Wordless Wednesday
Category: Photography
Weekly Photo Challenge: A Good Match
Every time I thought about “A Good Match,” my mind went back to a 2013 photo. I felt a sense of fascination when I first saw this tromboncino squash…. and I am still fascinated by it. To me it is the epitome of a good match.
Tromboncino squash are considered summer squash and are used in the same way as zucchini.
What I find most interesting about this form of squash, though, is that if you allow it to continue to grow, it will turn into a winter squash. In that process, it changes color and the skin becomes hard. The inside becomes sweet and reminds me of acorn squash. I really love eating it at that point.
I also love how big the squash grows. This one was five feet long!
(I took the photo above by taking a picture of myself in a mirror. My arms weren’t long enough to take it facing me. Besides, in 2013, I probably didn’t even know what a selfie was!)
Wordless Wednesday
The Will to Live
I used to have repetitive dreams of being in a house that had a lot of secret rooms. When I walked down one hallway, I would inevitably discover a new hallway that led to rooms I hadn’t seen before. The house went on and on and provided me with a never ending adventure.
That is what it has been like for me to work in the Greenbelt. I enter one area after another that is covered by blackberry vines, ivy and bamboo. I never know what I will find on the other side of them.
One day my adventure started here.
As I cleared a path, I saw many downed trees.
Soon, I came across this tree. It looked as if a maple tree that had fallen had birthed a new tree.
I discovered that another part of the tree had traveled north and it too had become a maple tree.
Other parts of the tree had traveled to the west and to the south. There was a new tree at the end of the western portion. I haven’t reached the end of the southern part yet so I don’t know what I will find there.
It is mind-boggling to me that a tree which has been so beaten down by the environment has such a strong will to live, and due to that will has accomplished what seems impossible. I look forward to the day when all of the invasive plants have been removed and the trees can reach for the sky without being hindered.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Against The Odds
Shared with Senior Salon
Weekly Photo Challenge: Shadow
I was just lounging on the carpet in my living room. When I glanced towards the dining room, I saw that shadows had formed a beautiful design on the ceiling.
Daily Prompt: Glitter
I took these photos at a Navaratri celebration in 2014. The awe I felt as the altar lights were turned on is still etched in my memory. For me, the experience started with glittering flames in a dark room.
Microscopic Views of Popcorn!
Two weeks ago, my friend Kathie from ChosenPerspectives sent me a link to a YouTube video, along with a note saying that she thought I would enjoy seeing it.
She was right, I did like the video and watching it gave me an idea; I would find out what popcorn looks like under a microscope. In order to do that I had to buy some popcorn. I, of course, wanted it to be popcorn that I would also enjoy eating, so I chose a bag of kettle corn.
Over the next few days, I nibbled at the popcorn, not stopping until the bag was empty. When it was gone, I bought another bag. At least this time I set up the microscope and took the photos before I finished the popcorn.
A Surprising and Disturbing Discovery: Part 3
In Part 1 of this series, I showed photos of the bird houses in my back yard and the nests I found inside of them. I questioned why one of the nests almost filled the bird house. I also wondered why the big one had a flat top leaving no place for a nesting female and her eggs.
In Part 2, I relayed that readers had informed me that it was a wren who had built the big nest and I shared information I had learned about wrens since my first post. In addition, I wrote about what I found when I took that nest apart.
In Part 3, I will share microscopic photos of all ten of the nest’s components and then let you know why I still feel disturbed.
(Note 1: The numbers near the photos below correspond to the numbers at the top of this post. Note 2: You can click on the galleries to enlarge the photos.)
#1
#2
#3a
#3b
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
While I love the beauty the microscopic photos revealed, there was one material that greatly disturbed me. That was item #10, plastic. I was dismayed to see how much plastic was in the nest when I took it apart.
I know that birds, fish and other creatures can get sick if they eat plastic. Here is a photo that was taken of the contents of the stomach of a dead albatross at Midway Island.
I have to wonder if the fact that this wren’s nest had a top on it was because the bird was sick from eating plastic and its brain was not working correctly. There is no way to know.
Shared with Senior Salon and Lets Create a Fine Chain…
Daily Prompt: Lush
When I think of the word “Lush” the first thing that comes to my mind are the gardens in Amritapuri, India.
A Surprising and Disturbing Discovery- Part 2
Last week, when I cleaned out the three birdhouses in my back yard, I discovered that the nests inside of them were different sizes. One had barely been started, the second was 2-3 inches tall and the third almost filled the bird house.
In Part 1 of this series, I showed photos of the bird houses and the nests and questioned why the one was so big. I also wondered why the big one had a flat top; there was no place for a nesting bird and her eggs to lay.
Several people who read my first post told me that the big one was a wren’s nest. One reader thought that the bird houses were too close together and that the wren who made the big nest had chased the two other nest builders away. Another reader joked that the bird who made the big nest must have had OCD! No one speculated about the flat top.
I did some investigation. After looking at photos of wrens’ nests, I realized that the readers were right; the big one was a wren’s nest. From an Audubon Field Guide, I learned that a male wren may build several nests. When the nests are finished, the female wren chooses between them. The guide went on to say that the male may build some incomplete “dummy” nests. After reading that, I realized that it was a good possibility that the same wren had built all three nests.
I took the big nest inside so that I could look at it closer. Once I removed the top layer, I discovered a section that looked like a plug. It was much denser than the rest of the nest.
I wondered what the plug had been plugging. When I looked underneath the plug, I saw this:
It sure looked like an area that could have been meant for the female and her eggs!
The Audubon Guide had mentioned that wrens may puncture the eggs of birds that are nesting nearby. It also said that a female wren may leave the male to take care of her eggs, and go nest with another male. I wondered, partially in a joking way, if the female had not approved of any of the nests her partner had built and had taken off to find another male. If that was the case, had the abandoned male decided to plug the nest and add a solid roof on top so no other bird could use it? How in the world had he built the plug? I was left with another set of questions.
After finding the plug and the place that might have been intended for the female, I went back to examining the whole nest. I discovered it was made up of at least ten different materials.
I separated much of the nest into ten piles. The remainder looked like this.
I took a sample of this conglomeration of substances and looked at it under the microscope. I was mesmerized by what I saw. (Click on the gallery to enlarge the photos.)
I had intended to make this a two-part series but have decided to divide it in three instead. In Part 3, I will show you microscopic images of the ten types of materials I found when I separated the components of the nest!
Shared on Senior Salon and Lets Create a Fine Chain…
For last segment go to: A Surprising and Disturbing Discovery- Part 3
Living, Learning and Letting Go 
