Oregon – Page 37

A Surprise in the Salvia

I normally like to photograph the insects and flowers in our garden the same way I shoot animals and plants when I’m hiking, which is to photograph them how I find them. In this case though the water drops on this katydid came not from rain but from me. It’s been a brutal summer here in Portland so even though our plants our drought tolerant to deal with the normally dry Northwest summers, I’ve been giving them an occasional drink of water since they missed out on the rains that usually last through June.

While watering the wildflower garden I saw something jump from the plant I was watering into our bee balm. I dropped the hose and ran over to see what it was, expecting a moth, and was delighted to instead find my favorite insect to photograph, a katydid. I had the chance to photograph them from 2006 to 2009 but hadn’t seen one since, so I put aside the watering and ran inside to grab my camera and tripod and macro lens and try for some pictures, even though the breeze was going to make things difficult.

I was a bit crushed when I got back to the bee balm and discovered the katydid was gone. But it hadn’t gone far, as I saw it moving on the nearby salvia and settled in for some pictures. In the top picture it is about to jump from one branch to another, its two front legs in open space balancing in the wind while the back four maintain purchase on the salvia. In the bottom two pictures it is using its mandibles to cut off pieces of the flower to eat. It was hard to get any pictures as the breeze was blowing the flowers around, I did my best to manually focus whenever the katydid came back into view and hoped for the best.

I planted the salvia for the hummingbirds, and the bees and butterflies like them too, so I was delighted to see the katydid enjoy them too. The katydid’s enjoyment is more destructive than the others, but no worries, there are plenty of blossoms to choose from. I hope it can forgive the disturbance of my watering, as the same water that upset it nurtures the flowers it loves to eat.

Extreme Baseball

Baseball is trying out some new rules in an effort to stay relevant to the youth of today. I’m not sure about the 5 Mound Rule, where four tall pitcher mounds have been added behind the normal one, allowing 5 batters to be pitched to at once. But I do like how the fifth mound partially blocks second base, sure to introduce some much needed somersaulting into the game.

Signs of Optimism

During the dry months, this is where Ellie and I enter Irving Park every day on our walks. The park offers a number of recreational opportunities for the neighborhood, as in addition to the dog park there are basketball courts, tennis courts, a playground, picnic tables, open fields, and baseball diamonds. As in surrounding Irvington, many old trees provide shade and character throughout the park. Sometimes the baseball diamonds are not in the best of shape and there are no fences in the outfield, but the types of teams that play here aren’t likely to be hitting any home runs.

So I had to smile when someone put up these little signs on a few of the trees at the edge of the park, indicating the distance to home plate. Nothing wrong with a little optimism.

Hot Cake

While not heavily travelled, Siskiyou is the busiest street Ellie and I cross on our walks, so long ago when training her I started giving her a treat if she’d wait for my command before we crossed. We frequently pass this old truck, owned by a resident on a nearby block, parked here as it’s a cross street with easier access and more available parking than the other streets. It’s often piled high with junk that I assume is awaiting transport to a recycling center. While I’m thankful it’s not parked in front of my house as it’s a bit of an eyesore, I was amused when I noticed it had ‘Hot Cake’ painted on one side, and I’m almost developing an affection for the old thing.

I’m less fond of it when it is parked near the intersection as it completely blocks us from the view of traffic, so I take Ellie to a different intersection to cross if there are any approaching vehicles.

Water Slide

After an unusually hot and dry summer, we got some much needed rain this weekend so I grabbed my macro lens for some pictures of the flowers and insects in our garden covered in raindrops. This is a close-up of one of the flowers of our black-and-blue salvia. I ended up with a sore back from standing or sitting in uncomfortable positions to get the macro shots that I wanted, I find it rather unfortunate that Canon didn’t put an articulating LCD on the back of the 7D Mark II, which I would use constantly for macro or pet photography.

I pre-ordered the Sony A7R II back when it was first announced and I need to decide in the next week or so if I should cancel the order. I would vastly prefer a mirrorless camera for macro work, and they have a stunning new macro lens for their system, but while the LCD tilts it isn’t fully articulated.

Cape Fuchsia

When we bought our house years ago there was a plant out front with gorgeous red flowers that was struggling. I guessed it wasn’t getting enough sun and it seemed like it would be hummingbird friendly, so when we started a wildflower garden in the backyard in memory of my mother-in-law and the hummingbirds that swarmed her feeders, I decided to try transplant some of the suckers of the plant and see if any survived. I didn’t have any potting soil handy so they went from clay to clay. I kept them watered during the dry summer and was stunned to see that they all did fine and now we have two thriving sections of what I discovered are cape fuchsias.

Despite the name and appearance of the flower, they aren’t true fuchsias. While not native to the Northwest (they come from South Africa), they do well during our dry summers and wet winters and are thriving even during our unusually dry and hot summer. The hummingbirds love them and they require little attention from me and have proven to be a lovely addition to our wildflower garden. I normally dislike suckering plants but these are easy to keep under control, and I even use one section of them as a buffer between the wildflowers and the raspberries, which are rather obnoxious in how they sucker and spread.

Poet Tree

Several people in the neighborhood post poetry outside their homes, either in a dedicated housing or in this case, attached to a large tree by the street. Sometimes the poetry is self-written, while some highlight the work of others. Ellie and I pass by this tree pretty frequently on our walks, depending on the route she wants to take home, and the postings change over time, a Pooh quote below and a poem above. I was rather struck by the current poem, Langston Hughes‘ “I, Too”. I despised poetry in my youth so it’s not surprising that I was familiar with neither poem nor poet, but I was both moved and educated on our walk that evening.

I, Too

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table,
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.

Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed —

I, too, am America.

Langston Hughes

A Summer Night in Irvington

Cars line NE Fremont Street as the sun sets behind the Door of Hope church. This is normal for a Sunday morning but this was a lovely, if hot, Friday evening and the cars belong to moviegoers in adjacent Irving Park attending Movies in the Park, a program put on by the city of Portland at various parks around the city throughout the summer. A band entertains the crowd as they await dusk and the start of the movie. I noticed the crowd beginning to gather when I took Ellie on her normal walk earlier in the evening, so I took her on a bonus walk near sunset to get these pictures. Her reward for sitting still while I took pictures was a generous helping of treats, which delighted her to no end.

Not Endemic

While some species in Olympic National Park are endemic to the peninsula, others like this dark-eyed junco can be found elsewhere – including my backyard. The junco in the top picture is perching in a subalpine fir at Hurricane Ridge, the one on the bottom in a dogwood in our backyard. Earlier this week one was flitting about in a tree just a few feet away as I walked to the cafeteria at work, while others were feeding on the ground near the track across the street from my office where I walk when I need a break from programming.

The Wishing Tree

One of my favorite places I pass with Ellie on our walks is the Wishing Tree, where a resident has placed tags for passers-by to write their hopes and dreams.

Some are wistful.

“I wish that I could live here so I could see my daughter every day!”

Some are whimsical.

“For some really fun first dates, followed by no ‘first dates’ ever again!”

Some are practical.

“I wish for smaller class sizes. 30 kindergartners? C’mon people!”

Some are altruistic.

“I wish for life to be happy for everyone.”

Some are heartwarming.

“I wish for the strength and willingness to keep opening my heart.”

Some are heartbreaking.

“I wish that Susan’s daughter will be healthy soon & her tumors will be removed safely.”

There are so many things I am thankful for in my life, and each day I am reminded of two of them: our wonderful dog, and the neighborhood I get to walk her in.

📷: Canon M | Canon 22mm
🗓️: July 8, 2015