Feathery winged things thrive in the deep forests and lush wetlands of the Adirondacks. Summer is a brief season here — with nights in the 40's and days barely making it to the 70's sometimes, Washingtonians might wonder if "summer" is truly an Adirondack season! But for a few short months, the little flying creatures are abundant.
Many different yellow birds inhabit the wildflowers and bushes alongside roads and lakes in the Adirondacks.
The color of these birds blends into the light green of the dense bushes and reeds — they are really hard to spot and they don't sit in one place for long!
This little guy is called a Wilson's Snipe. I have no idea who Wilson was, or if his friends played a joke on him by naming the bird this way. That long beak is important because it helps the snipe get to insects and stuff buried deep inside tree crevasses. You needed to know that fact today. No weirder than humans getting food in a drive-through.
Damsel flies are small, delicate and lovely compared to the big, ugly dragonflies.
Speaking of flies…. they are one of the less pleasant aspects of life in the summer Adirondacks, but when they perch on the daisies that are abundant along roads, they are part of the picture…
Oh, stop grousing! Think of this guy next time you grouse… do you really want to look like this??
Loon families are all over the place this week…. I'll have more on loons in blogs to come.
Clouds are lifting, am hoping to get my kayak onto the water today. It's been cold and raining, but I see the sun peeking through! Off to the lake….
Next… more loons and more lakes! But no more grousing!
The sight of men in suits bedecked with brass buttons, epaulets with stars, and chests festooned with military ribbons is always a bit startling for us civilians, even in this town where uniforms are part of the passing governmental scene. Even more startling is the transformation of President Barack Obama into a stern-faced commander-in-chief, flanked by General David Petraeus and Admiral Mike Mullen, asserting constitutionally-mandated civilian authority over the military officers in a moment when General Stanley McChrystal's careless words threatened to destabilize the established order. President Obama acted swiftly to accept General McChrystal's resignation stemming from the Rolling Stone debacle. General Petraeus will take charge of Afghanistan now, having managed to bring the War in Iraq to a place where American withdrawal is possible.
The War in Afghanistan is now America's longest war, almost nine years and counting. Back in the day when Vietnam claimed that title, when that ugly war raged in the swamps and jungles of southeast Asia, Americans followed the war more closely, knew the names and faces of the generals and admirals (Westmoreland, Abrams and Zumwalt), and the daily death toll rang alarm bells that triggered protests across the nation. Vietnam compelled the attention of regular citizens for one overwhelming reason: the draft. At age 18, every young man became a potential soldier, and the draft lottery became the dreaded "great mandala" determining who lived or died. The draft ended in 1973, replaced by the all-volunteer Army. Young men between the ages of 18 and 25 must still register in the Selective Service System, but no one has been drafted since 1973. Full Article
If you think that only high school "mean girls" claw and hiss and shred the reputations of other kids they deem uncool, you need to read the current issue of Rolling Stone to get the full flavor of men in uniform dissing the Popular Guy, aka Commander-in-Chief.
Mean boys! The "Runaway General" Stanley McChrystal mocks Vice President Biden, derides "wimps" in the White House, and thinks dinner at a good restaurant in Paris with a French minister is "(bleeping) gay" in the words of an aide. The General prefers Bud Light Lime at the Parisian Irish tourist bar with his band 'o' buddies. Say no more. Full Article
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Of course, the minute I saw purple and gold, I had to get this monarch butterfly!
Betcha didn't expect that, did you? Farming is a big deal up here, and many farms have a few steers to keep the cows happy..
Hardest thing this turtle did all day was raise its head to see what that photographer is up to!
Loons just love to show off!
