Sunday, August 2, 2009

Paused

Roger spotted the hummingbird moth yesterday. I think that is the first time I have ever seen one not in flight.
And I barely captured these butterflies....they barely paused. Most of the time their wings continued to quiver even when they lit on the flowers.
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They bring back memories of childhood....my nephew, Glen, used to spend the summer with us. And mom had a butterfly bush out at one end/side of the house. We spent lots of happy hours catching butterflies...we sometimes held them captive in a canning jar I think, but eventually let them go.

My nephew would catch bumblebees by easing up to one on a flower with a jar in one hand and a lid in the other. At times he would catch two or three in the same jar. I didn't have the nerve to catch one, let alone two or three. Sometimes when he had a couple in a jar, they would fight with each other. It didn't take a lot to entertain us back then.

Back then there would be all kinds of butterflies...every day of the week it seemed. Monarchs, Tiger swallowtails, Zebra swallowtails, and several little skipper types. I cannot remember all and probably would not know the name if I could remember what they looked like. I just know we sure enjoyed them back then and I think I enjoy seeing them just as much now, only I try to capture them in a different way.

A flower I have never noticed before....

Roger wanted to get out and go for a drive today...so we headed south. We ended up at some more strip pits...some were in the process of being reclaimed. Others were just beautiful. We had our rods with us and actually stopped and threw our line in for a few minutes....Roger caught a real nice bluegill. We didn't stay long, but if I had had a zebco, with bait and bobber, I could have stayed at this one place all day. Except Roger wanted to explore the area.
I am not sure how long we drove around this area, but am sure we only saw a few of the strip pits. We need to actually plan some of the days like this and leave really early...we left around 9:30 this morn, and it is at least an hour's drive down there.

And on top of that, there are the stops we make for me to take pictures. I guess I need to go and not take out my camera till we get there. That would give us more time....

Anyway, I noticed this flower today. I don't know if I have seen it before or not, but I think it is really beautiful.