Seamus 5 months

Floral Envy and the perfect commute...

My buddy Dr. Jim looks longingly at an Agave in bloom on the NCSU campus.

No pictures from the bicycle commute today, but I left work as one thunderstorm ended and rode home with another following me. I didn't get wet, but there was rain all around me in the mountains. Perfect. There is something about the smell in the air after new rain that is just plain wonderful.

Seamus goes to the Gym

The gym we belong to requires everyone in the family to have a photo ID card. Seamus had his sun glasses on when they took the picture and it just cracks me up. He gets rocked to sleep while Christine works out. I am at once envious of both of them :-)

The Kid Rocks...

Still more plants...

Sedums in a garden I visited while on a business trip to Raleigh, NC.
This pepper flower is fairly typical of Solanaceae species, but the blue anthers on this one are impressive.

Macroni

David and Goliath in the Greenhouse.

In case you couldn't see David in the first picture. Not really sure if an aphid would set off a venus fly trap or not, but he just seemed to be a bold little fellow. Update: I called this aphid a fellow, but it is almost certainly a female.

Pistils and stamens of a cactus flower. I thought the carpels looked like little hands.

Flies ?

Leaf morphology. Escargo Begonia.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

I know this is a bit early, but I have yet another business trip next week and I wanted to make sure I got this post out prior to Sunday. Love you Dad! Thanks for everything.

Before I was a twinkle in my Daddy's eye. (Vietnam, 1966)

"New guys," someone yelled.
I looked down and smiled. I laughed and said, "Shit."
There was Franko, Felter, and Tig, some guys from my old outfit. Tig had sense, was a good guy.

-Albert French, Patches of Fire: A Story of War and Redemption

Dad, Me, and Mom (1969)


Me and Dad and some Pony back on the Farm (1970)


Shenanigans (1978)

Va. Tech Graduation 1X (1990)


Dad turned granddad for 6th time. (2007)

Christine and Bug

Christine took this picture on her own with the kid!

Second thoughts on Second Life...

The NOAA educational site has sold me on the potential of Second Life as an educational tool. Now if I had some time. Choose watch the show for captions.

Good Spring for Insects

I continue to be happy with the macro feature on my Olympus C-8080 wide zoom. I am surprised at how good some of the pictures turn out even without a tripod.

Chill'in

So several educators locally are beginning to use Second Life (or at least experiment with it) for teaching purposes. I haven't figured out how to do that effectively yet, but here my avatar relaxes by the pool. I can feel the virtual stress leaving me now.

Ants, Mulberries, and Fire Pink

This ant stopped its current activity to take a look at my camera lens. This is probably how UFO rumors get started back at the colony.

Morus rubra fruit. The Red Mulberry tree has fruit that look kind of like a blackberry when ripe. This tree is in the lot next to ours and is loaded with fruit every year. I think I may make a mulberrry pie this year.

Silene virginica or Fire Pink (Carnation Family) is a native wildflower that likes shady slopes here in North Carolina. It has to be the reddest of the natives we have locally. This specimen was right off of the feeder street for Sesame.

Seamus pics... but of course.

Grammy O'Brien was up for a visit and purchased Seamus this walker. He wants to practice standing all the time despite the fact that his balance isn't quite in the same league as his motivation.

He has found reverse, but his transmission lacks the other desirable gearing. He really loves bobbling around in this thing. He can stand, chew, look, and slobber simultaneously. Kind of looks like he is developing a Mohawk to.

Big big eyes = too too cute.