in mourning

today, i am blue. today, i am in mourning. today is a Very Bad Day, because it is the day after OSU was thoroughly trounced and totally humiliated on national TV.

today, i am sad.

Holly's "ow-di-gator"

Holly's fall allergies have kicked in again. I had her pretty well controlled with Atopica, omega3 fatty acids, and chlorpheniramine, but when I went to work Wednesday morning she was scratching, and when I came home that night, her face was a mess.

compare this face to last year's

It looks the same!

So, she's back on prednisone. This helps with her itch, but means she loses nearly all bladder control. On Friday, she got to come to work with Mama.

Now, when you itch all over, you are terribly thirsty, you have to pee every two hours, and you are forced to spend the day with your mother at her work, you deserve a present. I took Hol to PetsMart at lunch time to choose her reward for being good.

She walked up and down the toy aisle, sniffing at the various stuffed animals and tug toys. I tried to tempt her with things I thought she might like, bouncing a ball in front of her and swinging the dental floss rope under her nose. She was not impressed. She even walked over a stuffed monkey-thing that someone left on the floor. Nothing doing. It was obvious she was on a mission to find the perfect toy, and she would not be denied.

I found one of those crazy-looking canvas cats by Fat Cat Inc. like this one.



Ordinarily, I don't encourage my cat-loving dogs to play rough with cat-shaped toys, but I thought we'd give it a try. I showed it to her. She gave it a cursory glance, then looked beyond the cat toy in my hand to the next item on the shelf. Her eyes lit up! She had found her toy.

This - an "alligator swamp-thing" by the same company.

The tag promised it would hold up to 1/2 ton of tugging force. I thought we might try it out.

Wonder if it can stand up to my girl?

Um, that would be a "No."

It's not the tugging that's a problem, it's the chewing.

My ow-di-gator.*
Mine.

* The word "ow-di-gator" will be familiar
to viewers of "Jon and Kate Plus 8."

Scottish Skies

If it's bright blue skies and fluffy cumulus clouds you're looking for, then Scotland isn't your cup of tea. But, if you like moody, pensive, and brooding, there's nothing better than a fine, soft day in the Highlands.

moors of the Highlands

There's nearly always a handy loch to reflect your sky.

Kyle of Sutherland, at Bonar Bridge

Just when you are accustomed to grey, the sun peeks through and you get a hint of blue.

west coast of Sutherland, near Lochinver

And rarely, a picture-postcard sky will surprise you.

the harbour at Inverness, Moray Firth

Click here for more

Goldenrod World

I have a huge clump of goldenrod at the back of my house. I'm not a botanist, but if I had to guess, I would call it "Tall Goldenrod," Solidago altissima. It has a plume-type flower, rough, toothed leaves with parallel veining, and besides, I can't figure out what else it might be. (If you plant-types recognize this guy, help me out.)


I am slowly learning how to ID goldenrods. According to my new Peterson's Wildflower guide, you first look at the flower type - is it plume-like, elm-branched, club-like, wand-like, or flat-topped?


Next, you look at the veining in the leaves - is it parallel or feathered?


That gets you down to three or four species, then it is a matter of flipping through your guides and guessing. Um, no - I mean, more careful observation and study.

The aforementioned goldenrod, whatever it's name, is in a corner between the NW wall and the screened-in porch, and the space is too tight for the large mower my yard guy has been using to mow my yard this year. So, the weeds have grown high and although at first I was embarrassed by the mess, I am now glad I left it alone. Today, I found this messy patch contains an embarrassment of riches when it comes to insect life.

First bug:

After a little research, I think I've got this one's name right. Goldenrod Soldier Beetle - Chauliognathus pennsylvanicus

Second bug:

No clue on this guy. Any takers?
click on any of my photos to enlarge

The plants were teeming with many varieties of Hymenoptera (bees and wasps) - honeybees, bumblebees, and several different kinds of wasps.


Ordinarily, I am hesitant to get too close to stinging things, but these guys were intent on their task and paid no attention to me, stumbling clumsily around, trying to take a decent macro photograph.

Can you see the pollen baskets on this bee?

There were several skippers, perhaps more than one species, but they were tough to photograph. This is the best I could do, and it is fuzzy.


Besides these bugs, there were lots of teeny, tiny flying things in among the flowers. This was one busy clump of weeds!

The butterfly that first caught my eye and drew my attention to this microworld flew away the minute I stepped out among the goldenrod, not to return. It was relatively large, light brown, with lovely eyespots. Maybe a Northern Pearly Eye? Too bad it got away.

(photo from Flickr.com)

Wordless Wednesday

Did you "Flip A Rock" today?

Today is International Rock Flipping Day. In celebration, I went outside to flip a rock and see what lived beneath.





Here is the rock, in situ (in place), at the edge of my pond in southwest Ohio:


When I flipped it over, the first thing I saw were two aquatic "bugs" on the underside of the rock. (One crawled away before I could take the picture.) They reminded me of pill bugs (woodlice, sowbugs, "rolly pollies," pick your local nickname) so I assume they are an aquatic form of this crustacean. The head is green and the body a purplish-brown. My macro function isn't too great, so enlarging this picture will just get you an out-of-focus view, but if anybody can ID this critter, I would appreciate it.

[Edit: In looking more closely, I see legs.
I now realize this is insect-like, not an isopod.]

As I started to replace the rock, I saw something moving. At first, I thought it was a bit of plant matter, twirling in the residual vortex created when I flipped the rock, but then I realized it had purposeful movement.

Here is the thing enlarged.

I even got a little video clip of the grub-thing in action.



It made me think of a warble, the larval form of the rabbit botfly Cuterebra, which I sometimes see in cats. Does anyone know what this "water grub" might be?

[Edit: Thanks to a comment by Cestoady, I have ID'd the grub-thing. While researching the suggestion of tipulid, or Crane-fly larvae, I found it on What's That Bug? (5th image as you scroll down) It is the larva of a horsefly, which I have in abundance here since the Purple Martins left. Good thing I didn't try to touch it - they bite, injecting a toxin which causes extreme and prolonged pain and swelling, according to this entry at Bug Guide.]

If you would like to participate in the second annual International Rock Flipping Day, please click here for the guidelines. Then, go flip over a rock and see what you can find. Come back and share your observations with the rest of us, by posting your link in the comments section or by sending a link to your post to Dave.

Don't forget to put the rock back!

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9/8/08:

Here's a list of recent rock-flipping sites to visit:

Pohanginapete (Pohangina Valley, Aotearoa/New Zealand)
Blaugustine (London, England)
Nature Remains (Ohio, USA)
Pensacola Daily Photo (Florida, USA)
KatDoc’s World (Ohio, USA)
Notes from the Cloud Messenger (Ontario, Canada)
Brittle Road (Texas [?])
Sherry Chandler (Kentucky, USA)
osage + orange (Illinois, USA)
Rock Paper Lizard (British Columbia, Canada)
The Crafty H (Virginia, USA)
Chicken Spaghetti (Connecticut, USA)
A Passion for Nature (New York, USA)
The Dog Geek (Virginia, USA)
Blue Ridge blog (North Carolina, USA)
Bug Girl’s Blog (Michigan, USA)
chatoyance (Austin, Texas)
Riverside Rambles (Missouri, USA)
Pines Above Snow(Maryland, USA)
Beth’s stories (Maine, USA)
A Honey of an Anklet (Virginia, USA)
Wanderin’ Weeta (British Columbia, Canada)
Fate, Felicity, or Fluke (Oregon, USA)
The Northwest Nature Nut (Oregon, USA)
Roundrock Journal (Missouri, USA)
The New Dharma Bums (California, USA)
The Marvelous in Nature (Ontario, Canada)
Via Negativa (Pennsylvania, USA)
Mrs. Gray’s class, Beatty-Warren Middle School (Pennsylvania, USA)
Cicero Sings (British Columbia, Canada)
Pocahontas County Fair (West Virginia, USA)
Let’s Paint Nature (Illinois, USA)
Sleeping in the Heartland (Midwestern U.S.)
Three Oaks (Ohio, USA)

SkyWatch Friday

Never did a SkyWatch Friday before, not quite sure of the rules. Here is one of a series of photos of the skies around my country home, taken in September of last year.