Recommended nicknames for Henry Luke

Hank
Hank the Tank
Mr. H (said with grave respect)
H-Bomb
Hi-Def (after his initials)
Marvel of Manassas

Any others?

Two nights ago, Henry slept not a wink between 8PM and 4:00-ish AM. I was hoping that was a one-off and he would mostly sleep through the night last night. He got to bed around 2:30. Woke up just prior to 4. Went back to sleep at 7. So if he isn't sleeping through the night, he did sleep during the night. I'll count that as progress.

Visit to the Arboretum

Laura and I visited what is probably one of the most overlooked of the DC area's many free museums - the Arboretum. Part research lab, part museum, part landscaped park, I really enjoyed all the herbs. I had no idea there were so many kinds of Basil. Many flowering plants, as well, even though it is August. Springtime is quite colorful, I imagine. Below are two photos of a bee, speckled with pollen, drinking nectar. She wasn't camera-shy, but did seem to get annoyed a bit when the camera got too close. The flowers (I don't know the variety) really did seem to glow white in their centers -that's not photo-editing.

There were also about 200 examples of Japanese bonsai and Chinese penjing (Chinese for 'bonsai') on display. Many were in the 80-120 year-old time-frame, but others were older. I think the oldest example was just shy of 600 years old.

Ice formations

There is a creek not far from where I live and the water in the creek has been molded by winter into some interesting shapes. The first photo is of bulbous icicles beside a small waterfall (about a foot high). The second is of icicles which for some reason are wider at the bottom than the top. They look gigantic in the photo, but that's just because there is no sense of scale. They are actually about five or six inches tall.

Paperwhites

I decided to try my hand at forcing bulbs. To those unfamiliar with the process, it's simple. Bulbs bloom in Spring, when it's warm. But if you put them in water or soil they'll bloom indoors long before bulbs in the great outdoors break the surface. I chose paperwhites because they were reputed to be the easiest to force. Now that the first paperwhite is starting to bloom I can say that I can't imagine it being easier. The first photo is of three bulbs I planted in a dish and the second is the buds on the first stalk. OK, so the third bulb in the dish isn't exactly a star performer. But, there is a little green nub at the bottom, so I haven't given up hope.

Here is a view inside the carrier, where the rabbits like to sleep sometimes. It's shady and appeals to their lapine preference for enclosed areas. Scout is in front. Boo is camera-shy. Actually, he's probably afraid I've come to brush him. He has little tufts of undercoat fur sticking out near his hind legs. He truly doesn't know how ridiculous he looks. Scout, on the other hand, doesn't really mind being brushed, so he is a bit more photogenic at the moment. A little tip for taking photos of rabbits (at least these two rabbits) - keep the camera away from them because they will chew on it. Don't worry, no damage done.

One could spend a lot of time watching clips of rabbits on YouTube. Well, at least this one could. This clip made me laugh.

Close to acorns

I found these two tiny acorns, joined at the stem, while we were hiking at George Washington Monument State Park. Their texture was very interesting to me.

The Original Washington Monument

This is actually from a few weeks ago, but I didn't sit down to post it until now. This is the first monument to George Washington in the entire country (and therefore, likely, the world). The structure here was rebuilt in the 1930s by the CCC, but looks pretty much like the original, which was built in 1827 by the residents of a nearby town called Boonsboro. Boonsboro residents decided that they should build a monument to GW, so they marched up the nearest of the big hills surrounding their town and built it. Took one day in the summer and a half day after harvest. Men and women of action, those Boonsboro-ites. The view from the top of the monument is gorgeous. The valley viewable from the monument is a migratory route for birds of prey in the Spring and Fall. Park website.

Laura picks the first pepper

Laura picked the first pepper from our container garden today. There are a about five more blossoms, so we should be able to harvest more later. This very pepper helped make some very delicious Tilapia Veracruz.

One on one with a caterpillar

Important wilderness safety tip: Should you, while in what any well-adjusted urbanite would call “the out-of-doors” discover that a fellow reveler in nature has unknowingly become the perch of any of the many varieties of living things to be found in the out-of-doors, such as caterpillars, make no exclamatory statement whatsoever, joyful, fearful or otherwise. The effect of doing so will most probably be to illicit first a reaction that could bring harm to whateverhad come to rest on the companion, a caterpillar, say, and only moments later a reaction that borders on harm to you, even if it was something very harmless, like a caterpillar, to begin with. For the purposes of illustrating this argument, I’ll introduce a story. Though, really it’s exactly what happened above with myself, my wife and a caterpillar as the main characters. In the end, the caterpillar wasn’t harmed but if it could be startled, certainly was by the way my wife moved violently to shake the caterpillar free of her shirt. There was some vocalization as well, if I recall. I, too, was unharmed, but startled in the kind of way that makes your pupils dilate. After the caterpillar was rescued and restored to a more natural setting, I photographed it and later identified it as a Forest Tent Caterpillar. The most difficult aspect of making this shot was coping with the continuous movement of the caterpillar. Extremely engergetic, this one.

Encounter with a cottonmouth

The weather finally started cooling off this past weekend, so Laura and I went hiking at Pedernales Falls State Park. We did a four mile loop and were on the way back when we had to cross a stream. After crossing the stream, I noticed a snake relaxing by the water about five or six feet away. I wanted a photograph, but I could tell it was venomous, so I put the telephoto lens on (40-150mm with 4.9 ft. focal distance) and crept in front of it. At the time, all we knew was that it was venomous, judging by the shape of its head, but after about 30 minutes of research and debate when we got home, the snake, as Laura had said all along, was a cottonmouth, one of the most venomous snakes in North America. The cottonmouth sat patiently and let me take its picture for a little while. The snake was not coiled up, so there was no danger of it striking me five feet away. The snake itself was about a foot long, about the length of a newborn cottonmouth (yes, cottonmouth snakes give live birth). I suppose it was sunning or coming out of the brush to return to the water. After I took a few pictures, I guess it got annoyed and wanted to let me know what I was dealing with. The most intimidating thing a cottonmouth can do short of biting me (reprehensible behavior, that), is show me what it could bite me with should I get close enough. Far from deterring me, I was thrilled. And Laura hurriedly told me to get its photograph while said display was occuring. And I did.

Shortly after that, the snake plopped into the water and took off downstream, leaving me the happier for the encounter.