The House That Built Me

On my way home from work today I heard a very poignant song sung by Miranda Lambert and called The House That Built Me. After it ended I reflected on my own childhood home, where my parents still live, and the many wonderful memories made there. Then it occurred to me that my grandparents and great grandparents homes were also among the "houses that built me". When I think about all the places I spent the majority of my time (other than school) these are the ones. Sadly, all the grandparents are gone, but on occassions in the past we drove by their houses just to remember them and reminisce about the fun we had there over the years growing up. Once my cousin and I asked to go inside grandma's house after grandpa died and grandma had moved away; it was bittersweet because the inside has changed so much. Overall, none of the houses look the same and the garden's aren't well kept like they used to be either. Nowadays I just prefer my memories to driving past them. Anyway here is a link to the song. I hope you enjoy it too.

The House That Built Me as it looked eons ago in 1963.

Meadow Jumping Mouse

This little fellow, a Meadow Jumping Mouse, was making his way across the entrance road into the park when Andrew's intern spotted him. Andrew stopped the truck and Kyle dashed out and caught him so they could take a photo. Isn't he cute?

Notes from the Field (Part 2)

Battelle Darby Creek, the locale of much of my field work in college, is home to 44 species of freshwater mussels including 23 that are rare and 2 that are federally endangered. What is a mussel? Mussels belong to a group of water animals called mollusks. They are soft bodied animals enclosed by two hinged shells made mostly of calcium. The size, shape, color and marking of the shell are used to identify the different species. Shell surfaces vary in color and contain distinctive ridges, rays and bumps. The interior is composed of pearly nacre that varies in color from pure white to shades of pink, salmon, gray and purple. The physical attributes and common names of the individual species are what fascinates me. Freshwater mussel are found living on the bottom of lakes and streams. One thousand species have been identified worldwide. Nearly 30% of those are found in the southern Ohio River Basin which has one of the richest and most diverse assemblages of freshwater mussels. Historically freshwater mussels provided food for early man and Native Americans. Mussel shells were used for jewelry and as currency. At the turn of the century mussels were harvested in North America to make pearl buttons out of the shells. There was a button factory in Manchester on the Ohio river and as recently as fifteen years ago you could still find punched shells along the shore. Today mussels are not recommended as food because they bioaccumulate and store toxic metals and other water pollutants in their body tissues. They are a vital link in the food chain as they are major food items for wildlife. As important natural filterers in the river bed they improve water quality by straining our suspended particles and pollutants. They are used by biologists as "biological" monitors to indicate past and present water quality conditions in rivers and streams. Mussels are filter feeders. Their diet includes a variety of microscopic particles (algae, bacteria, and organic particles suspended in water. They feed by inhaling water and passing it over their gills where food items are collected and transported to the mouth. They have a somewhat complicated reproductive cycle, which due to space constraints I will not describe at this time. However two other things worth mentioning about these interesting critters it that it is illegal in most states to collect them in quantity. (Consult the fishing regulations in your state for more information). Also besides being endangered by pollution these animals are subject to illegal poaching by people who sell them to the producers in the orient who cut and use their pearly shells to "seed" oysters in the cultured pearl industry. This activity alone has wiped out massive quantities of many species. Read more on this topic in Audubon Jan.-Feb. 1997 "Mussel Poaching: A New Shell Game". The specimens you see here were collected by permit and no live specimens were taken.

TL Kidney shell, ML Squawfoot, BL Lilliput, TR Hickorynut, BR Wabash pig toe

Purple Pimpleback, Fine-rayed Pocketbook, Painted Elk Toe

Fat Mucket, Cub Shell

Yellow Mucket, Lady Finger

Round Pig Toe, Pistol Grip

Heel Splitter

Hackleback, Maple Leaf

Shell buttons and button cut outs.

Butterflies...

We went to Clear Creek again today in search of butterflies and as usual were not disappointed. The eastern tiger swallowtails were out in force as it was hot and sunny and several summer flower species were just coming into bloom. A worn out male found respite on my forehead and lapped up some sweat. It tickled.

Notes from the Field (Part 1)

I've got twenty years worth of a natural history collection here and there. It's all documented in my field journals but on my to do list is to photograph the items and put them into some semblance of order. Most of my stuff is from Ohio but some items came from my travels to other states too. I will note these where appropriate. When I worked for the parks and did public programming a lot of these items were used for interpretation and educational displays.

First up is my skull collection; all mammal except for one bird skeleton (and bird leg bones) and one turtle skull. Missing at the moment is a beaver skull -but it will turn up eventually and not pictured is a skunk (in poor condition). All of these items were found in their natural setting (usually in the spring) and no animals were harmed in the collection. In fact I should note that everything in my collection was acquired legally and on public land (no trespassing to collect) and all of the items were found while we were just out walking about. The most recent item is the chipmunk skull that I found on the hospital grounds while visiting my dad last week. The animal had died and the skeleton was baked clean by the sun. Following the boy scout motto of always being prepared I had items in my purse which enabled me to collect the poor thing without ado.

Stacks of field notes. Documentation is a very important part of a natural history collection. I record the location, the date, and the weather along with other pertinent details. Some of my field notes are on scrapes of paper and napkins from restaurants along the way. Photographs can be taken when collecting is not possible such as with a live specimen or rare plant or bird to document or voucher the sighting.

Opossum

Mouse

Porcupine (Michigan)
Ground hog

Cottontail Rabbit

Raccoon

Shrew

Mole

Mink

Fox

Chipmunk
deer

Snapping turtle


Banded bird ( I reported the info on the bands to the proper agency when these were found and somewhere in my files is a letter I received with the history of the bird).
Ring-billed gull (Michigan) I found the entire skeleton along with the hook and line that evidently caused it birds demise.

DeLoy Robert's Animal Skull Identification
(one of the best reference sites I have seen)

Miniatures by Gloria

My aunt's next door neighbor and friend Gloria, who lives in Tucson, makes miniatures. The dolls below are just one of her specialties. She hand sculpted these out of femo clay! I think they are darling. I have a whole collection of them; these are just a few and they are only 2 inches tall. I photographed them this evening in order to design an advertising publication for Gloria to use in promoting her business and thought I would share the photos. She sells them at trade shows and travels around the nation to miniature shows.

Draft of ad

Bunny Girl

Close up of Bunny Girl

Oh My Mimosa !

Our mimosa looks lovely this year. Probably the most prolific number of blooms I've seen since we got it 10 years ago from Mount Ida, Arkansas. Prior to that I had never seen one and instantly fell in love with the tree. Andrew dug one up for me brought it home and planted it in the front yard. In the winter it looks pathetic and got nipped to the ground twice by squirrels but finally prevailed (after we fenced it off). People in the neighborhood often stop us when we are outside to ask about the tree. The blooms, when slightly wilted have a scent that reminds me of jasmine or gardenia.

And since it scorching hot out today-unseasonably so; I thought I would include the following recipe for a Mimosa - a cocktail having two parts of thoroughly chilled orange juice combined with three parts champagne. Bottoms up.

The Longest Day of the Year

"Solstice derives from a combination of Latin words meaning "sun" & "to stand still." As the days lengthen, the sun rises higher and higher until it seems to stand still in the sky. As a major celestial event, the Summer Solstice results in the longest day and the shortest night of the year. " (Chiff.com)

For us it was just a good excuse to go canoeing at Hoover Reservoir, admittedly not the most glamorous setting, but what a nice relaxing evening on the reservoir with our friends Barry and Melanie and dramatic sunset to start of the summer. In to the back bays and inlets...

a great blue heron feather

Daisy's ready for a nap

Father's Day

Dad would choke me if I posted any of the photos that I took of him in the hospital even though he looks great; so I chose the one above instead. The doctor told dad that he's never seen anyone progress as fast as dad did in the days following surgery and he gets to go home tomorrow. Dad says he might ask to stay another day until he gets to moving around a little better just so mom doesn't have so much work at home to do moving him about in and out of bed. He's got about a 12 inch incision from below his throat to his naval (which does not look pleasant) and another on his left leg that is about 6 inches long. We visited for Father's Day. He had a lot of company throughout the day and I think he enjoyed himself as much as one can do in a hospital room.

Rocket Dog

I got these spiffy new Rocket Dog tennies today. I told Andrew I haven't been excited about getting a new pair of shoes in ages. They were half price too!!

Garnet's Kits

Garnet's kits are 12 days old today. They all have their eyes open. Aren't they darling?

Killing Time

Dad had to have quadruple bypass surgery today. This was unplanned. He had a heart cath on Wednesday due to a heart "episode" in late May. Prior to the surgery, which took 5 hours, dad was showing us his legs where the ultrasound technician drew measurements and plotted the locations of veins that would be appropriate to use for bypass material. It was very interesting. Anyway dad wanted a photo so I took one. You know me never without some kind of camera. The nurse in his unit was not amused by this and squawked about what we were doing. Not sure what her issue was but we sort of ignored her. Anyway his surgery went well although I have not been able to talk to him since we left before he was unconscious, mom told me he is awake now and responsive and worried about the high cost of gas for all the trips we are making back and forth to the hospital. From this I can tell a lot. :-) Anyway trying to pass the time for 5 hours during his surgery and 2 more while he was in recovery took some innovation. We read, slept, ate, did crossword puzzles, talked and made a lot of trips to the bathroom just to get up and walk. I also downloaded a new app for my iPhone called Shake It Photo which was good for about 20 minutes worth of entertainment post surgery when we were able to finally relax a bit; it makes the photo you take into a Polaroid which develops in front of your very eyes. Groovy huh?Andrew & Me

My brother...

...and mom

The Magical Rabbit

I call Pip the magical rabbit. She has a knack for just appearing out of the blue. I last saw her on May 29th. She's not usually gone for such long intervals in the summer and I missed her nightly visits to the rabbitry. I was even lamenting to my mom today that I was worried about her and wished she would come back soon. Anyway she appeared this evening during feeding time in the rabbitry and gave me the I'm here for dinner look. She even stayed long enough for me to go get Andrew from inside so he could say hello to her. She looked thin and worn. I think she may have had a litter. (Remember Zorro was here on April 29th). Anyway we were glad to see her.

Schnauzer Clowns

These two are just about like circus clowns sans the outfits and makeup. I visited their human mom, my friend Beth, the other night and they ran around like crazy dogs stopping only to occasionally ham it up for the camera. They even might be more pampered than my Daisy if you can believe that!

Resting for a brief moment on mom & dad's bed.

Their very own doggie shower. Isn't this the coolest?

Lily (L) & Libby -happy little Schnauzers.

Lucky Day

I found a 4 leaf clover the other day. I've looked all my life and finally found one when I wasn't even looking. Guess it was my lucky day. I don't believe in luck though. Never have. Last winter I bought a 4 pack of Tremors movies (I, II, III, & IV). I paid a whopping $5 and some change for all of them. This should tell you something. For those of you who haven't seen Tremors- I highly recommend the series but be forewarned that they are mindless drivel about some underground man eating worms; meant only for total entertainment value. By now you are probably wondering how I got so far off topic. Well these movies are chocked full of one liners and comic relief. Andrew and I love them. One of our favorite quotes of the series is by Burt Gummer (played by Micheal Gross) when he says "Luck is where opportunity meets preparation", scoffing at one of the dimwitted characters who compliments Burt on his readiness to do battle with the worms attributing it to luck. I actually saw this quote stamped onto a silver disk which also bore a raised 4 leaf clover and was made into a necklace which was being sold at Kohls. Guess that's why I thought of it. Anyway the first movie also stars Fred Ward, Reba McEntire, and Kevin Bacon. The star power dwindles off as the movie numbers get higher. LOL

A Pocketful of Cuteness

My Satin angoras kits are a week old. They are all red. They aren't very active and I think its because of the stifling heat. When Andrew was taking this photo he made the observation that one of them was peeing in my pocket. Of course. LOL