Summer tanager

This fellow likes to find the highest branches in which to sing his songs.

Red summer tanager in the leafless upper branches of a troubled oak tree.

Uh oh! Less than 10 percent of our space left in WordPress. Time for an upgrade.

Me and my shadow

Mourning dove and his shadow, made pseudo-stereoscopic by some dang-it-why-didn’t-I-do-this-right-the-first-time Photoshoppery.

Vroooom!

Sunburn, bratwurst and what sounded like very large, very angry bees all added up to Sunday of being smitten by the motor sports bug.  It was a blast watching drivers of all skill levels and cars of all wallet sizes careen around orange cones in the parking lot of War Memorial Stadium  trying to best their last timed lap.

There were daily drivers — sedans and station wagons with blue masking tape numbers on the side. There were other vehicles whose owners had invested in high-end engines, exhausts, spoilers, paint jobs and other modifications.  The atmosphere was very laid back, and if there were any drivers’ excuses, we were too far away to hear them.

The autocross was put on by the Sports Car Club of America’s Arkansas affiliate. Maybe some day we’ll get to see the race from inside the windshield.

More Ouachita wildflowers

Nature continues to be generous on the mountain.

Hop clover and primrose bud.

Blooming hawthorn.

UnID’d blue wildflowers.

Bee balm.

Blue wildflowers.

Tight shot of the center of an evening primrose bloom.

Weekly photo challenge: In the background

Reaching for a ladle from the pot rack  to make some weekend breakfast crepes.

OK, we don’t normally cook with a camera in hand, but sometimes sacrifices must be made for art. (Tongue firmly in cheek!)

Reflected in the steel bowl of a ladle. 

This week’s backgrounders:

• At the sea and elsewhere: http://sfchapman.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/weekly-photo-challenge-in-the-background/
• Look closely! - http://syllabubsea.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/weekly-photo-challenge-in-the-background/
• Turkish coast - http://vackrare.com/2013/05/25/in-the-background-wp-weekly-photo-challenge/
• RIP - http://sued51too.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/weekly-photo-challenge-in-the-background/
• Second Life photo - http://picsbypeep.com/2013/05/25/weekly-photo-challenge-in-the-background-cheating-with-flowers-ivy/
• Marine theme - http://mycyberhouserules.com/2013/05/25/weekly-photo-challenge-background-or-foreground-who-knows/#comment-5874
• Alone in the shop - http://mylifeinfocusblog.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/weekly-photo-challenge-in-the-background/

And the big page moving in the background:

• http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/weekly-photo-challenge-in-the-background/

Weekly photo challenge: Escape (UPDATE 2)

“If I could just make it over the top of this rock … escape is in sight!” — Quoth the spiny caterpillar.

Thanks to our friendly neighborhood extension urban entomologist for the ID on this fellow and his kin:  the Eastern Buck moth, Hemileuca maia.

Yet another update — It seems we’ve got this whole escape thing backwards where the buck moth caterpillar is concerned.  See “Look, but don’t touch, buck moth caterpillars.”  Run away!

 

Single caterpillar tries to make a break up and over a rock. One face of the rock  in the woods was covered with scores of other spiny brethren.

Other escape artists:

• http://williamandwallace.wordpress.com/2013/05/19/weekly-photo-challenge-escape/
• http://theretiringsort.com/2013/05/19/weekly-photo-challenge-escape/
• http://thepigmentsoflife.wordpress.com/2013/05/19/freedom/
• http://starlight427.wordpress.com/2013/05/19/weekly-photo-challenge-escape/
• http://longdelayspossible.wordpress.com/2013/05/20/weekly-photo-challenge-escape/
• and one of my favorite blog titles and “abouts,” http://bluejbluej.wordpress.com/2013/05/20/weekly-photo-challenge-escape/

And the mother page of escapery: http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/photo-challenge-escape/

Ouachita bouquet II

Another set of the blooms that surround us. A followup to last month’s big bouquet.

Wild indigo with dirt or insect bite marks.

False garlic blooming in the woods.

Deep purple spiderwort blooms on the roadside.

Purple vetch beautifies the parking lot.