Thursday, July 29, 2021

Hot and Stuff

This is just going to be about things I've seen over the past week including things of beauty, things that make me curious and things I photographed just because.

Wednesday's storm front. I was on the way to CrossFit when I saw that I was driving into the heart of a huge cell. The closer I got to town, the meaner it looked. According to the weather service it was to go northeast of us. 
I don't like storms, I don't like to be in storms. 
I've been in two tornadoes and one really exceptional storm in 2007.




I pulled over to the side of the road and grabbed my camera. I only had my IR camera with the 850nm filter. It really only captures stark black and white and really highlights details in clouds. We had some winds when the front came through along with rain but thankfully no damage.
Other areas had hail and up to 3 inches of hard quick rain.

Shot of the neighbor's cattle pasture at dawn. Yes, the cow in the middle of the photo is pooping. 


Dogwood. I found some! 


Wild Grapes! They look plentiful and I wonder about making grape jelly.
That would take a LOT!


Sumac. It looks like it wants to start turning colors! Heat and drought stress?


Elderberry flowers. Most are done flowering now and the berries are turning dark. This one had a tiny bee on it.


Queen Anne's Lace in the meadow across the fence to the east of us.


Ohhhh!
Chicken of the Woods? I saw it, I didn't pick it because it was too beautiful. However I would like to have an expert by my side to try something like this. 




Apparently my soldiers will keep an eye on it. It was too bloody hot and stormy to continue wandering around the woods with the heat and 'thick' air. But I will get back to it!

Indian Pipes! Generally they grow near an old oak's roots especially those oaks that have 'health' issues. Interesting to note that so many life forms are so intertwined with the forest like that. I mean I knew it, but I didn't KNOW it.






Moving right along. 

Last thing. 
The storm Wednesday night. Uffdah. The winds were pretty nasty so it looks like today is my day to go see if trees fell on the fence. Our corn was flattened and I found branches this morning down by the stock tank which is over 100 ft from the trees in one direction. Branches were down in another direction too and some found way out east of the house. No damage to buildings but small branches on top of the shed too! Interesting. You may be able to guess what I will write about later!



5 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:49 AM

    The storms have been nasty with lots of damage here too with lots of power outages. The bad storm 5 years ago left me without power for two weeks. I have never seen a ‘chicken of the woods’, it is incredible beautiful.

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    1. Thanks I spent all morning cleaning what I can up with a hand saw and machete. The branches are off the fences and now we have intense smoke! It looks really strange outside.

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  2. Great storm photos, and I love the light on the Queen Annes Lace! Chicken of the Woods...because, it tastes like chicken? Never seen it before. Wonder if it tastes as good as you made it look.

    Glad you/your place weathered the storm(s) okay. Our area was not hit hard. Tuesday nights storm was much harder for us. Both Tue & Wed storms woke me up. I listened & watched the "disco lights" filtered through the bedroom shade. I almost got up to take photos. Almost.

    I thought today was hotter than h-e-double toothpicks. Ugh!! Even the woods were hot, and that is rare. The dogs had long faces, so we walked mid morning. By the end, I was soaked head to toe. Boring walk, but at least we did it. Thought for sure there would be some 'shrooms.

    I enjoyed a quick blast of cool air late afternoon while on "bug patrol" and then heavy smoke (?) appeared or maybe humidity induced fog. Whatever is was, visibly hung in the distant air. Tmr is suppose to be cooler. Fingers crossed.

    Looking forward to your next post :)

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  3. If that is Chicken of the Woods...no gills... it is safe too cook up...The Great Ethan Allan says they are really good!
    That was some front...I hate clouds like that:(

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    Replies
    1. Yeah...LOL. I would love to watch another person eat it first at my table and survive. I know...I'm a chicken. It is faded now and I left it be.
      Yes that storm was pretty scary! I rarely get to see the whole horizon like that because we live in a hollow of sorts. Thanks for stopping by.

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