Blog Archives
Fresh Phlox
Friends, we are journeying back to Crex Meadows today to show you this pretty little flower, this is wild prairie phlox that is blooming all over Crex this month. I like the color, wild violet will fade to a pink as the flower is exposed to the sunshine. But when it first blooms it is a lovely deep shade, enjoy til Tomorrow MJ
Vetch
Friends, this little vetch is greeting the morning with a purple glow, I am experimenting with a foggy blurred attitude, but the sun is shining so I guess i will venture outdoors and go look for some birdies, til Tomorrow MJ
Badger Digs
Friends, you may ask yourself while traveling thru Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the North Dakota Badlands, why are all these prairie dog towns here? Well to feed the badgers and coyotes. This little badger was digging furiously into a prairie dog hole, but the dogs were running out the back door as he was digging into the front door. The joke is on him, see the dirt on his nose, til Tomorrow MJ
Blue as in Flowers
Friends, my personal theme today is blue, as in tiny blue flowers, these penstemon grow right out of red rock and are a challenge for a photographer with bad knees, til Tomorrow MJ
Redstart
Friends, this tiny bird is new to me, had to travel to North Dakota to find him. He is an American Redstart, and he is showing an attitude in this image. Actually he is waiting for some insects to buzz by so he can catch them. He has three spots of orange on his black, one on the tail, one on the wing and the inside shoulder spots shown in the top image, the image below shows his spots used to id him. At first i thought this was an oriole, but he is much smaller. til Tomorrow MJ
Weekly Photo Challenge:Curves
Friends, curves as in lumps of clay layers, this moonscape landscape is from the North Dakota Badlands and is composed of primarily soft mud layers. When we visited this spring, the wet gumbo kept us from exploring more of these formations. I did venture into this area a little too early before they were completely dry and wound up falling in the goop. My camera still has little patches of clay attached but not in any critical parts. How embarasing !! I see you laughing!, til Tomorrow MJ
South to North
Friends, this image above is the red in the South Dakota Badlands and the image below is the red color in the North Dakota Badlands. In SD the sediment layers are the pink hue and in ND the red color is a deeper hue and due to scoria outcroppings. Just one of the differences between south and north. til Tomorrow MJ
Flowers
Friends, these buds and flowers were found in the badlands, i could only guess at their identity, good thing i don’t need to know the name to enjoy their beauty, til Tomorrow MJ
Pipestone
Friends, Pipestone National Monument protects the pipestone site that has been a quarry for Native Americans to mine pipestone. For many generations, the Native Americans have journeyed here to mine the pipestone and take it home to their people. The red rock is soft like soapstone and can be carved into amulets and pipes easily with primitive tools. The site is open to Natives to mine the red rock, but closed to others of non-native heritage. The pipe was a sacred ceremony among the Natives and an important object in the preservation of their culture. The ribbons attached to the tree are prayer bundles left to thank the Great Spirit. We visited this green oasis and wandered the paths to the falls and quarries on our way west. My friend and I wrote a story about Pipestone earlier til Tomorrow MJ
Blue Flowers
Friends, some blue flowers from the Black Hills of South Dakota. these blue bells also grow in Minnesota and Wisconsin. They are universal, do they grow where you are? the purple flower is larkspur?? found it along French Creek til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 