February 13, 2022

Martha O'Kennon

Still winter. But Phil said on the second of February to expect another 6 weeks of winter. Now it's a week since Phil pronounced this verdict. So I will say, "another five weeks of winter!" No, that was when I started working on this blog. Now it's closer to "another 4 weeks of winter!"

Here is a repeat of a creature that my friend Julie Plassman found out in the Riverside Cemetery. It's a Snow Fly and it is built for snow. Picture 2 shows how fast it can run in the snow! I just thought you'd enjoy seeing it again. Later on, you'll see that a few creatures have emerged from the void. Or at least flexed some of their energy.

      

Since October, I've been watching a "nest" on the 7th panel on the East Wall. On February 11 it looks like this: (picture 2). I'm surely waiting in anticipation of seeing even more evolution of this scene. A very few panels north on this wall, we still see this clutch of dark brown Barklouse eggs. I'm still waiting to see the nymphs that hopefully will begin one of these days to hatch from the eggs.



This week I finally found a few real live creatures that I hadn't seen for weeks! First up: a nest of Barklouse eggs that we have been following for a couple of months. The nest is full of fibers to keep the tiny (but more recognizable) baby critters warm, but we see a slit forming in that silky nest and some of the tiny babies inside. Second seems to be the nymph of our old favorite Barklouse Graphopsocus cruciatus with the adult about to moult from the thin nymphal skin. Third shows an adult completely out of the nymphal skin.



A few more G. cruciatus pictures. First, a youngish adult who has hatched so recently that its wing patterns still have to solidify. Second, one that resembles the first in stance but with firmer patterns. Third (hey Wyatt Gaswick - here's that old bunch of mystery critters - now it's a bit more clear that they AREn't fantastic insects, but lovely Lichens.)



Here, my dears, is a bit of Spider lore. Here's a nest full of Ant-loving Spider eggs. And a Spider of genus Eustala. (Still not the famous Humpbacked orbweaver, another branch of the Eustala genus tree). But third is one of the true signs of impending Spring - the Springtail named Isotoma delta.



I was just wondering how to end this short blog, and the doorbell at the end of the porch rang enough for me to waddle to the top of the stairs and yell "WHO ARE YOU?" The door opened a smidge and two people came in. I recognized the face of the woman, who had come to visit about 20 years ago, to tell me that she had lived in this house back in the 50's (I think). Her name is Helen Fox and her father, Dr. H.E (Gene) Geiger, used to teach Psychology at the College, way back then. The other person with the great smile is her son Jake. What a treat! Of course I was still in my PJ's working on this blog. But they didn't seem to mind. What great faces! After they left, I Googled H E Geiger, and found

American Men of Science: A Biographical Directoryhttps://books.google.com › books 1949 · ‎Scientists Asst . physics , Purdue , 28-33 ; teacher , schs , N. Y , 33-44 ; lecturer ... GEIGER , DR , HOWARD E (UGENE ) , 312 Burr Oak St , Albion , Mich . Bingo! Here he is.





Oh no, I forgot in my excitement that I'd been working on a Bob Ross imitation. Of course you know that Bob Ross, who used to have a show on PBS in which he shows us rank amateurs how to follow simple rules to make many kinds of lovely paintings of different kinds of scenery. He is famous for his mountain pictures. But I've always loved how he lays out the rules for making a gorgeous rendition of a Seascape. Here are a couple of these seascapes. Now I don't really have a complete set of oil paints, but I have made so many cards and other things using cardstock that I have a whole lot left. So the challenge I set myself was to try to render the seascape in paper collage! I changed some of the proportions and had to solve a few problems, such as how to create the foam. It finally dawned on me that I could use the many little cardstock flowers. I followed the foam into the air using more of the little flowers. Bob Ross called me up from artist heaven to see if I would take over his show, languishing all these many years, except on Youtube and PBS and probably a hostful of other websites. Guess what I said?





Back to February 6, 2022

Forward to February 20, 2022

Back to main menu

copyright Martha O'Kennon 2021