Didelphis marsupialis

Awwww, isn't he cute? He is in our elderberry bush at this very moment.

Great Place to Crash

I don't believe anyone was seriously injured in this accident. If they were, I apologize. A friend called me to let me know about this scene in front of the Confidence Driving School on 76th and Locust.

Taliesin and Environs

I spent my weekend in Spring Green with a friend and we climbed the hill up to Frank Lloyd Wright's design school at Taliesin. There were these kinda rusty, mod looking chairs scattered around on top of a hill, behind which you could see Taliesin itself in the distance. Of course this is where one of Frank's servants went nutso and locked all the exits to the house, save one, before lighting the place on fire and bludgeoning everyone he could as they fled through the one door he left open, including Frank's then-wife with whom he had run away from Chicago, leaving his first wife and their six children behind. His architectural skills aside, maybe you can tell that I don't have much admiration for Mr. Wright, the man. Mr. Wrong in my book. But I digress. Isn't the surrounding prairie beautiful? Rather belies the grisly story.

More Sky

More exotic weather today, including three sudden downpours out of blue skies. The last one started near 8pm and we finally saw a rainbow. I got a few shots of the rainbow, one even with a bit of lightning under the bow, but they were all taken through our bedroom window and not very high quality. This one was taken the same way, through a wet window, but I think it's pretty.

Summer is Here!

Time to break out all your heavy black clothing and knee-high boots! Sheeeesh.

My girls, ages 15 and 12, made a trip to our local Hot Topic this past week and came home with black, lace-up, knee-high "pole climber" boots, black "skinny" jeans, fresh fishnets and glovelets, all just in time for marching around in the hot summer sun. That same night the older girl and I went over to our local park for the first in a series of free summer concerts. She wore a black short-sleeve t-shirt, an extremely short and flouncy (at least not tight) black skirt, her fresh fishnets (just flown in - ha!), her new boots and, to finish off the look with panache, a bright yellow belt creatively fashioned from a length of plastic police tape, tied in a neat little bow over her right hip.

I met some other parents from our kids' school at the park. One woman who doesn't know my kids asked if any of mine had come along with me. I described Laura and she had this funny look on her face. "Oh, I saw her." Uh-huh. That is mine. And I am very proud of her.

Three Skies Over Our House Today

These three photos were taken within about a half hour this evening. Lots of violent and wet weather lately. At least there is some beauty in it as well.

Second Child Completes Middle School

I never thought I would be posting photos of my children online, but here goes. This is my son receiving his diploma from the principal of his school while his homebase teacher is at the microphone announcing names on the right. I am so proud of him, even though he needs a haircut. After the ceremony, out on the front lawn of the school, my son informed me that he had peeled the gold seal sticker off of his diploma and crumpled it up. His friend then tossed it onto the school roof. I frowned, having hoped to frame the thing seeing as it may be the last diploma he ever gets. LOL!

Lambs Ears

Iris

Blue iris, private parts, our back yard. Same flower was pummeled to the ground the next day during a severe thunderstorm mixed with tornado and flash flood warnings. Live on, big blue!

Pasque Flower

This is the underside of a pasque flower, weighed down with tiny droplets of mist. It was in our front yard.

I'm Back

I actually had two people comment on the blog today, one in person and one via email from the Philippines. Then I felt a little guilty as I haven't been posting on here in a long time, giving my dogs their daily diary entries and photos instead. What a life. But here I am on this misty, foggy Wisconsin spring day and I was so amazed by the water droplets on the fresh new flowers that I just had to get my new Jamie Lee Curtis/Ted Danson haircut all wet and flat by taking the tripod outside and my macro lens to try and capture some of this stuff. Here is one to start us off. More will follow when I have a chance to work them up. This particular image is of dewdrops on an Iris fall, those three petals that literally fall down, while the other three, the standards, stand up.

Loverly Bug

I first noticed this bug on our bedroom wall a couple days ago. Looked harmless and, unlike how I would react to a centipede, I forgot about it. Then it was on the window above my desk. Then it was in the upstairs bathroom. This afternoon I went into this bathroom to, well, you know, and there it was, floating in the toilet bowl that had been left open! Oh, dear! I gently lifted her out (I am guessing it's a female because there appears to be a little ovipositor on its back end, but who knows?) and let her crawl up my sleeve a bit. I then transferred her to the bathroom window and ran to get my camera and macro lens. She's about 3/4-inch long, not including her antennae. Now I need to go to Whatsthatbug.com and find out what she is and how she came to be in our house at the tail end of a long, cold winter.

Wide Angle

Just experimenting with my new super-wide angle lens. I thought this was kinda neat. Note the Keen clogs. Everyone should own a pair of Keens. But that's just my opinion.

DIY Despair

Despair.com now features a DIY section where you can use your own photos to make wonderful demotivational artwork. I think I will be having fun at this website for a while.

Squiggles

This is a little confusing because you can't see the filigreed ice so well, but the shadow it casts marks where it is and balances the frame.

Ice Shelves Make Walking Fun!

My son and I race home from the bus stop and see who can get to the best ice shelves first, making them collapse or crack. Akin to shuffling through fall leaves, the sounds of breaking ice are like music. Sometimes my son gets to a good patch of ice first, but he isn't heavy enough to crack it. Then I get his "leftovers," usually being heavy enough to finish the job.

Ice Puppy, Running

The snow is even yellow behind him - how realistic!

Bend in the River