in honor of eleven

Behold the Mighty Lumix, and its zoom lens. This eastern tiger swallowtail is at least 10 feet away from me. 

Incidentally, I never did find the monarch caterpillar again, after I first spotted it on July 2nd. By now it's probably several sizes bigger. 

Mullein. 

Out on the road, musk mallow. 

Does this remind you of anything?

Maybe gray birch's fuchsia party hats? 

Random shrubbery. No clue. Didn't capture enough info to look it up later.

Hawkweed. Suck down the orange while it's still around.

Today is a special day. Sweetpea and I have been legally wed for eleven, count 'em eleven years.

In celebration, let's observe others celebrating togetherness.

First from one side, then from the other:

A little syrphid fly action for ya. Hubba hubba. Happy anniversary, love!

butterflies planning an insurrection in the driveway.

OK, so last week, remember I had a cold? I’m still leaking brain fluid, but I’m doing much better. I’ve gotten back into the swing of things. The flower reports have been delayed due to rain, but this afternoon, we had a classic Vermont spring situation: blue sky, puffy clouds, full sun, and rain, all simultaneously. Heaven.

honeysuckle before…

 

and after:

 

 

white baneberry, the day before yesterday, had exploded into bloom…

(remember it from two weeks before that?)

today, the petals are gone. a few stamens are hanging around gamely. the stigma are sullied with glorious pollen.

 

false solomon’s seal on april 28.

 

by may 7, teensy flowers were on the way.

 

on may 21, the seemingly embryonic flowers were out and about. they really are green.

 

today, some of those are barely waking up.

 

while others have unfurled more happy bits.

 

milkweed makes its first appearance.

 

onwards to buttercups.

I believe this one’s been fertilized.

 

again, with the lingering stamens.

 

the final product. so elegant.

 

female eastern tiger swallowtails congregating in the private drive on the way to the mailbox.

seven.

I snuck up on one. she was vibrating and moving slowly in a circle.

she turned completely around.

occasionally they’d lift off, flutter around, and gradually re-assemble.

this one was exploring the soil with her probiscis (thank you, internet, for supplying the word.)

On the stud report, I started a CrossFit-type regimen at the gym this morning. It took just twelve minutes to reduce me from “woo hoo, let’s get started!” to “is there a bucket I can puke in?” Apparently I did great! I’ll try to last longer, next time.

On the chorus report, we had our spring performance over the weekend. I’ll link other groups’ performances of two of the pieces we did (we don’t film our performances).

This is a kick-ass, fast moving gospel piece. I was one of the smaller group in the front. I wore my sexy new LBD. It was awesome. (Again, please note, this video is Not Us.)

Here’s another piece we did – again, as performed by other people - http://ericwhitacre.com/music-catalog/satb-choral/three-songs-of-faith – the “i thank You God for most this amazing day” piece. Lovely stuff.