog that is doing the army crawl out of his 'time-out' spot. I think we can safely say two and a quarter inches for the body alone and about three, legs included.

Workbreak

2008-06-21T22:28:00.000-06:00

There's a creek behind our building at work and there were a number of what look like rainbow trout to me. This one was maybe six inches long. It and another of the same length as well as some fingerlings were caught in a shallow area, probably due to the recent rain and changing water.

I'm not sure what's on it's head. It looks almost like a parasite, but the marks are very regular. Maybe it's some stress reaction to the very shallow water.