Lmst

Not to be confused with a toy Yoda.

Lots and lots of jasmine. The hawthornes do this too, but they bloom earlier, so most of them have been trimmed by now.

#florespondence #bloomscrolling

Close up of part of a hedge almost completely covered with five-petaled white flowers.

Malaga "Canyon," viewed from the trailhead. The trail is currently closed due to unstable ground, and the signs look permanent.

#hiking

Looking along a narrow valley between rolling green hills fitted with trees and a few houses

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A little clump of poppies blooming by the coast.

A ton sprung up in our garden, but none bloomed this year. Most frustrating. A common urban legend with little kids in California when I grew up is that if you pick poppies, you'll get in huge trouble – so I still feel a little weird pulling them up so that other plants could grow. #nature

Little orange poppies amidst greenery, with the sea behind. [Fuji X-T5 / Tamron 18-300]

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#landscape #nature #photography #winter #snow #forest #wieneralpen #semmering #niederösterreich #austria #darktable

Snowy forest in Semmering, lower austria

"Howdy, neighbor!"

#ducks #turtles #birds #waterfowl #nature #pond

Also on Flickr at: https://flickr.com/photos/kelsonv/53979365640

A brownish duck swims past a rock on which a dark gray turtle is sunning itself, its head raised as if in greeting.

Last week I did a simple walk around the local marsh preserve. There's still some water! It hasn't all dried up yet!

Most years, the ponds fill up during winter rains, then dry out over the course of the summer and fall. Some years they dry out completely, but there's usually at least *some* water left in the lowest part of the marsh toward late fall.

#marsh #hiking #nature #California #plants #flowers #florespondence #bloomscrolling

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kelsonv/53915275326/

A pool of still water in an open area with reeds and some sort of red algae or small plant growth. Mud and reeds extend to trees, covered in green leaves, around the edges of the clearing. It's sunny, and the sky is clear blue, shading to white near the distant treetops.

A dirt path curves away between through a riot of low bushes in shades of brown, yellow, orange and green, some with clusters of tiny flowers in white and yellow. A patch of taller, bright yellow sunflowers is visible in the distance, and beyond it trees and a long, low building like a warehouse, all beneath a bright blue sky. Tree branches overhang the top of the frame and shade the right side of the trail near the viewer.

"Wilderness Park" was constructed to be a suburban idea of wilderness camping in the late 1970s or early 1980s -- on a former missile site, of all places -- but local conservation groups have been restoring native plants in (other) parts of the park over the last few years.

There are houses *just out of view* on the other side of that fence.

#woods #hiking #wilderness #park #trees #path #ivy #nature #california

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kelsonv/53909788610

Leaf-covered path through trees, ivy to one side and grass to the other, with dappled sunlight.

The same park with the ducks has a small botanical garden in one corner. This pollinator garden seems to be working.

#garden #bees #flowers #poppies #bloomscrolling #florespondence #pollen

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kelsonv/53899253862/

A bee hovers above a bright orange flower, even brighter (think highway safety orange) clumps stuck to its legs.

Lots of the same orange flowers surrounding a sign that says POLLINATOR HABITAT, with more greenery behind.

Finally getting around to sorting through photos from a walk at a park with a large pond...um...two months ago.

The third duckling on the right was spooked by the turtle surfacing its head right next to it. Between this shot and the next, a few seconds later, it had darted away and hidden behind its mother.

Ducks (mostly mallards like these), coots and geese (mostly Canada Geese) make this one of their regular migratory spots. Seagulls, pigeons and crows stop by regularly. Smaller birds mostly stick to the other parts of the park. The turtles, like those in most of the ponds around here, are feral - released pets and their descendants.

#ducks #ducklings #birds #waterfowl #pond #nature #turtles #park #swimming #SuburbanWildlife #photos

#iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/219887883
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kelsonv/53905599395

Two ducklings is mottled brown feathers swim, following their mother, who has similar coloring. A third is off to the side, not far from where a turtle's head is poking out of the water.

The same two ducklings and their mother, only the third duckling is nowhere to be seen. For that matter, neither is the turtle.

Yeah, #RandysDonuts in #Inglewood has been done before, but I figured I'd try my hand (lens?) at it.

#ProgrammaticArchitecture #donuts #GiantDonut #weird #LosAngeles #sunny

Low, flat-roofed building with a GIANT DONUT on top of the roof, poised sideways so the sky can be seen through the hole.

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Cheerful meerkat. #california

A meerkat stands up to check for rude people taking its picture. [Fuji X-T5 / Tamron 18-300]

I was surprised to find even this much of a pay phone left standing yesterday. Having just re-watched The Matrix, I thought I'd tint it green and call it "No Exit."

#PayPhone #graffiti #obsolete #TheMatrix

A payphone enclosure box against a bare wall, still containing the main box of the phone with the keypad, coin slots and so forth, but the handset and cord are missing. The enclosure and phone are covered with graffiti and stickers. The image has been tinted slightly green.

Probably an #EveningPrimrose of some sort, by the side of the road.

#wildflowers #flowers #yellow #florespondence #bloomscrolling

A bright yellow, bowl-shaped flower on a stem. a tangle of brown, yellow and green stems and leaves, and a few small purple flowers, blur in the background.

"Still Alive," take two. I bumped up the contrast and saturation, and I think that makes it work better, at least on a small display.

#plants #florespondence #bloomscrolling #hedge

A sprig with bright green needle-like leaves and a couple of smallish white flowers growing through a tangle of dead gray brambles.

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A favorite from the aurora, May 10 - 11, 2024, Washington State. #aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights

A photo of the night sky, silhouetted trees framing the edges of the frame, with pink and green rays of the aurora.

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Aurora over Washington State, May 10 - 11, 2024. #aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights

A photo of a twisty aurora formation of greens and pinks.

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Maus

#naturephotography

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#schwammerling #Oberösterreich #austria #landscape #landschaft #rock #mühlviertel #naturpark #rechberg #felsen #rocks #nature #natur #vkdt #rawtherapee

Mossy rocks in the naturpark mühlviertel near rechberg, upper austria

A colander as a #PinholeCamera

Update (now with words!): I didn’t arrange another road trip to see today’s total eclipse like we took in 2017 (which was amazing, by the way!). But we had clear skies, so we broke out the eclipse glasses from 2017 again. And it turns out that yes, a colander *does* make a fun instrument for observing a solar eclipse!

Also at my blog: some thoughts on just how common eclipses are, planetwide, though they're rare in any specific location - and how that fits with historical takes on how they happen and what they mean.

https://hyperborea.org/journal/2024/04/plural-of-eclipse/

#eclipse #solarEclipse #improvise #history

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