Skywatch Friday - B&W Weekend

A Big Sky looks as impressive in black and white as in color, don't you think?

Theme Thursday - Brush: Where's My Squirrel?

When Smokey sees a squirrel in our back yard he tries his best to catch it but they are too quick for him.  Pit Bulls have enough speed but not enough acceleration.  By the time he gets up to speed the squirrel has disappeared into the vine covered brush that covers our fence and Smokey is left wondering where it went.

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Wordless Wednesday - Doors: Wright Elementary

The front doors to Tulsa's Wright Elementary.  The school is round like the propeller on the Wright brother's first airplane.  Our grandson Willy starts 5th grade here next week.

Ruby Tuesday - Red Daylily

Here in honor of Ruby Tuesday is a nice red daylily.  There are a zillion varieties of daylily and I have no idea which one this is, but it is striking.  I like daylilies.  They are hardy, colorful and can be depended on to bloom every summer no matter what the weather.  If allowed to leaf out completely after blooming they can be depended on to bloom again the next summer.

It is a little known fact that daylilies are edible and nutritious.  If you are adventurous, try this:

Daylily Bud Sauté

Ingredients:
2 dozen daylily buds                                   1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup olive oil                                           3 eggs
dash of nutmeg                                             salt and pepper
I clove garlic, finely minced

Cut the base off the buds. Sauté the garlic in a small amount of olive oil. Beat eggs and mix enough flour to make a thin batter. To this add the sautéed garlic, 1/8 teaspoon each of salt and pepper, and the dash of nutmeg. Add a teaspoon of milk if the batter is too thick. dip the buds in the batter and sauté until a golden brown consistency.

Macro Monday - Yellow Coneflower

One out of a large bed of Yellow Coneflowers at the Morton Arboretum in Chicago.

Weekend Reflections & Jigsaw - Arboretum Gift Shop

Gift Shop, Morton Arboretum, Chicago, Illinois

The Birthday Girls

Our granddaughter Molly and her Great-Grandmother Marjorie share a birthday. On August 12 Molly was 12 years old and Marjorie was 91. Susan prepared a nice birthday lunch and we wished the girls a Happy Birthday. We surprised Molly with the gift any 12 year old girl would be delighted to receive; her very own cell phone. Not just any cell phone but one designed for sending text messages, qwerty keyboard and all.

We handed her the package nicely gift wrapped. While she was opening it the telephone began to ring. "Hurry and open it up -- answer your phone!" She was surprised and very pleased. She showed the phone to Great-gramma who tried to answer it. "Hellooo? Hellooo?"

Skywatch Friday - And the Sky Goes On Forever

On our recent drive up to Chicago we chased a sky full of thunderheads. 

Theme Thursday - "Palm": Tamil up a Palm Tree

Tamil tribesman of southern India climbing Palm tree.  

Sculpture by Malvina Hoffman in Field Museum, Chicago, Illinois.  The theme for this Thursday is "Palm", palm tree, palm of the hand, whatever.  A link for more Theme Thursdays is below.

Wordless Wednesday - Doors to Ballet Rehearsal Facility

Rehearsal facility for the Tulsa Ballet.  The building reflected in the doors of the ballet facility is the Brookside Branch Library whose doors were featured a few weeks ago.

Ruby Tuesday - Behemoth

Behemoth (definition) - Something abnormally large and powerful, e.g. the Hummer.
Originally built as a rugged all terrain vehicle for the US military, it enjoyed a macho reputation after the Desert Storm exercise in the early 1990s.  As a rugged military vehicle it did a good job.  Called "Humvees", they were originally built by AM General Corporation, which was formerly AMC-Jeep's General Products division. 


The macho image of a Hummer has a certain appeal to the status conscious driver with plenty of money to spend.  In 1992, AM General began selling a civilian version to the public under the brand name "Hummer". In 1998, AM General sold the brand name to General Motors, but continued to manufacture the vehicles. GM was responsible for the marketing and distribution of all Hummers produced by AM General.  Shortly thereafter, GM introduced two new homegrown models, the H2 and H3, and renamed the original vehicle H1.  


The Hummer had its day in the sun but by 2009 the practical limitations of its size, safety, and fuel economy outweighed its allure as a muscle car.  There were numerous attempts to find a buyer for Hummer but it was not able to survive the bankruptcy of General Motors, and by early 2010 it passed into history.  Wikipedia has a a good article on the Hummer if you are interested.

See more Ruby Tuesdays at:

Macro Monday - Carpenter Bee

Another photo from the Contigny Gardens in Wheaten Illinois.  I feasted on photo opportunities while we were up there last week.  


I originally posted this as a Bumble Bee but after some online research will have to correct myself.  Carpenter Bees are quite large and resemble Bumble Bees but have a shiny black abdomen  where Bumble Bees are covered in black and yellow hair.  While I realize that very few readers will give a flip what sort of bee this is, I like to be accurate where I can.  Thank you for your patience.


Several of you asked what sort of macro lens I used for some of these photos. The camera I use is a Canon SX20 IS. While not an SLR, it has a 20X zoom lens which is the 35mm equivalent of 28-560mm and a resolution of 12.1 Megapixels. This gives me the capability of an SLR with multiple lenses at a cost under $400.


As some of you already know I am mobility challenged and take most of my photographs either from my automobile or from a power wheelchair.  The Canon 20X allows me to shoot what looks like closeups from distances of 10 feet or more.  This bumblebee shot was taken from my power chair at a distance of about 3 feet simply by zooming in on it.  If I need to be closer there is a macro setting that will allow me to really get close.  However, feeding insects will not generally hold still for that sort of business.


The zoom lets me get pretty close and the 12 Megapixel resolution will let me get by with a certain amount of cropping to get in even closer to the center of interest.  Once the images are on my PC I use Paint.net for cropping and adjusting the exposure and color saturation.  A hard core photographer might use Photoshop but Paint.net is free.  Need I say more?

Sunday Jigsaw Puzzle - Contigny Gardens

I really love this place.

Weekend Reflections - Cantigny Center

The Visitor's Center at the Cantigny Gardens has a glass floor.  Beneath the glass is a scale model of the garden.

The whole of Cantigny park covers 500 acres.  Besides the botanical gardens there is a military museum, picnic and camping areas, and a golf course and restaurant.  This is all laid out to scale beneath the glass floor.  I'm sure the floor is capable of supporting a good deal of weight, however, I skirted the edges just to be safe.

The park includes a veterans memorial and military museum with vintage tanks and canons.   In the gift shop Willy found a toy rifle and helmet that he could not live without.  He struck appropriate poses and asked for pictures.  Willy makes a good soldier.

We saw a lot this week but if I were to name a favorite thing it would be this park.  Perhaps the most surprising thing about it is that the admission was only $5.00 per car for parking.  Quite a bargain.  Thank you Mr. McCormick.  The park is just outside of Chicago in Wheaton, Illinois.  To read about this fine park look HERE.

Skywatch Friday - St Louis Arch

The Gateway Arch, also known as the Gateway to the West.
Last weekend on our way home from Chicago we enjoyed this view of St. Louis, Missouri and the Arch as we crossed the Mississippi River from East St. Louis, Illinois.

The Gateway Arch was built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States, and has become the iconic image of the city of St. Louis. It was designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen and structural engineer Hannskarl Bandel in 1947. It is 630 feet (192 m) wide at its base and stands 630 feet (192 m) tall, making it the tallest monument in the United States, Construction started on February 12, 1963, and ended on October 28, 1965. The monument opened to the public on July 10, 1967.  The interior is hollow with trams on either side to take visitors to an observation area at the top.  As usual, Wikipedia has an excellent article on the Gateway Arch with good photos of the interior and the view from the top.

Theme Thursday - The Color Brown: Waxaklahun

Stone monument celebrating Waxaklahun Ubah K'awil, 13th ruler of Maya city of Copan, circa 695 CE.  From the Ancient Americas exhibit, Field Museum, Chicago.  The exhibit fascinated me because I had no idea that the early civilizations of North and South America were so complex and advanced.  Now I plan to read more about these early civilizations.  If you are interested in an example see HERE.

Wordless Wednesday - As the World Turns

At the Morton Arboretum is a large stone globe of the earth that rests on a column of water which lifts it just enough so that it can be made to rotate.  These youngsters are debating which direction it should turn.

Ruby Tuesday - Trumpet Vine

The common Trumpet Vine thrives in rough conditions.  It makes a hardy plant for a fence, a wall, or an arbor.  But it can grow too rank and be difficult to control.  Even a rose can be a weed if it grows in a corn field.

Macro Monday - Tiger Swallowtail

The Tiger Swallowtail.is one of the most beautiful butterflies to be found in the United States.  This is a male.  The female would show a band of blue between the black margin and the main yellow area of the lower wing.

Sue and I arrived back in Tulsa about 6:00 this evening and deposited Molly and Will back with Sue's daughter and son-in-law.  We were all pleased to be home and back to familiar beds.  We had a very nice week.  Sue was surrounded by six of her grandchildren and I was able to take an embarrassing number of excellent photographs which I will be happy to share with you as the days go by

CDPB Theme - Bright Colors: Japanese Beetle

The first day of each month there is a theme for all City Daily Photo Blogs.  Tulsa Gentleman is a City Daily Photo Blog for Tulsa, Oklahoma.  The theme for August is "Bright Colors".  This little Japanese Beetle is munching on a yellow marigold.  A light sprinkle of rain left little drops of water to reflect the colors.  He may be a pest but at least he dresses well..

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