Frosty moon

According to the Farmers’ Almanac, November’s full moon is known as the Beaver Moon or sometimes, the Frosty Moon. We had a good view last evening!

FULL OUT — Full moon rising over Little Rock with little Jupiter in the upper left. The dark shadow at the bottom of the moon is an out-of-focus tip of an oak branch.

Almost full

The almost-full moon put on quite a show as it rose over the Ouachita Mountains this evening.

Shrooms

SMUSHED — These mushrooms packed themselves tightly into a gap in the concrete.

STANDING TALL — Mushroom stands tall amidst the stones on the shore of the pond.

Contrast

Gingko leaves in the morning sun.

Late autumn sunflower with cucumber beetle.

Grain head of wild grass.

Red oak leaves against a solid blue sky.

Autumn birds

With the Ouachita’s trees rapidly becoming more bare with each autumn rainstorm, the only decoration to their branches is the feathery array provided by the local bird population.

PERCHED — White-throated sparrow, with a splash of yellow on his forehead, sites for a few seconds in the wild blackberry thicket.

TOO BLUE — Two eastern bluebirds sit in a nearly bare tree.

Travel Theme: Liquid

Alisa’s challenge this week is liquid. Below are two shots of soda straw stalactites being formed. Water from last night’s half-inch rain slowly worked its way through the concrete in the deck, leaching calcium carbonate  and adding tiny amounts to these hollow stalactites before the water droplets fall to the ground. Although they can grow very long when left undisturbed in caves, the longest of these dissolving deck formations reached 2 inches before falling to the ground.

Leaves

Trolling the woods for something to shoot this morning. Not much going on this morning; just some fresh raccoon scat, dead insects and hickory nuts with the nut meat removed. Did like the backlit leaves. This gallery combines images from this morning with ones taken earlier this month.

Weekly photo challenge: Thankful

This week’s photo montage of yesterday’s Thanksgiving  family get-together sort of speaks for itself. Our family has much  for which to be grateful.

To see more thankful, visit:

• http://scottseyephotos.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/weekly-photo-challenge-thankful/
• http://mixerupper.com/2012/11/23/weekly-photo-challenge-thankful/
• http://lucidgypsy.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/weekly-photo-challenge-thankful/
• http://ayearinmyshoes.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/wordpress-weekly-photo-challenge-thankful/
• http://northernnarratives.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/weekly-photo-challenge-thankful
• http://chrisbreebaart.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/weekly-photo-challenge-thankful/
• http://thirdeyemom.com/2012/11/22/i-am-thankful-for/
• http://romceg.wordpress.com/

And the page from whence the challenge began:

• http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/weekly-photo-challenge-thankful/ 

Breakfast buzzard

Nothing like looking out the kitchen window in the morning and seeing a black vulture staring back at you. These fellows typically gather atop the highest local point, a nearby cell tower from which they launch their sorties. We’ve never seen them light in the trees.

Flower power

Street food in Chengdu. [more of my cousin’s vacation photography.]

HOW IT’S DONE — Dip the blossom in batter, fry (talk a little) and eat.

SHARING – Enjoying a snack of a fried blossom on a stem in Chengdu.

Flowers don’t seem to show up much in American cooking, except as a table decoration. However, there’s a world of foods featuring flowers — hibiscus or chrysanthemum teas, fried zucchini blossoms, saffron in all sorts of savories and sweets, candied violets* in pastries and rose petals and flavorings in a range of dishes. An interesting link about edible flowers: http://whatscookingamerica.net/EdibleFlowers/EdibleFlowersMain.htm

*Though some may remember Choward’s violet mints and scented gum.