Farmall Series M

Day 45: Arguably the best tractor ever made (~cough~ admitting to some bias here!), the 36-horse Farmall M was produced between 1939 and 1954, and at the peak of its popularity in 1952, sold for $2400. I think my dad paid substantially less for the one he drove (I believe he bought it used), and like most tractors of its time, its greatest fault was that it was hard to start. Once up and running, it was a workhorse whether pulling a hay rake or a disk harrow, but starting...well, that was another story. Even today when I am describing how I surmounted a particularly problematic issue, I may refer to having "used all my father's tractor-startin' words," and like any Marine, he had a very broad vocabulary of them. Still, if you want to talk tractors with me, don't bring up those green lawnmowers. Real tractors are red, and don't you forget it!

Goin' Hell-Bent-For-Leather

Day 44: Mark this as the one-and-only Woolly Bear I've seen this year, and the poor little guy was goin' hell-bent-for-leather, trying to reach the grass at the side of a bike path. Has it been that until very recently, we didn't have the requisite cold to kick these caterpillars into winter mode? Usually, I see them all along the road when I'm walking, a circumstance which slows me down considerably as I move each one to safety. It doesn't seem likely that I could have missed them, not when they are normally abundant.

High Water

Day 43: I have certainly seen the Nisqually running higher and faster than it was today, but it is still flooding low-lying areas and bringing a lot of debris downstream. November and February are typically our wettest months, and what brings the rivers up most dramatically is rain on top of an early snow-pack, as is the case in this event. Earlier this week, Paradise saw its first major accumulation of the year, enough that the Park brought out the plows and visitors were beginning looking forward to the snow-play season. A change to rain sent much of it coursing down the Nisqually while other areas (notably the Carbon River and Puyallup drainages) are also experiencing flood conditions. The Park was closed today when debris backed up behind a culvert, sending Kautz Creek over the road. While major flooding  is not expected, even minor events like this one can be inconvenient to Park personnel as well as to the visitors who come out in all sorts of weather.

Killdeer In The Dew

Day 42: I was out and about today, and as always, had the Albatross around my neck (i.e., the camera). true to the motto of the Scouts: "Be Prepared." I didn't really expect to find anything photo-worthy on this rather grey and gloomy day, but you never know when something may turn up. Today, it was half a dozen Killdeers skittering along in the grass of a sports facility. The focus is not as crisp as I'd have liked, but these nervous birds wouldn't allow me to get closer. I was fortunate to be able to get this shot at 74x digital zoom.

The Killdeer (a plover) goes by the Latin name Charadrius vociferus, and lives up to the latter part quite famously. These six birds were calling almost constantly, "Kill-deeeeeeeer! Kill-deeeeeeer!", another example of a bird whose common name has been derived from its call. The Killdeer is also known for performing the well-known broken-wing display to lure predators away from its nest or young.

Nature's Not-So-Straight Lines

Day 41: They say there is no such thing as a straight line in nature, and of course that's strictly true. For example, pine needles look straight to the eye, but in fact they curve gently to a point on each end. Nature's beauty lies in its fluidity of line, perceptible or imperceptible, a subtle flow which leads the eye from one point to another. However, there are times when Nature plays games with us, offering up the illusion of straight lines without compromising her artistic principles. When I first spotted this blanket of moss and lichen, the scratch tracks Tip leaves in the carpet when he sharpens his claws came to mind. Straight lines they are not, but they certainly give an impression of alignment.

Shower With A Friend

Day 40: Several times in the past, I have attempted to keep various Tillandsias alive with only very short-term success. I would either forget to soak them or would put them down to soak and leave them too long, practices which respectively caused them to dry out or rot. I've had this one a year now, and I've learned something: they don't like to bathe. They like to shower instead. My little friend sits in the bathroom window where I am reminded of the care requirements daily, and when I take my shower, I give it a thirty-second rinse in the spray. It is worth mentioning that I take a rather hot shower and surprisingly, the plant has not objected to the temperature of the water and appears to be doing quite well.

Blush

Day 39: I tend to ignore the stock Zygocacti (Christmas red, cerise, vermilion) in preference for the more exotic varieties. And I can't quite tell you which one is my favourite, unless it happens to be what's in bloom at the time. The picotee with its vividly edged white petals is certainly a show-stopper, but the yellow is so unusual that it would be difficult to choose between the two. Then there is "white," in truth a pale shell pink which may deepen depending on the amount of heat and/or light the plant has received during its non-blooming time. Its striking flowers put me in mind of little birds, cockatoos, pink crests and all. Although it lacks the flamboyance of the picotee and the rarity of the yellow, it makes up for it with a delicateness the others cannot claim. Yes, I'd be hard put to decide a favourite among those three.