Lake Hilbert

I went kayaking on Lake Hilbert yesterday for the first time this year, in fact, it was the first time I had seen the beach area of the lake so far this year and I was very surprised at what I found.  The lake has gotten very low in recent years, but I hadn’t realized just how low it was.  I paddled around and got quite a few pics.

This sand bar between the second and third lakes was always under water and is now exposed.  The channel of water had to be dredged out so that boats can cross.

I have never seen these rocks before because they were always under water.  There was always a buoy here to mark them because the water was rather shallow, but now the rocks exposed quite a bit.

I paddled over to the first lake (of course, the channel between the first and second lakes had to be dredged out also).  This shot is of the shoreline in front of my brother’s cottage.  The water used to come almost up to the log near the bottom of the picture and now it’s quite a way out.

In this shot, you can see how much the water has receded.  The water line used to be right about where my shadow ends.  The end of the dock is no longer anywhere near the edge of the water.

The distance between the edge of the sand and the water is more than twice what it used to be.

The Monarch Project

Someone told me how to raise Monarch butterflies from  caterpillars in my home so I decided I just had to try it.  I found 3 caterpillars on milkweed plants and cut the milkweed and brought it in the house and put it in a bottle of water.  The caterpillars will then continue to happily munch away on the milkweed leaves until its time to make a cocoon.  You have to put newspaper down underneath cuz these little guys poop alot.  I brought the first one in last Tuesday, the 14th and I found two more on Saturday.  The one pictured here is one of the ones I found on Saturday and it made it’s cocoon today.  It started hanging by its rear end last evening and continued to hang there all day today and at about 3:00 this afternoon it made a cocoon and I was so happy to be able to see it.  It really was quite amazing.  The second one has been hanging since this afternoon, so I’ll be expecting another cocoon tomorrow sometime.  I sure hope I get to see it.

This morning.

About halfway finished.

The completed cocoon.

A Day at the Lake

This past weekend I went kayaking on Forest Lake.  I paddled around to the other side of the lake where there is a stream that feeds the lake.  As I began paddling up the stream I noticed these small flowers growing very abundantly along both sides.   I only had my small camera that doesn’t do macro near as well as my Rebel, so I broke my #1 rule and took some of the flowers home.  I put them in a vase and photographed them out on my deck.  I know, I cheated….but I couldn’t help it, these flowers are so beautiful, and I just had to share them.  The flowers of both species here are only 1/4 inch long.  They look huge in the pics, but are really quite small.

Bog Rosemary

Leatherleaf

Short-Winged Blister Beetle

A couple weeks ago I found one of these beetles in the woods and took pics of it, then came home and identified it in my reference book.  It says that when disturbed,  it will fall over and play dead.  I then went back out to see if I could find it again and pester it, but it was gone.  Yesterday, I found another one munching on a leaf.  I poked at it till it fell off the leaf and, sure enough, it played dead.  It just laid there, not moving, even when I put it in my hand.  I put it down on a leaf to watch and see what it would do, but it wouldn’t move.  I walked a few feet away to take a picture of a flower and within a few minutes it was gone.  I didn’t see if it walked or flew away.  It’s wings are so small that it doesn’t look like it could fly very good.

Eating lunch.

Playing dead.

Short-Winged Blister Beetle

Yesterday when I took my morning walk in the woods, I found this interesting beetle, so I took some shots of it from different angles.  When I got back to the house I looked it up in my bug book and I found that it is a Short-Winged Blister Beetle.  The book also said that when this beetle is disturbed, it will fall over on it’s side and feign death.  How cool is that?  A bug that plays dead!  I went back out to see if I could find it again so I could pester it and see if it would play dead for me, but it was already gone.  I’ll keep looking for another one like it so I can try it and see if the book is right.

Here’s a few of the new wildflowers that are coming up out in the woods now too.

Wood Anemone

Downy Yellow Violet

Merrybells

Spring Beauties

Bluebead Lily

False Lily Of The Valley

So Glad I Got Up Early To See This

I currently work second shift, and I drive a long distance to work, so I don’t get home till 11:45.  I don’t go to bed till about 12:30, but because I loves sunrises (and sunsets) so much, I set my alarm for 20-25 minutes before sunrise every day.  When I wake up, I look outside and if it doesn’t look promising, I just go back to sleep.  This morning,at 5:30 am,  it looked like it was gonna be pretty so I got up, threw my jacket on over my jammies, grabbed the camera and ran out to the field for pics.  Then I went back to sleep for awhile.

What????

I shouldn’t be surprised, cuz this is normal for our area.  It’s very common to get an April, or sometimes May snowstorm.    I feel sorry for all the pretty little wildflowers that had recently popped up in the woods.  I took a walk this morning and couldn’t find a single one.  They’re all buried under several inches of snow.  It started snowing early this morning and it’s still snowing now.  I checked our weather at www.wunderground.com (excellent site with a lot of excellent photography), and they’re predicting 3-6 inches total for us. Of course, they’re also predicting temps in the 50’s on Wed. and 60’s on Thurs. and Friday, so this snow won’t be here for long.

A Taste of Spring

It was a beautiful, warm day today, with a high temp of 47, blue skies, sun with a few high thin clouds, and a sun halo that I saw while out for my walk.   I even found the first caterpiller.  Even my Jeep benefited from the warm weather, cuz I finally got out and gave it a good vacuuming and washed the windows.   I went out and sat on the deck and soaked up a few rays too.   It just felt so good to be outside without a jacket, all I needed was a sweatshirt.  They’re predicting snow for us for tomorrow, but only a few inches, and I hope they’re wrong.  I hope we don’t get any.

Facing north

East

This is the bottom of the halo.  I couldn’t get the whole thing in the picture at once.  I shot this using the lens of my sunglasses as a filter.

Hearts

While I was out snowshoeing Sunday afternoon, I noticed this stem sticking out of the snow and went to take a closer look to see what it’s shadow would look like.  A few years back I found a beautiful “heart” on the snow made from a branch and it’s shadow.  Since then I’ve found a few others and I always look for “hearts” whenever I’m outside.  Anyway, I found that when I looked at this stem and it’s shadow at the proper angle, it did indeed create a heart.  I had already posted the other hearts I’ve found about a year ago, so I just made a collage of them to post here again.  About 20 feet from this heart was where I was struck with the realization of just how blest I am in my life.  I know several people who are very ill right now, some of them fighting for their very lives.  Some of my friends at work just got laid off and I could possibly end up getting laid off myself in a few weeks, but for right now I’m still working and I’m very thankful for that.  It just made me realize that the things I gripe about are so small compared to what other people are dealing with.  These thoughts literally stopped me in my tracks, and I knelt down and prayed.  After I stood up and continued on, I found this heart.

Monday morning I went out snowshoeing and there was quite a few tracks made by squirrels, mice and whatever little critters were scurrying around from tree to tree, and I noticed that these particular tracks look like hearts.

As I got near the house, I passed a branch sticking out of the snow, and as I took a closer look I realized that the branch and it’s shadow created another “heart” on the snow.

Here’s a collage of all the hearts that I’ve found so far.

Happy Trails!

Gratitude

Dear God,

Please forgive me when I complain

about the small matters that bother me,

for I am far more blest than I realize.

I have good health while others are ailing.

I have a job while many others have lost theirs.

I have plenty to eat while others go hungry.

I have a warm house while others are homeless.

I have family and friends while others are alone and forgotten.

I may not have everything I want,

but I have everything I need.

Thank you.