The green grasses and fields of wildflowers of summer have long turned to brown yet the heat seems to have remained as a mule deer doe finds a bit of a shady rest under a lonesome juniper tree.
Tag: environment
On the coneflowers
A fuzzy caterpillar makes their way through the Coneflowers.
Nibbling away one flower petal at a time enjoying a meal as they go gathering nutrients and the proteins they will need for their next stage of life.
Whenever we see a caterpillar it never ceases to amaze us that next time we see them they will be flying through the air as a butterfly or moth.
Metamorphosis is an amazing process.
Still Summer
Alas, while most of the summers wildflowers have come and gone there is still a bit of color to be found. The Dotted Gayfeather have done well this year and are in full bloom in the fields and along the roadside near our home and it looks like other besides ourselves are enjoying them as a little Skipper Butterfly enjoys a late summers sip of nectar.
On Joe Pye
The Joe Pye Weed is in full bloom and this painted Lady Butterfly is happy about that. Although known for attracting butterflies we have noticed others to find Joe Pye quite to their liking as well.
Dragonflies like Joe Pye.
As well as this wasp.
And this lovely looking bee with pincers you don’t want to mess with like Joe Pye.
A hub of activity with lovely flower to boot.
Forest Bathing
Some say there is healing power in a long forest experience, a practice called shirn-yoku in Japan. There certainly are days when you leave a nice walk in the woods with a feeling you can equate with healing. It need not be walking as a long sit on that quiet bench or rock also seems to do the trick.
Although scientific evidence is currently sparse as to the specific mechanism by which a forest walk promotes positive health we can all agree it does no harm at all.
On some days it is what we see and others what we smell. Many days it is what we do not see or smell as we walk away from the hustle and bustle and into the woods.
Whatever it is about a forest bath I sure wish Doctors would prescribe it more.
Lorquin’s Admiral
The Lorquin’s Admiral is one of those butterflies you see flittering through the air all summer. Flying nearby but not to near heading left then heading right but one you half-heartedly chase around while eon the trail hoping they will land close enough for a halfway descent photo and if they do land and you chose not to have the wrong lens on your camera it will be a photo well rewarded. This was one of those days we were rewarded. We spotted The Lorquins perched near the top of a small pine tree and as soon as we could get the shutter clicked they flew down to a small streamed for a quick drink.
Isn’t amazing how many colors butterflies eyes come in?
El Rey
Meet “El Rey” the biggest baddest toad on the pond this summer. Happily surveying their domain from the comfort of a well placed rock along the waters edge. Easily a giant to the more numerous frogs that inhabit his kingdom yet a benevolent ruler by any standard.
While we usually see the king along the shady side of the water every once in a while a nice sunbath is in order.
After a sun bath a little dip in the pool is always a good way to cool down and moisturize the skin.
“El Rey” truly king of the pond and a good king at that.
Summer Sunset on the Pond
Yesterday I could feel it happening. The sunset is getting earlier, the algae is in full bloom and the nights have cooled down just a few degrees. Summer is still hanging on and we may even get a few sweltering days but I can feel fall just around the corner. Zeroimage pinhole camera and Kodak Film.
In a burnt forest
Many thoughts came to mind as we walked in a burnt forest.
What will the future hold as the world warms and rains dry up?
Fragility, resilience, life and death are here.
Why does it feel familiar yet so foreign all at once?
Many thoughts as we walked and many thoughts to this day.
A walk through a burnt forest felt like a metaphor for these time.
West Elks
Looking out into the West Elk WIlderness in central Colorado.
nature has no boss 
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