The Butterfly

This year I have had many encounters with butterflies.  One day I met this lovely fellow.  Another day I helped a damp Tiger Swallowtail laying on the ground, and on yet another day I helped an injured luna moth.  I like it when I am helpful to nature.

Cypress Swamp in Greenville

Just down the street from where Jeff lives is a lovely little preserve of cypress trees.  It's location within city limits makes it a southern treasure. 

My art photography

These are my Through the Viewfinder photos I took of the barns on farmer Steve's new property.  The huge barns were joined together, but a tornado came through many years ago and tore off the connecting corner.  I love the top photo because I feel like I am looking inside the belly of a great fish. 

  

It is difficult to geat a good photo using the Ttv technique.  This is how it is done.  I have a Brownie camera onto which I have attached a black cardboard "contraption" which makes like a chimmney above the viewfinder.  I put my digital camera at the top of the chimmney and take a photo of the Brownie viewfinder/lens.  Voila!  The photos have an instant nostalgic quality.   

Wyandot Art Fair

Kadie, Mikki, and Dan and the butter dish Mikki gave them for a wedding present.
Me and Mikki



I went with my friends Gwen and Mike to the Wyandot Art Fair. My other friend Mikki, from Virginia, was there selling her ceramics with her guild “Twisted Sisters.”


On the way to the fair we stopped in Allen Park to go to the Hungarian Streusel shops. At the second shop the gentleman told us the story of his career including that he once worked on Zug Island.

I saw many interesting things at the fair including photography of decaying Detroit landmarks. I met a man who started wood carving at age 65. He carves charming little houses out of Cottonwood bark. I found a photography who takes pictures of tiny toys. I bought two original cards of a Skelton saying “No one knows what you know. Own that shit!” Paintings of 1960’s television cast done in a very flat Atomic style. There was a lady who interpreted the bottle tree with her original glass blown bottles in beautiful flowing and oozing color. There was a woman who made amazing paper clay ikebana flowers.

The thing I loved the most (but couldn’t afford) was a photo of the Queen of Zug Island, by Patricia Izzo. The photo is of an elderly woman in a lovely prom dress. She holds a bouquet of roses, wears a tiara and a sash that says Queen of Zug Island (yes you can find the picture on the interwebs). The woman once was the Queen of Zug Island in the 1940’s. She had a relative who owned property on the island. From the photo you can tell she was once beautiful.

What are the chances that I would hear about Zug Island twice in one day when I had never heard about it before?

I went home and did a search of Zug Island and found all sorts of spooky information regarding the Zug Island HUM. It is not a true island. On the north and west sides a channel was dug to allow freighters access around: Detroit River, to the Rouge River, then back onto the Detroit. In its early history there was hope it would become prime real estate for wealthy folks, instead it became prime real estate for industry.

Today the island is highly fortified by homeland security and Canadians across the river in Windsor claim a hum radiates from the machinery that is so disruptive that it is a detriment to the health and overall wellness of the people.  What makes the noise?  An investigation is underway.

By the way we did buy streusel and it was so yummy.

Nesting Robins

The robins have been gone a few weeks now. They’ve moved to the wooded areas where the food is more plentiful.  I miss hearing their singing in the dark moments before dawn.


At the end of June a pair made a nest on the arbor over the gate leading to the front door.

The nest looks comfortable and nicely constructed. There is a little step on the underside. The builder supported the main part of the nest on the large vertical post and partially supported the side on the lower horizontal slat. It is a fine and clever foundation.

I considered it auspicious and a compliment to have the robins nesting there. They trusted us enough to take up residence in an area where folks often pass by.