I love this week’s photo challenge: Dialogue. I almost feel like I am back in art school again, but without the all nighters and cigarettes. Still have the drinking and music, so I guess half isn’t too bad for an old lady. Wink wink.
I decided to create my dialogue with 3 images, kind of a triptych, yet technically more of a triad, since they are a grouping not to work as a whole.
This is just a small amount of the exciting things you can see at the Franklin Park Conservatory. I didn’t attempt to properly name anything, since I don’t know their proper names. I hope you enjoy! If you are ever in Columbus, Ohio, I highly recommend visiting this marvelous place!
Yes, I am playing catch-up again! School is out, fun is happening, things are getting done. It is hard to find the time to blog. But, it is always a priority in my heart. And I am still taking photos, always, as much as possible. For my “Fleeting” photos: some pigeons in flight, the edge of a big storm and some lightning, and from yesterday, a trip to the conservatory and its butterflies! Woo!
I grew up calling the little guys that emerge from these shells as locusts. Wrong. They are cicadas. Here is a great article on the difference. Basically a locust is a grasshopper and looks like one. But I am not the only one who believed(s) this. Whew, that’s a relief. (ha ha). Apparently it stems from the bible, and the locust invasions. It’s funny how many things are held as absolute come from there. When I asked my mom once about the bible and how does anyone know that it isn’t just a bunch a fiction written by some guys sitting around she was not pleased to say the least. My mother was very loyal, rather naïve, and very stubborn. A good person to have on your side, if, of course you agreed with what she said. Sometimes that was not easy to deal with. She also believed a lot of “old wives’ tales” and refused to believe a lot of things, even provable ones. She pronounced parmesan “parm-eee-sion” which of course got me laughed at the first time I asked for some at a friend’s house. Ahhh, the good ol’ days! My poor mom. She meant well.
Here is a photo of a cicada shell I found on my Milkweed plant. I used to collect them as a kid. I still think they are super cool. As are the insects. The cicada. I miss that sound pouring in through my open windows. It was wonderful last summer. Which reminds me, I have to tell my kids that these are cicadas, not locusts. It stops here. Now pass the parmesan.
Oh yes, summer lovin’ under the milkweed leaf! (If you are not a huge Grease fan, that is where the title comes from.) I saw these two yesterday doing their thing. It was entertaining. This is the G-rated angle. The male is very funny, wiggling his body every so often. They stayed there a long time too. The moment was significant to me occurring on the last day of August. To me, summer ends when school starts, but as I sit here today in 94% humidity in front on a fan first thing in the morning, I sure could use a dip in the pool or turn the a/c back on. I have tried to leave the air conditioning off, and it’s been ok, the nights have been rather cool, but boy, I feel like I am sitting in a sauna. I get to work on taxes later, so I might need to break down and turn it on for a bit.
I hope everyone has a safe wonderful weekend! It’s Labor Day Weekend here in the States. Wikipedia says, “Labor Day is an American Federal Holiday observed on the first Monday in September (September 3 in 2012) that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.
Labor Day pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers. It also symbolizes the end of summer for many Americans, and is celebrated with parties, parades and athletic events.”
So, I guess we are either celebrating the end of summer or American workers. I thought it was about fair working conditions. The 40-hour week, 8 hour day. I think most people just celebrate food and beverage. Either way, I am grateful for all things good! Summer 2012 was fun, fabulous, but fast! I am also grateful for happy little lady bugs, with hopefully more on the way!
Last year I had 1 milkweed plant grow in my garden. It is a really cool plant, very not “weedy”. This year, I have 9. They grow tall, with smooth leaves that stick out horizontally. Very graceful. The flowers are exciting and the seed pods are super cool. The plants are visited by lots of different bugs, but this morning I noticed something under one of the leaves. I found a cicada shell on one of the stalks a few weeks ago. Upon closer inspection it was a monarch caterpillar!!!!!!! The whole reason for leaving my friends the milkweed in my yard. YEA!!! I have a butterfly bush next to the milkweed. He is still out there hanging out (I just checked). I am so happy! My garden gets so many fun guests, but I am more than thrilled about this one. I hope the Monarch can survive the human race. I won’t go all melancholy here, but I do hope we can quell the extinction of so much flora and fauna. Anyway, below are: Milkweed flowers (a good example of the different stages), milkweed pods, my front yard (yes, it needs some TLC, but it has been too hot for me, and I refuse to hire weed people this year), 😉 and finally the cicada shell. I am still trying to photograph a live cicada, but they take off before I get a shot off.
This spider makes a web in my driveway every sundown, and takes it down every sun up. Obviously some kind of orb weaver, I can’t find what specific kind exactly. I have 3 other big spiders that make webs at night, but they are all garden spiders. Garden spiders are a frequent guest, but this one is unusual for my yard. Toe to toe it is bigger than a quarter. It is hard to take her picture. As I shine a flashlight on her, I use my camera on a tripod, but the slightest breeze makes it blur. Plus I am relying on manual focus. Similar in degree of difficulty to shooting the hummingbirds visiting my feeder. Forgive the silly title, it’s a spun reference (pun intended) to Fuzzbox. I loved that band.
ArtBea 