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3 Book Reviews
Back in April I wrote about three books I’d bought at the used book store. I finally finished all of them, the last one last weekend. Here’s a bit about what I thought of them. Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States by Bill Bryson: I was familiar with Bryson’s work from A Walk in the Woods but had only thumbed through his other books at the store. This one was on clearance so I nabbed it and was immediately fascinated with the book. The book begins with the initial colonization of the U.S. and how the English language was brought over from…
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Texas Wildflowers: Heliotropium curassavicum
Ah, yet another salt marsh plant! This dicot is a native to the majority of the US and several Canadian provinces. This heliotrope can handle saline and wet communities and is found around salt marshes and margins of wetlands within the interior. It flowers for quite awhile from spring to early fall, preferring mostly full sun. I can’t find a lot about the wildlife value of the plant but I imagine it attracts butterflies. It could be difficult to find in nurseries if you are trying to use it as a garden plant, so maybe starting from seed from a plant in a natural habitat might be the way to…
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Hollyhock Pastel—Finished?
Finishing something is a struggle for me. At what point is it done? Right now I am struggling with the background. I don’t particularly like it. I tried to mimic the photo, the blurry background and all but I’m not liking it too much. What do you think? I was thinking of blending it more and making it a more generic darker/darker green background. I just don’t know.. What I want to do is spray it and put it away but I also don’t want something crappy lingering around either. I did the main part of the flower with pastel pencils, which I actually liked except I’d invest in better…
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Site Re-design
Had the urge to re-design the site. New banner some streamlining on the side bars…lemme know what you think. Honest opinions are wanted! I may change a few things still… Have lots to write but might be a few days before I get to that. I’m backlogged and of course I got the idea to redo the site…so I did that instead! Be back in a few days with real posts.
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2011 Summer Interview Series | Kathy Hunt at Analog Soul Photography
I first met Kathy through Chris’ aquarium club where she and her husband Randy were active members in South Florida. Through the last several years in Florida we got to know them pretty well through camping and hiking adventures and they were gracious enough to let us crash at their place while we were getting ready for the Florida Trail this past January. They are really cool folks and I’m glad to share Kathy’s interview with you. She’s got some great photography and is interested in film so that is very distinct in a digital age! First off, give us an idea of who you are, why you blog and…
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The Vegetarian Conundrum
I’d of thought that with vegetarianism and veganism being much more prevalent and accepted these days it wouldn’t be difficult for people to grasp the concept or get orders correct. It seems that it is increasingly common for wait staff and/or kitchen staff to continually screw up my order. I mean, really how hard is “no meat”. I didn’t say “no guac, no onions, no meat, no cheese”. Just one thing was taken out. I want everything else. That pasta I ordered? I want the pasta with everything but the meat. Instead I got a kid sized order of pasta without meat. I didn’t say re-size my pasta. I *don’t*…
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Texas Wildflowers: Distichlis spicata, salt grass
Ok, ok, this isn’t a wildflower, but a grass, however I really like this grass so I’m throwing it in for fun! Yes, we’re still on a run of salt marsh plants I learned in college and as for grasses, they are really difficult (in my opinion) to key out and since I actually know this one I’m going to share it. As its common name suggests, salt grass is tolerant of saline environments however it is known to grow in non-saline areas. It handles the wet soils well but can tolerate drier, sandier soils as well. In North America the habitat it can grow in is widespread, including the…
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The Royal Fern Bog
There’s a pretty unique area where we are working called the Royal Fern Bog. It is a cypress and tupelo swamp covered in lizard’s tail (the white flowers in the photos) and royal ferns, Osmunda regalis. I shot these several weeks ago and I’m really happy with the very first one. It will probably make it to the Wildscape site. Enjoy the bog!
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Argiope aurantia juvenile | Black and Yellow Argiope
I’m not looking forward to these spiders getting larger, they seem to get bigger by the day. We keep walking into their webs on an hourly basis, thankfully Chris is the web walker most days. Took me a bit to figure out which spider this was because it was a juvenile but I found a great resource here. I love spiders from a distance and always see very cool ones in the mud and even walking on the water and floating plants in the Thicket. Wish I had my camera for those shots but when you are waste deep in mud and water, and carrying equipment and such, it isn’t…
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One Year Ago | Harpers Ferry, WV
With Meghan and Jesse on the Potomac Bridge. I had pink hair. *kinda wish I could dye it again…then again, maybe not* Meghan’s Blueberry was just a glimmer in her eye. Oh, hot and sweaty…almost half way. So long ago, yet not. See who else is making it to the mental half way point this year.