Spring photos, part 2 of 2, cicadas and Indian Pipes

post #239
      Welcome, world, especially my many readers in Greece and Ukraine who seem to come here weekly despite the unrest and struggles in their countries.  We certainly and fervently wish you safe outcomes.  Greetings, too, to new readers who discover my version of life in Appalachia. Actually I only get a number for each country where there are viewers, so I don't really know if readers are new or not. But I hope some are, and thus the welcome to you! Also, it is now easier for me to answer reader comments, as I learned today in responding to a comment I received on last week's post.  Anyway, enough housekeeping, and back to bugs and Indian Pipes and such!
       In early June, my visiting daughter sat on the outside steps for some reason, thereby discovering some fascinating bug activity underneath the railing. It all took about an hour.  Emerging moments:

leaving the shell

hanging out and drying out

progress on the milkweed

Indian Pipes, 6/4/15, with Maura., who found them

same pipes, 2 weeks later, soon to be finished

an additional photo from our time on Carter Ford

 and two more photos of my daughter and her daughter, on Carter Ford, to show better how beautiful they are.

I have had some trouble with the photo prep routine this week, so the photos may not be as clear as usual, which isn't as clear as I'd like anyway.  Work to do soon, so my apologies for now.  Here is one last photo, for fun.  The caption is what went through my head when I saw these gooseneck garlics doing their thing. It comes with thanks to Melva for providing these gooseneck garlic plants.  

"Look! They went thataway!"

a visit in wonderland: rhododendrons at Carter Ford

post #237
      My daughter and granddaughter are visiting me for a week, so yesterday we went exploring! The wild rhododendrons are out, and a wonderful place to see them is at Carter Ford. This requires a drive on a narrow dirt road which luckily is currently in pretty good shape, though no one else was there in that magical place. I don't usually show any photos of my family on this blog, but today it can't be helped. I like to tell stories with my photos, and they are very much part of today's story.
     

the actual "ford"

view to the right, looking upstream

roadside, near the ford

looking for treasures

finding a millepede!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!....

       Magic has been happening at the house as well!  First, the fawn -- whom I first saw last week running around and around the house!  Later, with the doe (its mom, we assume), it came to check for apples that might have fallen in the field.  We have also seen a big box turtle, a very long snake which we think is a black snake, plus, of course, various birds, skinks, butterflies and, every evening, lightning bugs. 

     We also enjoyed meeting a brand new, freed from the shell, cicada!  We watched it hang there until fully separated from its shell and dried. It then took off. I will show more photos of it next week.  It was beautiful in its own insect fashion, and a good way to celebrate all the coming out that is happening this week as we learn about how human beings also need the same freedom to be themselves!!  Our best practice can be to support one another on this process throughout our lives.

       I will show additional photos of this event next week, but now it is time for me to get back to some more adventures with family.  I am so grateful to have this time with them.