Vincent van Gogh-esk

Prairie Dock

I recently read Van Gogh, The Life by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith.  It had a significant effect on me.  I have gravitated to more saturated colors.  I like complementary colors, when possible.  This shot was inspired by the book.

Prairie Dock

 I was exploring the light green background in this one.  It turned out to be what I consider an excellent representation of the flower parts.  What we might call the petals are really called rays.  The rays each have a floret at their base which is female.  The disk florets are bisexual with only the male portion fertile.  (This from Wikipedia on the Prairie Dock)  You can see both parts in this shot.  I have seen Steve McKee disassemble the entire thing to show the various parts.  These plants are in the aster family.

Prairie Dock

I have experimented with light modifiers while photographing these plants.  I feel that they need direct sun with the resultant harsh shadows to express what I feel.

Prairie Dock

 The day that I made the image of the inflorescence showing the florets, I also made a short video (2 min) titled A Morning Walk.  It is near the bottom of the page.  The video has a Monarch Caterpillar, the Prairie Dock inflorescence, tadpoles and sludge worms.  I hope you enjoy.

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Dogbane Leaf Beetle

Dogbane Leaf Beetle

The setting is the Common Milkweed.  My first thought was Japanese Beetle.  Closer inspection yielded another name, Dogbane Leaf Beetle.  The Dogbane, aka Indian Hemp, is related to the Common Milkweed.  In the early spring, I can barely tell them apart in their early stages.  Long story short, this pair of beetles should feel right at home on the milkweed and it appears that they do.

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Red Milkweed Beetle

Red Milkweed Beetle

The red milkweed beetle is another insect found on the milkweed at this time of year.  I was reading on Wikipedia the other day that its antenna bisects its eye.  I wanted to capture an image showing this phenomenon.

Red Milkweed Beetle

I don't understand how the beetle can have very good vision with the antenna obstructing its view.  It probably just sees motion. 

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Monarch Caterpillar

Monarch Caterpillar

This little guy was munching on the marsh milkweed blossom.  I can't remember seeing that behavior before.

I must comment also that I have not seen many large butterflies this year.  It is August and I see small butterflies but not the larger ones.  I have wondered if the reason might be the time I go to Gorman but yesterday I went in the early afternoon and still did not see large butterflies.  It is an unusual season weather wise.  The common milkweed, the monarch's primary host plant, is not growing as usual.  There are some, but not as many.  Some places in which I see numerous milkweed plants each year, have almost none.  

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1923 RUMELY OIL PULL

1923 Rumely Oil Pull

I visited the 2012 Richland County Fair with my son and his family Sunday.  We saw this tractor belonging to the Buckeye Iron Will Club.

My first impression was that I was viewing a steam engine.  That did not last long as I walked closer.  I could not see a boiler.  I finally found spark plugs and realized that it was an internal combustion engine.  This oil pull is a two cylinder model.  I heard and saw one running on the internet and it sounds much like one of the old John Deere tractors.  They may have it running for the parade later in the week.

I remember hearing from my family that threshing was the primary use for mechanization in the early 20th Century.  Horses had been the power before that.  They could still pull equipment in the fields but they could not operate a thresher.  Threshing before that was done by animals walking on the grain heads.  The thrasher was a giant step forward.  The steam engines and machine's like the Rumely were used to operate them via a belt.

1925 McCormick Deering Thresher

 This threshing machine is or was on display at the fairgrounds beside one of the barns.  There is an information  tag near the back explaining the machine's use.

Gradually, the tractor out paced the horse in providing motive force for other field implements including the plow.  I hear that it took three horses to pull a one bottom plow.  They would have to stop and rest if the row was too long.  The tractor could go without resting and pull more than one bottom, eventually.  I have been unable to learn how many bottoms this tractor can pull.

One of the club's officers with the oil pull

I must confess that I am not a good reporter.  This kind gentleman told me his name and answered my questions.  I did not record his name and have forgotten it.

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End-banded Netwing

End-banded Netwing

I remembered photographing one of these previously but could not remember the name.  I thought, to myself, "This will be easy to find in the book."  I looked through all the moths and did not see it.  I knew in which book I had seen it.  I could almost remember the picture of it in the book.  I surely expected it to be a moth.  Finally, I found it with the beetles.  I was about to give up looking.  I would have, if I did not remember seeing it before.

Thanks to the FreeDictionary I learned this:  1. Any of numerous insects of the order Coleoptera, having biting mouthparts and forewings modified to form horny coverings that protect the underlying pair of membranous hind wings when at rest.  What we see are the forewings.  Interesting!

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