Morning Glory on Fence

In another week one of my favorite walking places across the nearby wetlands will be off limits to even foot traffic (it's been closed to vehicles for a year or so to fix the road). So I'm glad I stopped the other morning and got some pictures of this morning glory peeking above the fence!

It's been a long time since I've been able to link up with "Friday Fences" - It's good to be back!

A Moment of Silence for the Bumblebees

I've tried to start this post about my neighborhood bumblebees a number of times, but find I am at a loss for words. What happened to the bees just hits too hard and close to home.

What happened is this.

About a week and a half ago, I went to our local Target store to get my sister-in-law a birthday present. As I pulled into the parking lot, the sun finally peeked out from behind the dense morning clouds. On my way into the store, I noticed a bumblebee skittering around on the pavement. If I had been carrying something to pick him up and move him to safer ground, I would have.

Instead I went into the store.

I was in the store shopping for about 30 minutes
.

When I got back outside, it was warm and sunny. And there were more dead/dying bees.

As I approached my car, I glanced around and was horrified to realize the entire parking lot was black with the bodies of dead and dying bumblebees, and a few honeybees. There were thousands and thousands of them. People coming out of the store stopped and stared in shock. As I was getting into my car, a bee dropped onto my window, and tried to climb in ... then fell to the pavement.

 

 Several days later it hit the news. The largest bumblebee kill caused by pesticides. Ever. Anywhere. More than 50,000 bees were estimated to be killed. That's over 300 colonies.

I was too upset to take a picture of the parking lot as I saw it.

It made me sick.

You can read the full story at the OPB (Oregon Public Broadcasting) website. They are very thorough in their information, and they have a few pictures of what I saw.

I did get a picture of just a few of the 60+ sprayed trees after they were covered with bee-proof mesh.

They give me the creeps ...

But at least there aren't so many dead bumblebees.

It sounds silly, but an environmental group is hosting a memorial service on Sunday afternoon - in the Target parking lot - for the bees.

I'm thinking of going.

(even though the lady at the flower shop told me that I need to "get over it" - it was ridiculous to feel so bad about something so "stupid" -- can you believe it?)

Found Photos ...

When I go to the Goodwill outlet store, I always fan through old photo albums. On many occasions I have found photos still tucked into the pages ... 

I found 19 old photos on my last trip to the outlet store ... they were in the middle of an old beat-up photo album. I could find no names, and only a few dates (which ranged from 1918 to 1929).

This guy really caught my eye - he's in quite a few of the shots, and I am AMAZED by his hair!

Seriously - if you enlarge any of these shots, you will see what I mean.

I mean, it looks like the fellow is wearing a rag mop on his head!

But it looks good on him.

I think this is the same guy, only older. Same unruly mop ... different attitude.

Check out the old rifle ... and the ammo clip he's wearing. And he must have a horse nearby - judging from that bow-legged stance!

I love the silent stories these pictures tell.

This is my first contribution to "Vintage Weekly" in a long time.

It's good to be back!

Just Horsin' Around with Shadows

It's been a long time since I've posted here (computer issues, now fixed).

It's been even longer since I've linked up with "Shadow Shot Sunday".

But yesterday's weather was perfect to get out and take some photos ... (wouldn't you know it's raining today!)

What I found was this unique shadow ... what could it be?

It's a horse!

Well, an artists rendition of a horse done in stainless steel ...

Some people like it, some people hate it.

But on an early Sunday morning, he appeared to be contemplating his own shadow.

I don't think he likes it!