Today’s end-of-month abstract is sponsored by Forgetfulness, where I intended to hit the button that starts recording video and pressed the shutter release instead between the low light, the wind, and the activity of the newborn mantids (you couldn’t tell?) the photo came out a little less than ideal. Yet it’s a perfect illustration of
Author: Al Denelsbeck
On this date 18
So, listen: this time of year is mantis season, soon after the Chinese mantids (Tenodera sinensis) have hatched, and they’ve been a favorite subject of mine for a while now, so we might see a lot of these even in the posts from the past years’ photos – like this one. But c’mon, you can’t fault me for featuring this lovely alien
For the time being
What, exactly, does that phrase mean? I mean, we all know how it’s used, but how was it coined? Being what? Can time be anything else? Do we want to know how ‘idiom’ got its name?
Anyway, the point is, I’m going to be a little busy and I don’t know what I’ll be able to produce for a little while, so I’m throwing down (actually, I’m tossing diagonally)
Almost totally dry
So, I went out Monday night/Tuesday morning to try and catch something for the Lyrids meteor shower that we are currently undergoing. For once, we had ideal conditions, or as ideal as I can possibly achieve in this location: no moon, clear skies, and I traveled down to Jordan Lake to get the darkest skies possible within, oh, thirty kilometers or so (which isn’t all that dark,
On this date 17
So this one marks a milestone of sorts, in that it is among the first images I’d taken with a digital camera. Kinda. Okay, let me explain.
It’s 2004, by the way. Walkabout’s Occasional Foreign Correspondent, Jim Kramer, had gone digital long before I had, and in fact had just
Well it’s about time
“Double-crested cormorant.” They have that name, oh, probably because they have a double-crest, right? Makes sense. Except they don’t. I have dozens of photos of them, from various states, over the years, and not one of them shows a double-crest. It’s supposed to be a breeding display in males, so perhaps it doesn’t last too long, but still, not once? It’s enough
Put away the snacks
We all know what holiday is celebrated today, don’t we? No, no that, you pathetic teenager, I’m talking about Find Out Just How Many Green Treefrogs There Are Around Your Place, and as you might imagine, I’ve got this well in hand.
When we lived in the old place, I would be delighted to find the occasional Copes grey treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis) here or there, perhaps a
This week needs some restraint
There’s a bunch of stuff going on this week that you should already be absolutely aware of and I could avoid posting entirely, but just in case…
This entire week is the Lyrids meteor shower, peaking around Tuesday but hey, meteor
On this date 16
Oh, cool! Our first entry from this date comes from 2009, and way down in Sanibel Island, Florida, on so-far-the-only trip The Girlfriend and I have taken together to that state (which we must rectify soon.) We kinda missed our timing on this, we meaning “you and I in regards to this post,” because a day earlier we, meaning “The Girlfriend and I in Florida,”
What makes it special
On this date, we remember the man from above, the carpenter’s son who changed the world for all humankind and brought in a whole new culture, outlook, and future by his selfless actions, regardless of how anyone personally feels about it within circles that somehow dismiss his presence. So today, let’s all keep him in our hearts, and strive to emulate the courage and convictions of