30 Aug 11. Tuesday was slated for my trip to Mt Rainier to shoot alpine flowers, high lakes, and mountains. A combination of bad guesses by the weather guessers and inspection schedules by the state is preventing same, but I do believe a flower photo should still be in the offing. Shooting a lot of macro stuff as I do, and listening to the comments I get about it, I am more than just a little inclined to think that the majority of adults, and all modern kids included, simply fail to take the time to look closely at these magnificent creations and note all the intricate detail. For those of you who do not know me well, I do not believe for even a fraction of a second that it all came about by chance! The image for today is a close up of an Icelandic Poppy, one of my favorite flowers. Take a bit of time and study it carefully; I'll wager you will see more than you've ever imagined prior when just looking at the flower in its entirety. Think about what it is designed to accomplish, and then how that has been engineered into what you are seeing. A great book on this general subject, which I've mentioned before, and which would be a required text in any class in Biology or Mathematics I would endeavor to teach, and which I highly recommend to any of you who are either home schooling your children or thinking of so doing, is titled A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe: The Mathematical Archetypes of Nature, Art, and Science by Michael S. Schneider. In fact, I HIGHLY recommend it to every one of you on this list!! It is, unfortunately, out of print, but there are still lots of copies available for as little as $6, and you'll never spend $6 better. It will open your eyes to the engineering designs found throughout nature and copied knowingly or otherwise by mankind. Today's submission would be touched upon in more than one chapter. ISO 200; 1/400 sec @ f /16.
31 Aug 11. If there is one animal I truly don't like, it would be house cats. For many reasons, not the least of which is the destruction they are wreaking on song birds, but then, since they are by nature hunters, I guess my feelings in this one case should be directed to those who irresponsibly let them outside. And of course, since I really don't like them, they all go out of their way to rub against my leg, or jump in my lap, or worse. All except for Tom. Tom is one of a pair of brother sister cats who live with Mini, although from Mini's perspective, they don't exist. During the first 7 weeks I was house sitting Tom either gave me a wide berth or would come up and ask for attention, and then HISS at me and try to swipe me with his claws if I provided same. Nice cat. About three days prior to the end of my "visit", Tom suddenly became this totally affectionate little pussy who wanted nothing more than to jump in my lap, rub against me, and /or put his butt in my face. A truly delightful experience. Tom liked to bring "presents" into the garage and leave them for me, things he had either killed or maimed and then left to die, including, on one occasion, a large rodent like animal that had crawled into a shoe to expire. I only found it after the garage aroma led me there. A real treat! During this past week I've found a couple of maimed and dead small rodents in our garage at the property, and I'm wondering if Tom is providing us with an early welcome aboard package. I guess time will tell. Meanwhile I fond two very small, but real cute, mice in the basement Tuesday to which Jan's first comment is we need a cat. WRONG. So now I have a puzzle to solve that I think needs rapid attention. How did they get in, and why were both of them near death at the time I found them, one in the tub and the other in the middle of the floor. And where was Tom? ISO 200; 1/250 sec @ f / 9.
