Showing posts with label buckeye butterfly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label buckeye butterfly. Show all posts

Thursday, April 2, 2015

on the santa fe river...critters. creatures. poop. and the moon.

santa fe river - from suspension bridge

last saturday we did an overnighter at O'Leno State Park. weather was perfect.
30's at night. sunny and in the 60's during the day. great sleeping & hiking weather.

(quick side note: we left kitties at home. sam built a kitty door.
before we left, neighborhood cats started showing up. emo slyly chased them away.
hmmmmm. we think they were early...not supposed to show up 'til we were gone.
oh well. at least they cleaned up before we got home sunday. 
no furballs, signs of food fights, piles of poop or puke, or dragged in frogs or lizards.
good kitties.)

anyway...some of these pic's aren't the best. hiking early on sunday morning...
the sun was BRIGHT and so some of my pic's look kind of washed out. 

santa fe river sink

in O'Leno, 900 million gallons of water per day flows underground
at Santa Fe River Sink...flowing into a complex aquatic cave system...
and reappearing 3 miles away at Santa Fe River Rise.
(at River Rise, the Santa Fe flows for another 35 miles until it reaches the Suwannee River.)

at the river sink...all that gunky green algae stuff collects & coats just about everything!


weeeeeeeee!  get ready for take-off!


and the creature from the green lagoon rises from the swamp...

native wild azaleas grow all along the river




back to the woodsy part of the trails...



Buckeye butterfly



Red-shouldered Hawk


i am fairly certain...pretty sure...that this is a Palamedes Swallowtail. (right? wrong?) (or Black Swallowtail?)

if you know me...then you know i like to ID SCAT & TRACKS.
so here's a pile o' pOOp along the trail. BIG pile. scratch marks around it.
Coyote scat!  of this i'm certain.


finally, eh?
the end.
the moon, saturday night from the campground.


life's a journey. enjoy the ride.

be cool. be safe.
laura

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

nature doesn't sleep...





There is no such thing as "Just a cat.”
~Robert A. Heinlein



While MILO is taking a CAT-NAP on the back porch...
(oh yeah...she said she wasn't sleeping...she was meditating.)


ANYWAY,
while milo's eyes were closed...



an itty-bitty grasshopper sat on a chrysanthemum,




a Buckeye butterfly rested on the dirt,




a mushroom pushed up out of the earth,




a squirrel quenched his thirst,




the Gloriosa Lily vine  climbed a tree,




a crow was yelling from high in a pine,




a Brown Thrasher listened between drinks,
(listened to milo snoring, no doubt.  oh...milo can't be snoring. she's meditating. i forgot.)



AND
a Fence lizard...is happy that milo is...uh...meditating...has her eyes closed...
so he can wander about without fear of being chased!



"You'll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut."
~Dr. Seuss



alright...back to some chores on my list...
laundry. run to store. feed milo. more laundry. mop. let milo out. wash dishes. feed milo.


stay cool.  be safe.
laura


~happy rest of the week~










Friday, August 19, 2011

21, 184 days...


 508,416 hours ago...
30,504,960  minutes ago...
1,830,297,600  seconds ago...
i was born.

i'm 58. today.
so i googled  'i am 58 years old'...and ALL that popped up were things like:

hello, i am 58 years old, i have a cataract in my left eye.
Hi-it was horrible when my sister who is 55 was diagnosed  w/ Alzheimers.
WELCOME. I'm 58 years old also and have approx. 140 lbs. still to lose.
I am 58 and so disappointed on how I am looking these days.
I am 58 years old male. Since the last 15 days I am suffering from burning sensation in the eyes.
 I am 58 years old.  I get very painful leg and foot cramps at night.
I'm a 58 year old muslim man in love with my cousin of 11. What should i do?
 I'm 58 and I have to get up to go several times a night.

and so on and so on...yikes!  
i don't FEEL my age.   well, what am i supposed to feel like at 58?
if all i had to go by...was what i read by googling my age...
uh-oh!

anyway...
usually, every august at this time, sam & i are on vacation...camping...
a road trip somewhere...for about two weeks.
not this year though, because sam started a new job about 3 months ago.

i know...it's the HOTTEST time of the year! 
the mosquitoes are out in full force.

BUT...the campgrounds are usually empty!  
we don't have to worry about not being able to find a spot to stay in.
and if we want to use the campground's facilities to take a shower...
we don't have to wait in line.
the hiking trails are  usually empty too...
with spiderwebs running across the trails...from tree to tree.
who wants to go for a hike when it's a hundred degrees out?
uh...we do.

we started this tradition of camping this time of year
because our anniversary is the 16th, my b-day the 19th and sam's b-day the 21st!

anyway...knowing we wouldn't be able to do our usual august get-away...
i signed up for a continuing education class for my massage license.
Reiki 2.  
not too far a drive from home. over by the beach, near jacksonville, on aug 20th.
so we decided to make a weekend of it.
and instead of camping...we reserved a motel room!
now THAT will be weird.
it's been YEARS since we slept in anyone else's bed!

we're heading over there today, and we'll be home sunday.
it'll be a nice few days away.
OH, what about milo?
she's a cat. she'll enjoy the time alone. she'll sit by the back door
and watch the crows...the squirrels...the lizards...
and MAYBE wish she was out there to give chase...
but on second thought, she doesn't mind just relaxing...
and not getting too overheated!
after all, she does have a litter box...she has food & water...
she has her toys. and it's only for two nights!
(but my mother-in-law insisted on stopping by a couple
of times to check on milo.)

 hopefully i'll get some good pic's this weekend.
i leave you now with a few  in the meantime. 
just some assorted pic's taken over the past couple of weeks.

enjoy.
dragonfly

Age does not diminish the extreme disappointment 
of having a scoop of ice cream fall from the cone.  
~Jim Fiebig
little baby lizard...'anole'.
(we had these little 'chameleons' as kids...they always escaped their tanks...
only to be found weeks later...all dried up...behind the couch...)  :(


 grasshopper youngster on a hibiscus bud!

Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.  
~Chili Davis

little Fence Lizard



a hummer...


 a communal gathering of little clouded skippers feeding on a hibiscus flower.

How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?  
~Satchel Paige

  
a Gulf Fritillary. the underside of their wings looks white. 
but it's an iridescent silver!



these little mushrooms obviously aren't paying any mind to the
weather reports.  they're waiting for a cold spell. they have their sweaters on.


maybe this is why the mushrooms aren't listening to the weather reporters.
if they can't spell PRESSURE...maybe they can't predict the weather correctly!
only the mushrooms know for sure...

have a nice relaxing weekend...
and a safe journey.  enjoy the ride.

laura


want to know how many days, minutes, seconds...you've been around?
want to know where i got the little yin-yang  'flavicon' from?
cool clock widgets like the steam-punk clock on my side bar?
other cool widgets...like weather or music...just about anything u can think of.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

florida's “el lagarto”

NO...we haven't gone for a stroll through the misty...foggy...graveyard yet...
BUT...the month isn't over...
..
O

we DID however...go for a sunday hike on the La Chua Trail,
which is part of   Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park
(22,000 acre wilderness)  in Gainesville, FL.
Paynes Prairie basin  was formed when a number of sinkholes 
which were close together eventually merged.
the La Chua Trail  trail leads around  Alachua Sink...
which works like a drain  in the floor of the basin 
providing an essential 'recharge' of the Floridian Aquifer...
our drinking water.
for over 12,000 years this has been a gathering spot
 for prehistoric animals and people...

today...you can spot all sorts of wildlife along the trail...or in the prairie itself.
this area provides habitat for alligators, bison, wild horses, eagles,
hawks and 271 other species of birds.
(great blue heron)

all the many times we've visited the park...hiked the many trails...
we've yet to spot a horse OR bison!!
we did see bison POOP one time...
and i actually have a picture to prove it...
somewhere...on a disc...  :]



((The American alligator has survived the test of time. 
The family Alligatoridae first appeared about 35 million years ago.
The name “alligator” is widely believed to have come from the Spanish name “el lagarto”. 
This eventually changed into "aligarto" and then "alligator" by English settlers.))

"why can't we all just get along..."  
like this heron & gator are doing here!

this gator's up on his tippy-toes...running for the cover of water.

the Gulf Fritillary...wings a flappin'...



the Buckeye butterfly


the last time we were here...there were LOTS of gators...
lining the shore...running up and down the waterway.
but the water was much higher then. they must've moved on to 
Lake Wauberg...the 300 acre lake of Paynes Prairie.


this little lizard...the florida anole...was green...seconds before this picture was taken!
he scooted from a lighter sandy area...to the darker...browner leaves...
and so he quick-changed...camouflaged himself...

i  'sepia'd'  this one...reminds me of an old postcard now...
"COME TO FLORIDA! 
The land of sunshine, oranges...and alligators."

=OOOooOOOooOOO=

ok...quick...before i run...if you're looking for some ideas...
to get those creative juices flowing...for your pumpkin carving this year...
check out this site...
there are some pretty weird faces here...

stay cool. and  keep wandering.
(enjoy nature...and october)
laura   :]