Indian Pipe Blooms

Dappled sunlight doesn't really make for the best photos, but I've yet to find Indian Pipe in a perfect location. It likes to be near decaying things and that's usually in a shady area. As I mentioned before it comes up out of the ground bent over, and white. At first you might even think it's a fungus. But it's not. It just lacks chlorophyll.

Unlike most plants, it is white and does not contain chlorophyll. Instead of generating energy from sunlight, it is parasitic, more specifically a myco-heterotroph. Its hosts are certain fungi that are mycorrhizal with trees, meaning it ultimately gets its energy from photosynthetic trees. Since it is not dependent on sunlight to grow, it can grow in very dark environments as in the understory of dense forest. The complex relationship that allows this plant to grow also makes propagation difficult.

After it reaches its height the blooms turn upward. This is the first time I've been able to catch the pipes straight. It doesn't take long until they droop and turn broom. The little tops are full of seeds.

I enjoyed watching the ants on it, not sure if they have anything to do with its pollination or if they just like it.

Monotropa Uniflora is commonly known as Indian Pipe, Ghost Plant or Corpse Plant.

whooping cranes

Nearing extinction, with only 15 Whooping Cranes left in 1948, people stepped in and helped, with the determination of many, now there are 400!  I can't seem to find exact numbers of cancer deaths through the years but I can tell you approximately 1,400,000 people are diagnosed in the US each year. With a number like that just think about all the people involved in our fight against cancer.  While I couldn't find exact numbers I could see there is a trend and each year there are more of us survivors! Determination pays off!

~ You can see the explanation behind this project by going here or see the all posts in this category by going here.

A Look Back

I have been feeling nostalgic and decided to periodically share an old post, or photos from the archives. Here's a post that describes a phenomenon that has been happening a LOT lately. The moose moments.

Missourians don't have accents, Dad's tired ears & Blonde moments
originally posted Thursday, 29 December 2005

While visiting our family in Missouri over the holidays I discovered that Missourians DO indeed have accents. As a child I always wanted to go somewhere with accents as I was so disappointed that we didn't have any. After being gone from MO for 3 years I discovered how wrong I had been. I have worked, as an adult, to improve my pronunciation of certain words and found myself lapsing while there. In fact, I told my parents I was going to end up going home talking funny. :)

While there I also discovered that my dad's hearing isn't getting worse with age, his ears are tired. Sorry mom, but I now know where I got my loquaciousness. Like mother, like daughter, they say. Dennis's ears will soon be tired too. Fortunately for him, he gets a 2-4 day break with each chemo as I speak very little on those worst days. However, he swears I make up for it on my good days.

Yesterday, I mentioned to some of you about having a blonde moment. Since the chemo I seem to be having more of them, but I hear that and the forgetfulness (apparently I tell Dennis the same things over and over and never remember saying it more than once} are normal and will pass when the chemo's over. Crazy thing's happen though right now. Like on the trip to MO, out of the blue, and in the dark, Dennis says, "There's a moose in the back."

I look behind us and see nothing, so I look at him questioningly.

He again says, "There's a moose in the back."

I say, "where?"

He says, "In the back of the car."

"Moose?", I ask.

"MOOse" he says while nodding.

So I look towards the back, and again look at him.

He asks, "What's so hard to understand about there being a moose in the back?"

"A moose?" I ask again

He looks at me like I'm an alien and again says, "What aren't you getting about there being a moose in the back?"

I say, "Well. . . I want to know how it got there and why it's there."

He says, "You know the drink. . .(no response from me just furrowed brows). . .chocolate, you like them. Boost, there's one there."

I say, "OOOOOOOOHHHHHHH, A BOOST. I thought you said a MOOse"

He wonders, "Why would there be a moose in the back?"

I reply, "That's what I wanted to know."

After a good laugh, then some riding in silence once again, I ask, "WHY do you wait 10 hours into the trip to tell me there's a Boost in the back? Just out of the blue. . ..

You get the idea. Crazy moments and hilarious too. But make me feel like a moron at times. Such as today. Khristiaan tells me, "This is where Dennis and I ate."

"Where?" I ask

"Here, at Dennis's" he says.

I say, "You and Dennis ate at Dennis's here?"

He says, "yes"

I look at him and say "Dennis's? What's Dennis's"

To make a long story short, ends up they ate at Denny's. Made much more sense then. Maybe my hearing's going too.

So the strangest thing happened tonight. When I washed my hair it got blonder. My husband asked what I did to my hair because it looks blonde. I told him I have been having a few blonde moments lately. . . Weird. Must be a chemo effect. He says it looks like I spent a lot of money on it, as it's varied shades. It is much lighter than it was a few days ago, or earlier today for that matter. BTW, I am losing hair. Lucklily I have tons of it so you can't tell by looking at me but I get loads of hair in the brush and all over the bathroom and all over me. Frustrating that I shed worse than my dogs.

I saw this wonderful idea tonight. You can make all of your Christmas cards into a book and I have decided to take all the cards I have received full of well wishes and make a book of them to easily look through on my worse days. It'll help remind me of all the people, thinking good thoughts and saying prayers. I would also love to add photos of card-sender's petsso if you've sent a card without a photo of your pet could you email me a photo to include in my book with your card? I have been trying to figure out what to do with them, as I wanted to keep them and still be able to see them. Currently they are around my whirlpool, where I see them daily. I am so excited about getting them together this way! After I get everything in order I can take it to Office Max and have it bound to keep forever.

Well chemo's tomorrow, and we are expecting another snow storm. Amazing the big ones only come on my chemo days. Talk to you soon.

little bird

This little bird was extremely small, but had a very loud voice while bouncing around.  It's important, even if you're feeling small, to speak up!

~ You can see the explanation behind this project by going here or see the all posts in this category by going here.

Swimming with the manatees

fungi

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.
~ Eleanor Roosevelt

~ You can see the explanation behind this project by going here or see the all posts in this category by going here.

Flood of 2010

It was a great weekend to be a duck in Central Wisconsin. Pretty much any river or creek overflowed its banks, many road closures, and some houses had to be evacuated. It was the most water I've seen since living here!

There were ducks enjoying water in places there would normally be grass. It was quite a sight!

This bench sits on the end of a pier on the Wisconsin River (above the dam) in Bukolt Park, Stevens Point.

River Road running along the west side of the Wisconsin River had to be blocked off, along with several bridges crossing it.

This was as the water was coming back down.

One of our favorite places to shoot portraits. Normally there's not this much water.  In fact, normally the "ditch" is dry.

See, lots less water.  Just compare where the dam is and you can tell.  The water was clear up to the wall on the left, you can see that wall in a photo further down.

Looking in the other direction you can see the train bridge in the distance, with water nearing the bottom of it.

Handicapped Accessible Fishing Pier would be difficult to get to.

This spot is one of the places you can jump on the Green Circle Trail. Normally the water is way out past the trees. There was so much water some trees were uprooted and tossed onto the trail, and the trail was flooded in spots even though it's quite a bit higher than the water normally is.

If you go down this road and hang a left, go a couple more blocks, there's a huge parking area for Galecke Park. Oh, and a boat ramp, but don't think you can make it to any of that. There are houses down there too, btw.

Dennis wanted to walk it, but he couldn't even make it to the corner, the water got thigh deep and he turned back, smartly, I think.

See, he's little bity down there.

Hope you don't rent a yearly spot at this riverside campground. All Rvs had to be moved up along the roads.

reflecting

Some people can answer right away with their favorite season and while I claim that winter is mine, I'm actually pretty thrilled with whatever season I happen to be in at the moment.  Watching the leaves begin to change, feeling the air begin to chill and smelling the fireplaces in the neighborhood ~ perfection.  Seems all of nature sighs with the happy exhaustion of a chaotic summer's end.
~ You can see the explanation behind this project by going here or see the all posts in this category by going here.

shocking

Insulate yourself against the negative, which does nothing but cause tension, and ground yourself in the positive, which sparks hope!

~ You can see the explanation behind this project by going here or see the all posts in this category by going here.

Macro Monday Mosquito

Do you have any idea how hard it is to focus on a tiny little mosquito? I thought I would go crazy trying to pose his body and focus, lol. Oh, yeah, btw, I clapped him out of the air before he bit me so uh, he's not going anywhere.

I hate mosquitos! They leave huge whelps on me every time they bite. But I was pretty intrigued by them as I looked through my lens. I had no idea they had compound eyes.

Another one bites the dust! Yay!

Macro Monday is easy to play, snap a macro (or any close-up) photo, post it on your blog and come back here and sign MckLinky. :) MM started on Sept 29, 2008 - Thanx to all of you for helping make it such a fun start to the week!

sooc #16 Leopard Lily (Silver Squill)

I've already confessed that my green thumb is really more brown, but for some reason the Leopard Lily and I get along pretty good.

She has been blooming continually for about a year now. She usually only blooms in the summer, but she must like that I put her outside for the summer and bring her in in the winter.

I love her dainty blooms. :) She is seeming a little crowded in her pot lately, but I'm scared to transplant her. I'm not exactly sure how to get her out of the pot without breaking it. And I can't break the pot, we bought it in Mexico on our honeymoon.

Murrieta365

This photo is the same plant in 2008.  Oh my gosh!  She really does need repotted!

flooding

I promise it wasn't me. I did not cry so much that I flooded several cities and my favorite park.   I have never seen so much water, the Wisconsin River overflowed her banks and made people evacuate.  This little bridge usually only has a small amount of water flowing under, barely enough to mention, yet today, the water covers most of the park.  It's a great day to grab some brightly colored boots and go splashing through puddles!  Or if you prefer, it might be possible to catch some fish from the parking lot.
~ You can see the explanation behind this project by going here or see the all posts in this category by going here.

Manatees and me

Although the day was cold, we were eager to jump in with the manatees. Dennis and I kept switching the camera back and forth and I really can't tell you who took which photos, but all of the manatee photos were taken by my husband or me.

A sweet baby with mama.

They would come right up and rub against you, or go between your legs, they really seemed to like people. This one is rubbing on Dennis. We were told to not pet them like you would your dog because it's not good for them to think of people too nicely, that's how they get caught in boat motors. We were allowed to touch them, just not stroke them.

Here he comes.

I was a little freaked out when one started nibbling on my foot. It didn't hurt but he did almost pull me under, it was pretty weird to have something that big gently gnawing on your foot.

One happily held onto Susan (a lady from our boat).

See, he's smiling.

Me racing the manatee, who will win?

I lost, surprise surprise.

This is my favorite shot from the day. Haden and the manatee checking each other out.

I was the first one back out of the water. I was so cold! My teeth were chattering. I just thought that even in February Florida would be warm, lol.

Once I got back on the boat I took a few shots from above water.