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2 more pictures in notes above! :) This morning after my photo shoot, I was about to head upstairs when I noticed a dark blotch on one of the dog's water bowls. Freezing, I wondered excitedly, "Could it be what I think it is???!" Slowly peering down to get a closer look, a pair of froggy eyes peered back at me! YES!!! A PACIFIC TREE FROG!!! IN THE WATER BOWL! WOO HOO!!! I backed up and quietly got my camera, put on the macro flash and returned. I think I heard something like, "Oh no... that human is back... I know, I'll keep really still and she won't see me!!" Instead, I cooed at it, "Aww, just look at how cute you are!" as I began taking pictures. Froggy began to sink down the side of the bowl, while seeming to say, "Lady, do you realize that you're blinding me with that pair of blazing suns you have there?!" I took a bunch of pictures as he creeped around the inside of the bowl and then climbed up to the lip, preparing to leap. "That's IT! I've totally had it with you and your Blasting Light Rays of Blindness! Not cool! Not cool at all!!" Unseen by us, a fly on the wall hears the commotion. Cackling gleefully, it mumbles to itself, "Now this is one show I gotta see!" Down it zooms, into my view, and then, to my complete surprise, right on the frog's head. Froggy yells out in my general direction, "INSULT TO INJURY!!! I CRY FOUL!! First you blind me, then you follow me around this bowl and keep flashing suns at me, and NOW THERE IS A FLY ON MY HEAD!" *fly blows raspberries at the frog and me* "BWAH HAH HAH HAH HAH!!! I AM THE PHOTOBOMBING FLY, HEAR ME ROAR!!...or well, hear me blow raspberries!" *Janet clicks the shutter release exactly ONCE* The fly zooms off, cackling into the wild blue yonder and the frog leaps off the bowl, screaming, "GOODBYE, CRUEL WORLD!!!" ... and lands on the soft plush rug three inches below. I pick up the squirming froggy, who's screaming, "GET YOUR FILTHY PAWS OFF MY SILKY DRAWERS!!!" and I carefully cage it in my hands, run some water over it to get rid of the coating of dog hair and take the enraged amphibean outside where it crawls onto a leaf spluttering obcenities at me as I leave, and I coo an affectionate goodbye to my darling little friend. Living in the countryside is so much fun!! :D Sophocles (c. 497/6 BC – winter 406/5 BC) is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides. According to the Suda, a 10th-century encyclopedia, Sophocles wrote 123 plays during the course of his life, but only seven have survived in a complete form: Ajax, Antigone, The Women of Trachis, Oedipus the King, Electra, Philoctetes and Oedipus at Colonus. For almost 50 years, Sophocles was the most-fêted playwright in the dramatic competitions of the city-state of Athens that took place during the religious festivals of the Lenaea and the Dionysia. He competed in around 30 competitions, won perhaps 24, and was never judged lower than second place. Aeschylus won 14 competitions, and was sometimes defeated by Sophocles, while Euripides won only 4 competitions. Wikipedia: Sophocles Explored on July 27, 2013. Highest placement: page 1 (#17)...

4 more pictures in notes above! This morning I decided to go right over to the Milkweed flowers, since I've been finding so many insects there to photograph. Wow, did I ever find insects! I was only out there for about 15 minutes and saw several types of bees, three kinds of wasps and hornets, two types of skippers and four different species of butterflies. There were lots of beetles too, and flies I'm sure were around. The thing that's surprising is that upon first inspection, nothing was there. But after standing still for a moment, the insects zoomed back in to carry on their business. Makes me wonder how many insects I would see if I spent several hours here! Of course, I can't do it. I am always extremely wary of burning myself out, if even just for one day. That kind of thing builds up and I can't risk it because this 365 project requires me to take new pictures every day. If I got sick of taking pictures, it would be a disaster! So I'll have to see about an extended photography session next year. Something to look forward to! As I watched to see what was visiting the flowers, I hoped that a certain wasp I'd seen in the past would come by. This wasp is huge--about 2" long and you can really hear these guys buzzing around. They are not something I'd want to tangle with, but I WOULD like pictures! And lucky me...after several failed attempts on other days, today I got lucky!! I managed to get some very nice pictures as the wasp moved around the flowers, and then it landed on a flower with a skipper on it. The second it detected the skipper, it moved over in a very aggressive manner. I was close enough to take pictures and darn it if they didn't come out!! When I got to the third picture, I whooped in delight, as I was hoping desperately that I caught the skipper as it flew away! HOORAY, I DID!!!! (You can see my two other pictures of the wasp and the skipper by rolling your mouse over the upper left of the picture) Thanks to Art (Leapfrog) , I now know that this is a Golden Digger Wasp (Sphex ichneumoneus) and a Woodland Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanoides)...you're the best!!! *hugs* Leonard Randolph "Lenny" Wilkens (born October 28, 1937) is a retired American basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been inducted three times into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, first in 1989 as a player, as a coach in 1998, and as part of the 1992 United States Olympic "Dream Team", for which he was an assistant coach. From the 1994–95 season until the 2009–10 season, Wilkens was the all-time winningest coach in NBA history and retired still holding the record at 1,332 victories. Wilkens is now second on the list behind Don Nelson. Wikipedia: Lenny Wilkens Explored on July 28, 2013. Highest placement: page 1 (#21).

4 more pictures in notes above! :) For the past few days I've been checking on the tiny eggs I found on the Milkweed stems, and this morning was HATCH DAY!! First I found a single caterpillar...and then I found dozens of adorable, itty bitty caterpillars crawling all over the leaf where their eggs had been attached! Talk about TINY!!! These little guys are just 1/16" in size and as cute as a fuzzy button! Would you just LOOK at that fancy hair?! We're talking HIGH FASHION here!! I went out twice to take pictures--once in the morning and once in the afternoon, and I'm glad I went the second time because on the way to the large Milkweed patch, I stopped by the smaller patch and found a pair of MATING Clio Tiger Moths--which is what these caterpillars will turn into!! Talk about luck! I got a picture of them to share, and a collage of images of the fuzzy babies--plus a couple of extras included in notes! HOORAY FOR HATCH DAY!!! :D Laozi or Lao Tzu; also romanized as Lao Tse, Lao Tu, Lao-Tsu, Laotze, Laosi, Laocius, and other variations) (fl. 6th century BCE) was a philosopher of ancient China, best known as the author of the Tao Te Ching (often simply referred to as Laozi). His association with the Tào Té Chīng has led him to be traditionally considered the founder of philosophical Taoism (pronounced as "Daoism"). He is also revered as a deity in most religious forms of Taoist philosophy, which often refers to Laozi as Taishang Laojun, or "One of the Three Pure Ones". Wkipedia: Lao Tzu Explored on July 29, 2013. Highest placement: page 2 (#33).

3 more pictures in notes above! :) Yesterday Steve and I stopped by a garden center on the way home and I brought home some new flowering plants for my garden! The wildflowers around here are getting scarce and though there are endless cool pictures to capture, I really love bright and cheerful blossoms, so I picked out a few! Today I'm sharing two images of a totally bizarre flower called a celosia! There are many different species, many of which look like burning feathers or flames, hence its name, Celosia, which comes from the Greek name, "kelos", which means "burned". This flower is also an important food in some countries and the leaves are supposed to taste a bit like mild spinach when cooked. Celosia also has many medicinal uses too! The kind of Celosia I got is known as a Cockscomb because of its appearance to a chicken's comb. Jim Hodges (born 1957) is a New York-based installation artist. Hodges was born in Spokane, Washington. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Fort Wright College in 1980 and his Master of Fine Arts degree from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY in 1986. Since the late 1980s, Hodges has created a broad range of work exploring themes of fragility, temporality, love and death utilizing a highly original and poetic vocabulary. His works frequently deploy different materials and techniques, from ready-made objects to more traditional media, such as graphite, ink, gold leaf and mirrored elements. Charting both the overlooked and obvious touchstones of life with equal attention and poignancy, Hodges’ conceptual practice is as broad and expansive as the range of human experiences he captures. Hodges has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions in the United States and Europe and has been included in various significant group exhibitions, including the 2004 Whitney Biennial. Hodges is currently a Senior Critic in the Sculpture Department at the Yale University School of Art. A major retrospective of Hodges’ work, organized by the Walker Art Center and the Dallas Museum of Art, is scheduled for 2013 and 2014. Wkipedia: Jim Hodges Explored on July 30, 2013. Highest placement: page 2 (#46).

Here is my contribution for Square/Cube! :D 4 more pictures in notes above! :) You can also find me on Facebook ! Today is Thursday and that means it's BOKEH THURSDAY!!! The theme for this week is "square", so I decided to take macros of some tiny crystal, metal, and enamel square beads that I have. I placed them on my iPad for a reflective surface and used my macro flash to get lots of shine. I settled on three different arrangements to share--this one even has a square format!--and I also got a nice one of some colorful wooden beads I have! ENJOY!! Today also marks the first day of August, and that starts another month in my 365 Project! I've included a collage of my month today as well! :) By the way, if you enjoy taking pictures with bokeh in them, you might be interested in this group. Lots of very nice people and we would love to have more join in the fun! Bokeh Thursday Courtney Milan's debut novel was published in 2010. Since then, she's been a New York Times and a USA Today bestseller, and her books have received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Courtney Milan Explored on August 2, 2013. Highest placement: page 2 (#50).

2 more pictures in notes above! :) A few days ago, I brought home a bunch of flower plants for my garden to have a few more colorful subjects to photograph, but also, because I love flowers! I was planning to put them in my little garden, but the morning I was going to plant them, I discovered that some deer came through during the night and ate my new echinacea and strawberry plant. We bought a special sprayer that detects motion to scare the animals away, but sadly, it's not working very well. On top of that, there isn't anything for the deer to eat around here now and they are desperate enough that water spraying at them isn't deterring them anymore. After I got over being infuriated and upset (and yet, I truly can't blame them), I found some planters I'd used years ago, filled them with dirt and planted my new flowers, placing both oblog planters on our front porch where the deer can't get at them. Well ok, they COULD get to them but they'd have to walk ONTO the porch. Steve thinks they might. I really doubt it. Too confining. Let's hope they don't! This is a beautiful Zinnia! I got a six-pack of them in assorted colors, and this one is so beautiful in hot pink! I thought it would be fun to focus on a few of the petals to see what the effect would look like, and when I showed my husband, he told me that it MUST be my pick of the day! :D Who am I to argue? :) Jules Henri Poincaré (29 April 1854 – 17 July 1912) was a French mathematician, theoretical physicist, engineer, and a philosopher of science. He is often described as a polymath, and in mathematics as The Last Universalist, since he excelled in all fields of the discipline as it existed during his lifetime. Henri Poincaré Explored on August 3, 2013. Highest placement: page 1 (#12).

3 more pictures in notes above! At long last, today is Milkweed Blossom Day! I've been meaning to feature the side view of a Milkweed flower for over a month and finally the day has arrived! I realized that the flowers have peaked and there aren't many buds left now, so if I was going to get some nice side views for a Pick of the Day, I'd better go out there and do it before I was too late! Friedrich Max Müller (December 6, 1823 – October 28, 1900), generally known as Max Müller, was a German-born philologist and Orientalist, who lived and studied in Britain for most of his life. He was one of the founders of the western academic field of Indian studies and the discipline of comparative religion. Müller wrote both scholarly and popular works on the subject of Indology and the Sacred Books of the East, a 50-volume set of English translations, was prepared under his direction. He also put forward and promoted the idea of a Turanian family of languages and Turanian people. Max Müller Explored on August 7, 2013. Highest placement: page 2 (#41).

3 more pictures in notes above! :) I just love today's quote! It's so me! :D Honestly, I have been fascinated by nature all my life, and though my interest in tiny creatures waned a bit as an adult, the very moment I picked up a camera that interest came hurtling back and I am delighted when I discover a critter I haven't photographed yet! Yesterday I shared some pictures of Milkweed seeds, but what you don't know is that I went back an hour or so after taking pictures and gathered up all the seeds that I could find. I would like to plant these seeds in my little garden to have these flowers right under my nose next summer. :) When I brought the seeds inside, I sat and separated the seeds from the fluff, and suddenly I noticed a pretty bug crawling across the table! It just happened to be the very species I've been trying to get pictures of but keep failing at, so I gently coaxed him into a plastic bag with plans to take pictures today! Then, when I sat down again to finish my little seed project, I saw an extremely tiny insect crawling on a seed pod. When I say tiny, I mean "grain-of-rice-tiny"! Noticing how adorable it was, I popped the little guy into the bag too. Today I was just about to go out to get my pictures for the day when I remembered my little buddies in the bag! I went out and got a grass stem for a stage and went outside with my camera and the bugs and the stem, and together we all had a great time! I finally got good pictures of this bug and I couldn't be happier! :D After I was done, I brought my models back to the Milkweed bushes and put them onto some leaves where they both crawled away! Edward Osborne "E. O." Wilson (born June 10, 1929) is an American biologist, researcher (sociobiology, biodiversity), theorist (consilience, biophilia), naturalist (conservationist) and author. His biological specialty is myrmecology, the study of ants, on which he is considered to be the world's leading authority. Wilson is known for his scientific career, his role as "the father of sociobiology", his environmental advocacy, and his secular-humanist and deist ideas pertaining to religious and ethical matters. Wikipedia: E. O. Wilson Explored on August 15, 2013. Highest placement, page 2 (#28).

6 more pictures in notes above! :) I've been thinking about Lucky's Pond and Angel's pond lately, and feeling a little bummed that I didn't share more pictures of this unfolding event as the tadpoles I rescued turned into frogs and hopped away. Time flies and now it's mid-August! Unlike last year, all the tadpoles in Lucky's Pond turned into frogs and left that pond empty, so I've let it dry up. I want to clean it out so it's not such a mess next year. Most of the tadpoles have transformed in Angel's Pond too, but a few are still taking their time. This morning I went over to take a look and it's almost like these guys knew I was feeling sad because just like that, a froglet hopped onto the dry spot and sat staring at me! I hadn't seen any froglets for WEEKS so I was amazed and delighted! I buzzed into the house and back out with my camera and happily the froglet was still there! I got a few pictures before he hopped behind a rock, but then I saw another one swimming on the far side of the pond, and went around to take pictures of that one too. They are SO CUTE, aren't they?!! I was about to return to the house when I thought, "I wonder if this little guy would let me pick him up..." So I reached a finger under him and gently hoisted him up into the air...and he STAYED!!! YES!!! I took pictures one-handed and hoped I'd get at least one good picture--it's hard to keep the camera still with one hand, AND hard to keep my other hand still too...these shots are tough when BOTH hands are not rock-steady. Suddenly...*BOING*.... *SPLASH*, and my little buddy hopped back into the water and swam away. You can imagine my joy when I found that I got this picture, which turned out perfectly!! (The 8-10 others were either just a bit off to totally blurry!) Hooray for a brave little froglet!! :D I've been smiling all day thinking about this cutie pie! :) (In case you're interested, this is the story of Angel's Pond! ) Sivānanda Saraswati (September 8, 1887 – July 14, 1963) was a Hindu spiritual teacher and a proponent of Yoga and Vedanta. Sivānanda was born Kuppuswami in Pattamadai, in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. He studied medicine and served in British Malaya as a physician for several years before taking up monasticism. He lived most part of his life near Muni Ki Reti, Rishikesh. Wikipedia: Sivananda Saraswati Explored on August 16, 2013. Highest placement, page 1 (#20).

2 more pictures and one text note above! :) I've been working on a little seed project which involves gathering seeds from various flowers that I have growing here. I have many, many poppy seed pods to collect seeds from and today I spent some time on that. When I was done pulling poppy pods out of a cup, I poured the seeds at the bottom into my hand and... why, there was something crawling around! I peered very closely to see, and... awwwwwwww... there I saw an itty bitty hunting spider about the size of the letter "o" in this sentence! So cute!! I placed him on a napkin and ran for my camera! I took a bunch of pictures with both my flash and with just natural lighting, and hoped that I'd get a few good ones to share. When a creature is THAT small, it's not easy to get crisp focus on the spot you're hoping for. I always try for the eyes because that's where we are first drawn to when looking at an animal. But at this size, the only way I can really be sure is to stare with my naked eye to see how it's positioned and then try to get a clear picture focused where I think the eyes are. It really is amazing to me how great this 100mm lens is. Combined with 21k pixels from my 5D Mark II, I have the luxury of being able to crop in quite closely. What a combination!! To give you an idea how tiny this spider is, it's crawling over shell embossing on a paper napkin! So amazing to me that something I can barely see can be captured so large! You know, we actually have a special lens adaptor, called the Raynox DCR-250 Super Macro conversion lens, which is a 2.5x magnification lens, but the problem is that the dof becomes so ridiculously razor thin that it can be challenging to get the focus where you want it. We've had the lens since I've had my Mark II, but I haven't bothered even trying to use it because I wanted to be extremely comfortable with my 100mm before trying to tack on this potentially frustrating lens. Do you think it's about time for me to give it a try? :) I think I'm ready! The fact of the matter is that I need to begin practicing with this lens because SOME DAY when I have some extra money, I want to get Canon's amazing MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro Photo lens. It's manual focus only and has razor thin dof, but the results are INCREDIBLE when a person can learn to use it well! So...time to begin practicing! :) WISH ME LUCK!!!! *tremble* Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, KG, PC, FRS, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British Prime Minister, parliamentarian, Conservative statesman and literary figure. He served in government for forty years, twice as Prime Minister of Great Britain. He played a central role in the creation of the modern Conservative Party after the Corn Laws schism of 1846. In the late nineteenth and mid-twentieth century, the concept of One-nation conservatism associated with him, with its emphasis on obligations to all classes, was highly influential in Britain. Wikipedia: Benjamin Disraeli Explored on August 17, 2013. Highest placement, page 2 (#44)...

4 more pictures in notes above! Please visit the stamen pictures and roll your mouse over the image to see what the full size flower looks like :) Yesterday's pictures of a tiny baby spider had me thinking that it's time to add another layer of challenge to my photography, in the form of the Raynox DCR-250 Super Macro conversion lens . Even though we've had this lens for a couple of years, I wanted to have ample time to practice with my 100mm lens first. Macro lenses have a steep learning curve and can be very frustrating to use until you understand how to use them properly. In fact, about 100,000 pictures down the road, I *STILL* and *WILL ALWAYS* take plenty of garbage pictures. It's part of the price tag of working in macro. :) I'm really glad I waited to use this conversion lens. Instead of becoming instantly annoyed, I was immediately comfortable using it, since I've had so much practice learning to judge distance and dof with my 100mm. The closer you get to a subject with a macro lens, the more razor thin the focus slice is, and the Raynox is unforgiving with the hair-thin dof. However, since I have used my 100mm at close range so much, I was prepared and pleasantly surprised that I already knew what to do with the Raynox, what types of shots and angles to try for the best possible outcome. With such a fine slice of focus, you want to try for a flat or side shot, and don't even bother with really small apertures like f/2.8. So I upped mine to f/6.3, compensated for the loss of light from the conversion lens by upping my ISO to 320, and looked for subjects that were very well lit for the best probability of a crisp picture. And, just to toss in a bit more complexity, all of these pictures today were taken with manual focus because the subject area is too small to get accurate auto focus. When I noticed this "flying green grain of rice" land on a Star Thistle blossom, I saw a great opportunity to practice! I was able to take about 6-8 pictures, some of which were totally blurry, a couple that were just a bit off, one that wasn't half bad, and this one, which I am delighted by!! The lighting could be better but I am not complaining! My first practice session with this conversion lens and I got THIS picture!!! There are prisms visible in the compound eye and check out that amazing pebbly texture on the back! And that jewel-like emerald green! This tiny Sweat Bee is only about the size of a grain of rice!!! AMAZING!!!! I'm totally delighted. If I use a tripod or even a monopod, I'll have even better luck with clarity. Very promising! Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895/1896 – February 17, 1986) was an Indian speaker and writer on philosophical and spiritual subjects. In his early life he was groomed to be the new World Teacher but later rejected this mantle and disbanded the organisation behind it. His subject matter included psychological revolution, the nature of mind, meditation, inquiry, human relationships, and bringing about radical change in society. He constantly stressed the need for a revolution in the psyche of every human being and emphasized that such revolution cannot be brought about by any external entity, be it religious, political, or social. Wikipedia: Jiddu Krishnamurti Explored on August 18, 2013. Highest placement, page 3.

2 more pictures in notes above! Please visit the other pictures and roll your mouse over the images to see what the full size flower looks like :) I had more fun with the Raynox DCR-250 Super Macro conversion lens today! :) This time I wandered over to our patch of Bull Thistle, which is almost done blooming. There are a few more flowers in full bloom though, so I took the opportunity to practice taking pictures. I got a lot of images, but the slight breeze was enough to ruin many of my attempts. This one turned out well I think, talk about abstract! Yesterday I was very surprised to find that the tips of the Star Thistle flower bits have beautiful details, so I thought I might find the same on the Bull Thistle flowers. YES!! So amazing what you can see at this magnification, isn't it?! I am constantly amazed at the wonders to see if only we can look closer! :) Charles Langbridge Morgan (22 January 1894 – 6 February 1958) was an English-born playwright and novelist of English and Welsh parentage. The main themes of his work were, as he himself put it, "Art, Love, and Death",[1] and the relation between them. Themes of individual novels range from the paradoxes of freedom (The Voyage, The River Line), through passionate love seen from within (Portrait in a Mirror) and without (A Breeze of Morning), to the conflict of good and evil (The Judge's Story) and the enchanted boundary of death (Sparkenbroke). Wikipedia: Charles Langbridge Morgan Explored on August 19, 2013. Highest placement, page 5.

4 more pictures in notes above! I decided to take a day off from practicing with the Raynox DCR-250 Super Macro conversion lens and walked out into one of our meadows to see what I could find before the 100 degree heat drove me indoors. First I found a fly that was zooming around the Star Thistle flowers. I thought it would be fun to see if I could get any pictures clear enough to share, and I got lucky! (See my next two pictures) Then I walked a little further to another Star Thistle and as I was studying the stems and flowers, I noticed movement. It was an odd but pretty little fly who I have two pictures of as well! Finally, I headed up along our "granite valley" and saw some interesting weeds, but thought, "Oh, these won't look like anything!" But knowing how often I'm wrong when I say such things to myself, I took a few pictures. Three of them were so nice that I had a hard time choosing which would be my Picture of the Day! :D This is a perfect example of serendipity: a happy accident! :D José Manuel Durão Barroso (Portuguese; born 23 March 1956) is the 11th and current President of the European Commission and a Portuguese politician. He served as Prime Minister of Portugal from 6 April 2002 to 17 July 2004. Wikipedia: José Manuel Barroso Explored on August 20, 2013. Highest placement, page 2.

4 more pictures in notes above! :) When Steve and I moved to our property here in southern Oregon, there were some plants already established around the house, including about five different rose bushes. Although they are beautiful, we have always been unhappy with them because all of them lack much scent. Even in the early morning, when flower fragrance is highest, there is next to no scent on any of our roses. We planned to replace them but have yet to get around to it. Personally, although I wish they smelled as wonderful as they look, I think it would be sad to remove them just because they don't have all of the qualities we want in a rose. Do you know WHY some roses have a strong fragrance and others do not? I always wondered about this, and after looking around on the web I discovered the answer. The "short" answer is that crossing rose species together will often cancel out the fragrance or reduce it dramatically. Also, some pure strains do not have a strong fragrance, but they have qualities that some rose breeders want, so these roses are crossed with other strains, and resulting roses will usually lack scent. Even the most aromatic roses can be crossed and the resulting rose will lack scent or have a reduced amount. And finally, a rose, even if it's known for having a strong fragrance, may not smell as fragrant due to conditions where it is grown! If you would like to read more about this interesting subject, here's one article worth reading: Where's The Fragrance? William Cullen Bryant (November 3, 1794 – June 12, 1878) was an American romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the New York Evening Post. Wikipedia: William C. Bryant Explored on August 14, 2013. Highest placement, page 4.

6 pictures above in notes! :) Last year I was working on a project called, "The Flowers of Spring & Summer", where I attempted to take pictures of every species of flower that grows on our property. I finally had to abandon this when I started my 365 Project, but I learned so much about what grows here! I'll be continuing with it after I complete my 365! :) This is a close-up of a Moth Mullein, which was the 158th flower of my project. I am crazy about the pistils of this flower which are so dramatic next to their fairly plain petals. Last year I took an extensive series of pictures, so I'm going to share just a couple from today and if you take a look in the picture above, you'll see many clickable inset images! ENJOY! Here is information I wrote about this flower last year: Part of Moth Mullen's latin name is "Verbascum" which appropriately means "beard", and though this flower is closed at night, thus not attracting moths, their stamens suggest the shape of a moth's antennae. These flowers are native to Eurasia and North Africa and considered an invasive weed in the United States and Canada. If you would like to know more about this flower, Wiki has a page here: Wiki: Moth Mullein (Verbascum blattaria) Explored on August 14, 2013. Highest placement, page 3...

4 more pictures in notes above! :) This morning I went out to water the garden and was surprised to discover that it had rained last night! It is the second night in a row that we've gotten rain, and I am so very thankful. Southern Oregon, where I live, has been experiencing horrible lightning storms, and on August 10, more than 14,000 lightning strikes were reported in 24 hours!!!! Southern Oregon is currently the hot-spot in the United States for wildfires. There are 4 wildfire complexes (groupings of fires in the same area) that are burning over 73,327 acres or 114.57 square miles. The smoke can be seen from space, but thankfully the rain we've had in the past couple of days has really helped a lot. Two nights ago I was woken to the sound of rumbling thunder. Sitting up, I looked out our window and watched as I saw lightning flashing in the distance and after a bit, the thunder would rumble through the house. Then, as I was looking out, a lightning bolt hit the ground within 1/10th of a mile from our house and I was looking RIGHT at it when it struck! The flash blinded me and I had residual blindness (black outline of lightning flash) for 10 minutes! Incredible...it hit, the world was as bright as the sun, and immediately the house shook like an earthquake and the sound of CRACK-CRACKLE-BOOOOOOOM-BOOM-BOOM!!!! filled my world! And then, the sky opened up and a torrent of rain like I haven't seen for months POURED for the next 10 minutes, drenching everything, the smell of warm earth and wet, dead grass drifting through the air. An amazing experience. I was so afraid that there would be a wildfire starting nearby, but I am so thankful that heavy rain accompanied every lightning strike. Last night there was no lightning nearby, but it rained and I'm so happy because it will help lower the threat of wildfires! Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936), better known as G.K. Chesterton, was an English writer. He wrote on philosophy, ontology, poetry, plays, journalism, public lectures and debates, literary and art criticism, biography, Christian apologetics, and fiction, including fantasy and detective fiction. Chesterton is often referred to as the "prince of paradox." Time magazine, in a review of a biography of Chesterton, observed of his writing style: "Whenever possible Chesterton made his points with popular sayings, proverbs, allegories—first carefully turning them inside out." Wikipedia: Gilbert K. Chesterton Explored on August 12, 2013. Highest placement, page 4.

2 more pictures in notes above! :) The smoke from the wildfires in southern Oregon has reduced a great deal from the rain we've had, and this morning when I went out, I was captivated by the warm glowing light over our meadows. I love the way the sun makes ordinary grass look when you see it at just the right angle! Anatole France (pronounced: [anatɔl fʁɑ̃s]; born François-Anatole Thibault, (16 April 1844 – 12 October 1924) was a French poet, journalist, and novelist. He was born in Paris, and died in Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire. He was a successful novelist, with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters. He was a member of the Académie française, and won the Nobel Prize for Literature in recognition of his literary achievements. Wikipedia: Anatole France Explored on August 13, 2013. Highest placement, page 2 (#31).

3 more pictures and 1 text note above! :) Last October I was checking under rocks along our ridgetop and to my complete surprise, I found this beautiful California Mountain Kingsnake!! I could not resist capturing this tiny baby so that I could bring it home to show Steve, who also loves snakes. Never in my life have I seen such a gorgeous snake in the wild...and I found it on our property!! WOW! Both of us were so amazed by this little guy that we wanted to keep it for our own. However, I needed to know that it would be ok to do this, so I did some research on the internet and found out that in our area, this is a fairly common snake, but because it's secretive, it's rarely seen. I found out that it isn't illegal to keep them as a pet, and both of us have had snakes, so we understand how to care for them. Finally, both of us were concerned that he was too small, so late in the year, to survive the long winter. So, after trying out many different names, we decided to call him "Snakey" because it's cute to say, bought him a tank and everything needed to care for him, and he's been with us for nearly 9 months now. He's grown much larger from his original 11" by several inches and is wonderful to hold and observe! :) The quote I picked is perfect for him, because these snakes mimic the color of the very dangerous Coral Snake, but are not venemous and are very gentle and docile. Chanakya (c. 370–283 BCE) was an Indian teacher, philosopher and royal advisor. Originally a professor of economics and political science at the ancient Takshashila University, Chanakya managed the first Maurya emperor Chandragupta's rise to power at a young age. He is widely credited for having played an important role in the establishment of the Maurya Empire, which was the first empire in archaeologically recorded history to rule most of the Indian subcontinent. Chanakya served as the chief advisor to both Chandragupta and his son Bindusara. Wikipedia: Chanakya Explored on August 11, 2012. Highest placement, page 4.