The Sunflower plant has so much character. Here the flower heads droop with the weight of seeds against the backdrop of a spectacular sunset — silhouettes nodding and swaying against the sky. Amazing!
The Sunflower plant has so much character. Here the flower heads droop with the weight of seeds against the backdrop of a spectacular sunset — silhouettes nodding and swaying against the sky. Amazing!
I was just coming home from shopping so I missed capturing the double rainbow arching over our neighborhood after a short storm. Both ends were visible, and rare sights like that are so electrifying! I hurried home to get the camera, then still managed a few shots of the golden glow accentuating everything as the sunset.
After two weeks away, one of the first things I did was inspect the garden, most curious about the cucumbers, because it’s the first year they’ve survived this far into the season. There I was at midnight, feeling around in the dark, and found a cucumber that had grown from 1/2 inch long to 8″L X 3″ wide during that short time. I expected to find a virtual Jack And The Bean Stalk situation this morning, but all the other cukes are average-sized. The heart-shaped cookie cutters I placed around some veggies have fallen off, so will have to try again; now able to monitor the progress of growth.
Thunderbird Park, Royal BC Museum, Victoria, BC
___________________________________________________________________________
Severe and spooky Summer storm in Calgary, Alberta
___________________________________________________________________________
I have yet to see a tornado in Texas since we moved there, yet here is the first one I’ve ever seen, about to touch down in Airdrie, near Calgary Alberta while we’re on holidays. Watching it form is surreal, and though it’s not far away I don’t feel in any danger. It formed a perfect funnel then I watched it pull back again, spawning a skinny long string-like tornado, then dissolve. The associated clouds are ominous and dark in contrast to the sunny neighborhood where I’m standing. I learned later this afternoon that the tornado touched down in a farmer’s feild for a few moments.
___________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Arbutus trees, first thumbnail, only grow in the Pacific Northwest, here on Salt Spring Island, B.C. and in parts of China, nowhere else in the world. They are popular carve-your-name-in-the-trunk trees because the bark heals into a soft well-defined scar. A few trees on the island have been abused like this. Still, they couldn’t take the beautiful away! Groups of three and four Fluted Swallowtails spiraled in and out of the sunlight as I walked down the mountain road on Salt Spring Island. Fortunately one briefly settled on a fir tree.