Good news! raleighnc.gov/climate-acti...

The autumnal colors will continue 💚💜💛🌱 #nativeplants

Yesterday evening on our little prairie. It was warm, the dogs loved running around and the granddaughter was enjoying walking along the paths with us. And to see all the life there - birds, insects, flowers, grasses .... It's encouraging to see it starting to really BE a prairie again.

Please help me find a #LivingKidneyDonor so we can schedule the surgery instead of the cortisol hit I am taking from this www.kidneyforthad.info

Just when you think all the crumbs are out of the toaster....no, take the bottom completely off and there's waaaaaaaaay more still in there. A LOT. (But it's clean now!)

A Circumhorizontal arc, also known as a fire rainbow for this week’s #angles theme See in comments how these form!🔥🌈 #BlueSkyArtShow #Angles #EastCoastKin #Canon #photography #cloudscape #skyscape #WxSky

Grazing on a wild sunflower European paper wasp (Polistes dominula)

My clearest view of Jupiter yet in Fall 2025! Really great views of the cloud bands! Plus... two moons! 🔭🤓 #jupiter #astronomy #nature #astrophography #photography #smartphoneastronomy

The actual sunrise was prettier than this early this morning, but here is the best I could capture from my phone. Just imagine it being prettier.

Argiope trifasciata (Banded Garden Spider). Surprisingly difficult to get one's phone to focus on these because it keeps trying to focus on the grass behind it. But in this image I managed to capture it in focus.

A brief moment of the Triangulum Galaxy (M33). Unfortunately, obligatory satellite streaks.

I'm far enough south that I didn't see anything when the aurora occurred this evening, but my phone captured a little bit of it.

The red-planet Mars is currently close to Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo. Closest approach occurs at 17h UT on 13 September when Mars will pass 2.2° NNE of Spica (33° from Sun, evening sky). Mags. 1.6 and 1.0. 🔭 #stargazing

Timeline cleanse. I was about 10 inches from this bee. It's always awe-inspiring to me to be able to witness nature this closely.

Epic inchworm / insect battle! Somehow managed to capture the altercation on our #prairie after trying to follow the insect flying, and then THIS HAPPENED:

Mortgage applications feel a bit like a financial colonoscopy... without the twilight anesthesia.

Earlier this summer ~ a grasshopper in prickly poppy feasting on the pollen drenched stamens #InverteFest

The caterpillar of the Delicate Cycnia Moth. #insects #photography #nature #caterpillars

I know. It's just some grass and the sky. But sometimes, what we really need... is just some grass and the sky.

It's Tuesday! Let's go for a virtual hike on the prairie together; discover "A Dragonfly Migration Celebration" tuesdaysinthetallgrass.wordpress.com/2025/08/26/a... #odonata #dragonflies #migration #nature #naturewriting #insects

I know. It's just some grass and the sky. But sometimes, what we really need... is just some grass and the sky.

Need a moment of calm? (Sound up.)

Best I can tell, these are a couple of pearl crescent butterflies.

"Hi. It may not look like it, but in a short period of time, I will be a monarch butterfly. Right now I'm hungry, so I'm gonna munch on this milkweed before setting up my chrysalis."

While this bumblebee was hanging onto this thistle for dear life, combing through it for pollen, I was admittedly getting poked by said thistle due to me holding it steady in the wind so I could capture this photo. This one didn't care I was 6" away from it; clearly the pollen was the priority.

Caenurgina crassiuscula, the clover looper or range grass moth, is found across the United States and adjacent parts of Canada, in the west to the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Alaska. You've probably seen one. I didn't realize they were after clover and grass until *checks notes* today.

"Black Moon" is not a thing. It's not a universally accepted term. Astronomers don't use it, because it has no astronomical definition. To paraphrase Mean Girls: STOP TRYING TO MAKE BLACK MOON HAPPEN! Please and thank you. It's just a plain old new Moon that happens every 29.5 days.

Count those bass strings. Not four, like usual. There's five! I always wanted a five string bass. (Thank you Musicians Friend "Stupid Deal of the Day"!) Holy cow does this thing sound awesome too....now to set it up to play even better than it did out of the box.

Messier 8, the Lagoon Nebula, is one of my favorite astronomical objects. Earlier this summer I took a deep (one hour exposure) look at it and, likely over-exposed parts of the nebula. This shot is just a two-minute exposure and I am quite happy with it. 🔭

Tonight's view of the Milky Way

Harvested 40+ ears of sweet corn so far, and have more still on the stalks (that's not ready yet). We vacuum packed / froze about 25 or 30 of them too. And oh my ... are they delicious.

The yellow flowers of August 🌼 (1/4) I love the tall Compass Plants of the prairie, and the way they sway gently in the wind. 😍 I like watching the little morning birds hop from plant to plant, scouting for breakfast.

A lovely little willow emerald damselfly at Skipwith Common yesterday. 💚 #damselflies #dragonFlies #WillowEmerald #Yorkshire #ChalcolestesViridis @britishdragonflies.bsky.social

The behind the scenes shot & the shots! #Bonsai

Hey @thjen.bsky.social do you think this is Heliopsis helianthoides or something else? About 16-18" tall right now, maybe 3" in diameter.

We have monarch butterflies here!

When did the default response turn into "Of course" rather than "You're welcome" after one has said "Thank you" to a server at a restaurant? This seems to have become a new norm around here, and it's....I don't know - weird. Is it because it's one less syllable? Is it just me bothered by this?

Contractor: Ok, I will advise when I'll be out to do the work. Us: Sounds good thanks. Daughter calls me: Is someone working on the water in your house? Me: What?? Her: Someone is doing stuff at your house. Me, realization: Oh, the painter. He never told us a date he'd come out. Cool, cool.

What’s your fave food fact that sounds made up? Approximately 90% of the pumpkins used for pumpkin pie that Americans eat come from Illinois, and most of those are in the central part of the state near Morton and Princeton (best I can tell, I did research it and did find some credible sources)

What’s your fave food fact that sounds made up? Most of the nation’s *frozen* raspberries come from Lynden, WA, near Canada. Known also for the KKK, in 2005 the only known north drug smuggling tunnel & the place Trump held his rally when permits for Boeing Field/Seattle 100 miles south were denied

Sunset over our prairie last night was.....well, this:

Here is a break from butterflies and moths for an adorable Gray Treefrog. This frog lives in Tippecanoe River State Park. They remind me of cats and their loafed sitting positions. #frogs #herps #photography #nature

I have taken apart the $45 (used) guitar amplifier. Tuner cleaner has been sprayed on the volume potentiometer, which was crackling at low volumes (the end of the volume knob at which I usually play). The amplifier is now back together. Hopefully the surgery was successful.

With Love from the Urban Wetlands

Yesterday my better half saw this monarch caterpillar on one of the milkweed plants outside our front door. When I mowed our prairie property trails, I saw three monarch butterflies (as well as a bunch of dragonflies). I hope we see more in the weeks ahead.

Just another #macro Monday. When I went out this weekend I knew the wildlife would be limited due to the time of year and heat so I decided to focus on macro subjects. 1)Fiery Skipper 🦋 #insect

I would like to thank Black and Decker for making a weed trimmer tool that uses screws so that when a bunch of plastic accidentally got wrapped up in it, I could take it apart, remove the plastic, reassemble and not have to buy a new one. Seriously, thank you. I much prefer fixing things.

Don't forget that Titan will transit across the body of Saturn tomorrow Aug the 3rd! The shadow of Titan will cross the body of Saturn... shadow begins about 2:30AM ET

With many stalks producing two ears, we're gonna get a lot of sweet corn this year. Also have beans (finally) watermelon nearly done and cantaloupe on the way.

We got a lot of rain today. I'll grant you, it's not hurricane amounts. And we're not flooded. But I had to go back to Oct 2021 to find a single month with more rain than this. And 2.42" is a lot of rain, most of which fell in about 60 minutes. Also, at one point it rained at a rate of 4.09"/hr.