• bicycling,  Pedaling on,  Plants

    Now Popping Open

    September 30, 2024
    Common Milkweed

    I noticed on my bicycle ride yesterday evening how many milkweed pods are now popping open. It is that time of the year. There are about 110 species that occur in the Americas. These plants can grow to about 5 feet tall, usually occurring in clusters and forming colonies. They are perennial plants, which means an individual plant lives for more than one year, growing each spring from rootstock and seeds rather than seeds alone. Over 450 insects are known to feed on some portion of the plant. Milkweeds are the required host plants for caterpillars of the monarch butterfly and thus play a critical role in the monarch’s life cycle. Their beauty is on display all along Spring Creek Trail and the Natural Areas.

    This past Thursday I went over 400 miles on the bicycle’s odometer. Which means in 49 days I have averaged a little over 8 miles a day. This includes 5 days of not riding due to rain, my dental surgery and a couple days of logging over 20 miles. I’m finding the 35 mile range on the battery to be accurate. If I ride 8-10 miles a day I need to recharge about every three days. It takes about 2.5 hours to recharge my battery when it’s at 50% or 4-5 hours to fully charge. When using the assist levels I ride almost exclusively in the lowest assist level (it has three levels). I have only used the highest assist level once to make sure it worked. I only use assist level two on one hill that kicks my butt. 😂 There are places where the trails and bicycle paths are flat enough I ride with the assist off. Riding has increased my heart rate and my active zone minutes on my Fitbit. Pedaling on…

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  • flowers,  haiku,  Plants,  writing/reading

    this book of nature…

    June 21, 2023

    rose-colored clusters
    exploding starlike flowers
    this book of nature

    ms

    Sometimes we need to look closely to see the beauty of the natural world otherwise we may miss the gift she offers. I fall prey to that more than I like. Yet, when we do stop and look closely at the Showy Milkweed and its cluster of tiny starlike flowers, we can notice the details and intricacies of her unending creativity. I love this Book of Nature.

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  • natural areas,  Plants,  quotes

    …be yourself

    October 15, 2020

    “Within yourself is a stillness, a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.” Hermann Hesse

    A quick update on the Cameron Peak fire. On Tuesday night winds picked up gusting to 65 mph and caused the fire to make a 15-17 mile run in a easterly direction in about 12 hours. Several mandatory evacuations to the east and south were issued. The city of Fort Collins was socked in with smoke. It looked like 6:00 pm all day while smoke, ash and soot fell like snow. Everyone was wearing a mask due to the poor air quality. Had a friend over for lunch and made him smoked pasta with smoked marinara sauce and a smoked caesar salad. I have not heard but I’m pretty sure some homes were lost in that run yesterday. The fire now has become the largest in Colorado history with 167,000 acres. Not a record we want to boast about. The high winds brought in a cold front, dropping temperatures and we will have a good freeze tonight. Today has been much better with air quality and even given us some blue sky with sunshine to enjoy. We also have another fire that started yesterday afternoon, the East Troublesome Fire, west of Boulder. It has already grown to 3,700 acres due to the winds. We are so dry out here.

    Many of us have had to look for that stillness, that sanctuary within because the external sanctuaries are not accessible and in some cases gone.

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  • haiku,  Plants,  writing/reading

    Still Ablaze

    September 29, 2020
    Milkweed seeds ready to be released into the wind from 4 days ago

    orange veiled moon
    above eastern horizon 
    forest fire ablaze

    ms

    Yes, I know the title does not match the image but it’s my blog.

    While on a walk yesterday evening I notice the eerie color of the moon and the above haiku popped into my mind. Wrote it down as soon as I got back and then tried to take a photo of the moon. I was not happy with how the images turned out so all you get is the haiku and a milkweed image. 😊 The smoke does act as a decent filter to alter the color of the moon but I was not able to satisfactorily capture that.

    This morning the smell of smoke was the first thing I noticed as I stepped out the door. You could look down the street or across the pond and see the smoke from the Cameron Peak Fire as it casts its haze everywhere. The fire is now over 125,000 acres but has tapered down some due to a good freeze last night. Their update this morning is positive news. We see and smell it constantly, a reminder the fire is still ablaze.

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  • clouds,  fall season,  landscape,  natural areas,  Plants,  trees

    Back to Nature

    October 31, 2016
    20161029_dscf9713
    Clouds and blue sky at the Arapaho Bend Nature Area.

    Needed a reprieve from the city noise and tension it seems to generate. So, I dropped my grandson off at work on Saturday afternoon then drove to the Arapaho Bend Nature Area. Loved the blue sky against the brown trees and the soft delicate scattered clouds in this image. Lots of people out with the same idea. My intentions were to get out and walk, find a place to sit and read a book. Of course I just happen to have my camera, so when nature provides scenes I accept them. Just off to the left of this image was a photographer working on some family portraits. Hope they turn out okay.

    20161029_dscf9749
    Milkweed pods and seeds, another generation, found along the trail.

    I find milkweeds almost everywhere. They are abundant along our rivers and I found them abundant while living in Ohio. They are a source of food for many insects and an attractor for monarch butterflies. However, they are not recommended for human consumption. Better off eating that banana or trail mix. Just enjoy their beauty!

    Afternoon starburst against a cottonwood tree
    Afternoon starburst against a cottonwood tree in the Fall

    I have several images of this tree with the sun directly behind it. It seems to always be in that same location and offering me another photo opportunity but each time with different light, foliage and cloud patterns. So, they are never the same image. I enjoyed getting back to nature and letting it touch me inside.

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