Rock with Sidewalk ChalkDrawing ChalkPink & Black Quilt Block (x2)Book Stack on Desk
The books in the book stack were selected with the challenge in mind: Folk, Steinbeck, Potok, Think, Monk, Frederick, Dusk, Black, Nick, Black (again), Gleick, Deepak, Peck, and Desk. I’m sure I could have found more books to add to the stack but decided to stick with what was on the shelves in the one room.
Crossing Fourmile Creek via the bridge on 47th Street while walking means looking down on the tops of trees. The new growth caught my attention. My only angle for a picture was through the chain link fence.
Yellow wildflowers are in full bloom at Big Creek State Park. Scroll through the pictures to see (1) Compass Plants standing tall above Black-eyed Susans, Grayhead Coneflowers, and Oxeye Sunflowers; (2) Grayhead Coneflowers in a field of what looks like Little Bluestem; and (3) Black-eyed Susans in various stages of blooming.
I noticed it on my walk this morning along the Neil Smith Trail in Big Creek State Park.
It is not a flower. Or maybe it is.
Whatever it is, it is on the end of a grass of some sort. And it is teeny.
The color caught my eye. Red. On what is clearly a long stalk of grass.
If I’ve set it up right, you should be able to click on the pictures to enlarge them.
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Posted as part of Cee’s Flower of the Day (FOTD) Challenge because I think grasses are sometimes just as interesting as flowers, leaves and berries. 😉
UPDATE (7/26/21): My friend Kristy suggested (see comments) this is Side Oats Grama and I think she’s right. So it is a grass which has oat-like seeds along the stem. I’ve learned something new today.
Sunflower and Corn Fields. Near Badger Creek State Recreation Area, Iowa. July 19, 2021.
It’s my favorite week of Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge: Pick a Topic from Her Photo! Find the challenge photo here. Cee says, “This photo is of the small grape vineyard with hay fields. Possible topics: children’s play area, haystack, grape vines, trees, green blue, red, stairs, lines, field, trees, green, tan, etc..“
Steps. Ledges State Park, Iowa. July 20, 2021.
Since I thought of pictures I’ve taken at different times in very different places, I chose to go with a variety of topics: fields, steps, tree line, roll, hay, and slide. The first three pictures were taken earlier this week as I was out exploring in central Iowa.
Tree Line beyond Wildflowers. Big Creek State Park, Iowa. July 21, 2021.
The round bale of hay in Cee’s challenge photo reminded me of large rolls of materials used to make mattresses.
Roll of Quilted Fabric for Side Edges of Mattresses. Brooklyn Bedding, Mesa, Arizona. May 2021.
When visiting family in May, my brother gave his wife and me a tour of the mattress company where he works. I was amazed at how much of the factory floor is set up for large scale quilting! I knew that the top, bottom and sides of every mattress are quilted, I just had never thought about how it was done.
Fabric Rolls for Top Layer of a Mattress. Brooklyn Bedding, Mesa, Arizona. May 2021.
I’ve share these last two pictures before but thought of them when I saw Cee’s picture.
Round Hay Bales. Neuman Ranch, Montana. August 2012.
See my original post with the theme of stack here.
Slide. Ankeny, Iowa. July 2019.
See my original post with more pictures of playground equipment here.
Just three of the 100+ pictures I took this morning. Grateful for a digital camera, the tools to find the sunflower field at Badger Creek State Recreation Area (Van Meter, Iowa), and the time to enjoy taking pictures.
The primary requirement for Becky’s July #TreeSquare challenge is that the picture be square; a secondary rule is that the photo contains a tree or a part of a tree or the shadow of a tree or even the hint of fake tree. So today I’m sharing three pictures – two with trees in the background and one that is all about the trees. All were taken June 18, 2021 at Iowa’s Big Creek State Park.
Milkweed
I’m guessing – and I could be wrong – that the tree stumps in this third photograph are what remain of trees destroyed by the derecho that swept through the state a year ago.
Woodland Reserve Bike Path, Ankeny, Iowa. June 20, 2021
Decided to share a picture of the bike path in my neighborhood since it’s similar to the the picture Becky posted today as part of her July TreeSquare Challenge.
And just because I took it along the same path on the same day, here’s a picture looking up.
Looking Up, Woodland Reserve Bike Path. June 20, 2021.