There are three saddlebacks on the backside of this banana leaf—but we actually found a total of four later on! I have always wanted to see a saddleback caterpillar, Acharia stimulea, in person. Chris found one in the field a few years ago and texted me a photo of it and that has been the […]
Life Lately | August 2020
Thinking: My first thought is—I was overly ambitious to want to try a 10 mile bike ride at 1pm during a heat advisory day (I’m drafting this on Saturday)! *Laughs in Texas in August* I cut it short to 5 miles and hope to do the other 5 this evening. Tomorrow (or today when this […]
Snow in the Thicket
In late June we trekked back to Watson Preserve and the Big Thicket to see what might be blooming in early summer. I’d had word that the snowy orchids, Platanthera nivea, were blooming and they were a species I had not seen before. Chris says he had seem them but I wanted to get my […]
Exploring a New Section on the Lone Star Trail
Flowering Spurge, Euphorbia corollata Last weekend we ventured out to do a new to us section on the Lone Star Trail. We originally wanted to hike starting at the Cotton Creek Cemetery Road trailhead near Huntsville but when we pulled up to turn down the road we found it looked like it went through a […]
Quick Check-In
Hey! Yes, I’ve fallen off the face of the blogosphere! I should probably do this as a Life Lately post but I’m short of time so this will be a quick update and eventually I’ll do something a bit more in depth. Highlights: +Online school is going. That’s about it…going. I wish he was at […]
August Insects
Yellow Star Grass, Hypoxis hirsuta Last weekend I noticed that the mountain mint was abuzz with insects so I grabbed my camera to see what I could a snapshot of. It turned out we had quite a few interesting characters in the garden! Common Thread-waisted Wasp, Ammophila procera Two-striped Forceptail, Aphylla williamsoni I caught this […]
Denali By Bus: Part IV
One of the highlights on any trip to Denali is of course the chance to see brown bears! And while we had encountered them from a distance on our way into the park, seeing them up close like this was amazing! This is really just me spamming you with brown bear photos! Gah, it really […]
Denali By Bus: Part III
Eventually we made it to the Eielson Visitors Center, where a decent crowd from earlier buses were already inside. Bathrooms, water bottle refilling stations, a gift shop, and other exhibits were open to learn more about Denali. I was captivated by the artistry of these art quilts that captured the essence of the park. I […]
Pre-Birthday Hike on the Lone Star Trail
Our last hiking adventure has been a few weeks now, the Friday before my birthday. I took the day off and after we’d decided to back out of our initial idea of going to the beach, we opted instead to go for a hike on the LST and then head over and check on our […]
