Egret and Cows

 

The egret was hanging out with the cows, although the cows were not interested at all. The egret didn't mind. It stayed and hunted while the cows mooed and chewed their time away.

News on the vaccine here, Roger got his second shot on Saturday. We were so happy he was able to get that done. I, on the other hand, have not even gotten my first. Not sure when the county is going to start doing the 65+ population, but it should be soon. They are still in the 70+ tier, but 5000 doses are arriving this week, so maybe I'll be lucky to get jabbed in my arm and start to feel safe again. 

We hope you are all doing well and staying safe and healthy. 

As Above...

  ...so below.

The rains let up, and we got out for a nice long neighborhood walk. The puddles were everywhere in the cow pastures creating lovely reflective moments. When I downloaded the photos I looked at this one and my first thought was, "As above, so below." Mmm... where did that come from? Why do I know it? It sent me on a google  journey to find out where I might have first heard this phrase. So far, I have not been able to pinpoint the moment. Do you remember it? If yes, where did you first hear it? All I know is that I heard it a long time ago. Maybe it was a New-Age thing from the 1970s.

While we were out there on this lovely sunny day, I also noticed a rainbow. Not a hint of rain, but a rainbow in the distance nonetheless. Sometimes I think I am a very lucky rainbow girl!

Our latest vaccine news is Roger's second shot was cancelled because of the terrible arctic blast weather conditions which halted distribution and deliveries all across the country. Bummer. I have not gotten my first shot yet. Oh well, maybe someday. Hope all is well for you, friends. Stay safe and healthy.

A Friend Sent Us A Photo

 I've been having an email correspondence with someone who has been reading the blog since the early days. She lives in Massachusetts and photographs the beauty she sees there. Every year, because we are so lucky, she sends us a calendar of her photos. We've never met, but we are long-time virtual friends. On Wednesday we were corresponding about these times we're living in, what's going on in her neck of the woods, covid, and politics. Then she wrote about this young porcupine she had seen and attached this photo. (Please click on the photo and enlarge it. It's gorgeous!)

Roger and I were immediately smitten with this little beauty. What a face. Such a sweet young porcupine moment. This made our day brighter and better in every way. And that's why we're sharing it here with you. Who knew a porcupine could be so incredibly cute? Not me, but now I do. Thanks to G. deFriesse for getting our minds off of Covid and back to the beauty of wildlife.

 

Rainy Errands

We had to go out and run some errands on another rainy day here. Not much to look forward to, a trip to the bank and then to the market for something or other. I can't even remember what. We came out of the market and saw this. Oh yes, that made me laugh. Good old Grateful Dead skull and lightning bolt drawing. Well done too. Made me want to remember to google around to read the history of this image when I got home, and so I did. I discovered that it was designed by Owsley Stanley. Oh wow, that's such a familiar name. As Wikipedia describes him, he was a "clandestine chemist" and the LSD supplier to Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters in the mid 60s. Owsley first heard the Grateful Dead in 1965 and financed them and worked as their sound man. He designed this image to put on their equipment so that it would be a highly identifiable mark. Yes, time has definitely shown it to be a highly identifiable mark. Can't look at it without thinking Grateful Dead almost 60 years after its design. And really, can't think of Owsley Stanley without thinking about LSD and the 1960s. 

Funny how an old bus with a drawing can be so trippy!

 

Lumpy Contrail Shadows

We've all seen the contrails that jets leave while flying at high altitude. Sometimes those contrails have shadows. Here's a photo I shot a few years ago of a fine contrail shadow.

We don't see them often, so it's kind of interesting when they show up. So, the other day when I was looking out at the sky I saw a different kind of contrail shadow. I was intrigued so I took a photo of it.

I sent the photo to Les Cowley at Atmospheric Optics and asked if contrail shadows can look like this or if I was seeing something else. He wrote that sometimes contrails are "lumpy" like this and their shadows take on this look. 

Well that was a surprise. I love learning something new. Lumpy contrail shadows. I'm laughing that I'm even writing about this, but we are living in interesting times, and this is all I've got.