• Memes,  Wildlife Wednesday

    Zebra Longhorn Beetles (Typocerus zebra) | Wildlife Wednesday

    Back in April during our camping trip to Martin Creek Lake State Park near Henderson in East Texas, we hiked one afternoon on the Old Henderson Road Loop. I had thought about doing a separate trail write-up for that portion of the park but instead I think I’ll be sharing separate portions of the flora and fauna we saw there over the coming weeks. As we passed by a set of thistles one I noticed beetles crawling around on the flower heads and stopped to take a few photos. I think I interrupted some private bug moments going on but I took a few photos anyway! I really can’t find…

  • Florida,  Hiking,  Outdoors,  Travel & Places

    Coconut Point Sanctuary | Melbourne Beach, FL

    It’s July 11, 2009, my 29th birthday. At this point we are already full throttle into planning our Appalachian Trail thru-hike. I mean, in the fact that we are pretty sure we are going to quit our jobs and pack away our things in early 2010 and head out on our thru-hike, pending on what our bank account looks like towards the end of the year of course. With that in mind we are kind of on a roll to hit up a lot of places in Florida that we may not see for a while after we move out of the state, including a trip back to the Melbourne…

  • Memes,  Outdoors,  Wildlife Wednesday

    Chironomus sp. | Wildlife Wednesday

    The last camping trip we had in the spring was to Martin Creek Lake State Park near Kilgore. We had stopped here once on our way home from Caddo Lake when Forest was newly 2 for a short hike, to break up the long drive back to Houston with a then potty training toddler. Kilgore also happens to be near where my friend Michelle and her family used to live so every time we roll through there I think of her, even though she now lives an hour away from me in College Station. We found ourselves chilling at camp one of the afternoons and I was bound and determined…

  • Texas,  Travel & Places

    Weekend in Austin

    Over the 4th of July long weekend, the three of us buckled in and drove over to Austin for the weekend. It had been quite a while since we had just tinkered around Austin without camping plans, so Chris found an available hotel room in north Austin and we set off to do some Austin exploring. I even came up with a list of new things to do after trolling around on Google Maps and checking out various parks, but of course we resorted to going to the places we always go to! And they are good places, of course, but one of these days we’ll manage to see something…

  • Memes,  Wildlife Wednesday

    Who Cooks For You? Who Cooks For You All? | Wildlife Wednesday

    A week ago or so Forest and I were headed out to daycare and work down the driveway and I startled one of the local barred owls out of the swamp chestnut oak. It swooped low over the car and floated onto the electric pole on the property line. I stopped and got my phone out to take a few photos to show Forest since he was situated in a position that he couldn’t see the owl. Then, a few nights ago as I was working in the edible garden another owl (maybe the same owl) hooted from the woods down the way. It wasn’t terribly far as it was…

  • Gardening

    Oleander Aphids | Wildlife Wednesday

    I’ve come to enjoy seeing the oleander aphids in the garden when they colonize the milkweeds and their allies. Of course they also feast on oleanders themselves but I don’t have oleanders so I’ve never seen them colonize on an oleander but then next time I am near one planted in a landscape I’ll give it a look. Oleander aphids are parthenogenic, which means the females basically clone themselves (I’m simplifying here but if you want to delve deeper you can read more here. I did a few papers on parthenogenesis in college on tardigrades and parthenogenesis and found it fascinating!) and can be winged or wingless. It looks like…

  • Gardening

    Foxglove Season

    Foxglove season has come and gone, late April and early May was peak blooming around our garden. In those early days of the spring garden the tall flower spikes of the foxgloves were a welcome sight to see as all of the other plants were growing and working their way into filling in. It helps that the deer steer quite clear of the foxglove so we never have to worry about an impending bloom being eaten and coming home to a disappointing scene. The only downside to foxglove is their biennial nature but such is the way the garden goes—sometimes you have to be patient to wait for a tiny…