Summer Ladies

The flowers of summer are coming out in force here now. Not the least among them are some named for ladies. Well, not completely, but I think of Stella as a lady no matter what they said about her.

Stella! The Stella d'Oro lilies are out and glowing in the sun. She's the star of her own show, for certain.

And these happy Black-eyed Susans, in the sun and grass near the Discovery Center in Gage Park.

Stella and Susan, ladies of the Summer, you are welcome.

What Rain May Come?

Still waiting for rain. Doesn't look like much of that will be happening tonight, it's all going south of us again. In the meantime, some of the sunset cloud color.

At least it was pretty.

Getting Into It

I finally did something about having some more growing things around this summer, and have now these various things in pots out where the monarda, sage and lemon balm are, to keep them company. One pineapple sage, one Thai basil, some scraggly little oregano, a tiny baby dill plant, a fine tall basil plant, one rosemary plant, one clump of "French cooking thyme," and one Sungold tomato plant that already has not only flowers but one itty bitty little tomato already set on. So this is how my garden grows.

And then, there was a little butterfly, a skipper, posing not on a lovely bloom but on the metal label of a garden stake. Not very glamorous, but holding very still for me!

I believe this is a female Tawny-edged Skipper, Polites themistocles. Mama Nature knows I could be wrong. There are 23 kinds of skippers in Shawnee County that I know of, and I have looked at pictures of every one of them.

Mothers' Day in the Park

Well, technically it was the day before Mother's Day, but there were certainly a lot of mothers in Gage Park. Mother birds, that is, with their cute little babies. The water birds always seem to be well past the ugly stage before we ever see them.

First, a mother Wood Duck took a break on the dock, preened, then posed prettily for me.

The Canada Geese at West Lake in Gage Park seem to have no fear of humans at all. They let us get quite close to them and their goslings.

A gosling nibbles on the grass.

Across the narrow end of the lake, a mother Wood Duck with a total of six ducklings. The little ones are very fast swimmers!

A Great Blue Heron joins the picnic.

The heron has his eye on something. Hope he's not thinking of duckling for dinner.

Family Swim. I think this is the cutest pic.

I wanted to show the ducks, geese, and heron all in the same picture. Then I discovered that, though you might not see it that clearly, in about the middle of the picture there is a snag--with a turtle sunning herself on it!

Fast little wood ducks.

The three goslings. It was a cool, perfect afternoon to be in the outdoors and to appreciate all the wildlife we share this space with, even right in the middle of the city. Happy Mother's Day to all.

Moons All Over

Storm clouds and Moon, woohoo! Evening of May 3.

Full Moon at Lake Shawnee on May 5, the "Super Moon," at perigee and full at the same time. Honestly, it doesn't look that much bigger than any Full Moon, hope you're not disappointed.

My personal favorite. The Moon painted the water with floating silver light. Enjoy!

Let There Be Love

Photos from The Million Fag March, April 28, 2012. About 250 people gathered at the corner of 10th and Gage to express the idea that there is no difference in love, and that all people should have the same rights to express it and build their lives around it.

See, that's not so hard to understand, is it?