Raccoon River, Walnut Woods State Park, West Des Moines, Iowa. September 30, 2021.
Cee’s theme for the Midweek Madness Challenge is Autumn or Spring. I decided to stick to Autumn and use pictures I have taken in the last several weeks.
Some of the apples were ripe for picking at Center Grove Orchard when I was there in mid-September. That morning’s excursion ended at the Hay Café for lunch. The fresh, chunky applesauce was good; the warm apple crisp was even better. I might need to go back soon.
Though not advertised at the orchard when I was there, I found the pumpkins.
Pumpkin on Vine. Center Grove Orchard, Cumming, Iowa. September 14, 2021.
When searching for fall color on the 20th of September, I found these red sumac leaves at the center of the plant.
Sumac. Big Creek State Park, Iowa. September 20, 2021.
On the last day of September I found these beauties – some kind of a vine that winds around tree trunks in the woods.
Leaves, Light and Shadow. Summerset State Park, Iowa. September 30, 2021.Leaves, Summerset State Park, Iowa. September 30, 2021.
The current theme for Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge is Words that Have the Letter “O” Anywhere in the Middle. Finding the first picture of a Sunflower with its Shadow and Pollen felt a like a triple win when browsing my digital files.
Floating Globe, Iowa State Fairgrounds
The globe in front of the Agricultural Building on the Iowa State Fairgrounds rotatesrandomly as it floats on water. When I look at the second picture of the globe, I see a hand (upside down South America) holding a heart (reflection of building and trees).
Thinking of hearts, here’s an old picture of heart-shaped cookie cutters.
Cookie Cutters
These spools of thread were set up on embroidery machines to embroider logos on mattress coverings at Brooklyn Bedding in Mesa, Arizona.
Spools of Thread at Brooklyn Bedding
When the words “Crayola Crayons” crossed my mind this morning, I knew I’d have to dig out the boxes of color crayons for a picture. I think that the old box of 16 was in a care package I received when I was in college way back when!
Knowing I would find all kinds of things to photograph at the Iowa State Fair in mid-August, I looked ahead at Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenges to have something in particular to watch for. Prize winning vegetables in the Agricultural Building fit September’s color challenge: dark green.
Winning Watermelon, Iowa State Fair, 2021.Squash, Iowa State Fair, 2021.Gourds, Iowa State Fair, 2021.
It’s Close-up or Macro week for Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge. I waited for the rain to subside yesterday before heading over to Big Creek State Park for a walk with camera in hand.
Water droplets looked like miniature gloves when hanging from what remains of small flowers.
Finely spun spiderwebs glistened with the tiniest of water droplets.
Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge August Alphabet is Must Have 2 M’s in the word. Her focus photo is of a hummingbird and her pictures includes a mom, mushrooms, and mammals as well as a monochrome image. After considering a variety of possibilities – particularly mushrooms from my digital archives – I began to lean toward museum, memorial, and monument.
When I couldn’t pick just one photo of Devils Tower National Monument (in northeast Wyoming) from the hundred or so I took back in May, I decided to just show you some of what I saw.
The top photo was taken from an Historic Marker (see it here) that is 1.7 miles south of the park. Did you notice the school bus in the lower right corner?
After driving the three miles from the park entrance to the parking lot and with plenty of time in my schedule, I decided to walk the 1.3 mile trail around the base of the Tower.
How tall is Devils Tower? Devils Tower is 867 feet from its base to the summit. It stands 1,267 feet above the Belle Fourche River and is 5,112 feet above sea level.
Why is it called Devils Tower? The name “Devils Tower” originated during an 1875 scientific expedition. The Army commander in charge of the military escort, Col. Richard Dodge, wrote that “the Indians call the shaft “Bad God’s Tower,” which he modified to “Devil’s Tower.” The earliest official maps of the area label the formation as “Bear Lodge,” which is a direct translation of the Lakota name Mato Tipila. Other American Indian names include Bear’s Tipi, Home of the Bear, Tree Rock and Great Gray Horn.
Is Devils Tower an old volcano? No. Geologists agree that Devils Tower is an igneous intrusion; this means it formed underground from molten rock. Magma pushed up into the surrounding sedimentary rock. There it cooled and hardened. The sedimentary rock has since eroded away to show the Tower.
What kind of rock is it? The rock is called phonolite porphyry; it is similar in composition to granite but lacks quartz. Phonolite refers to the ringing of the rock when a small slab is struck, and its ability to reflect sound. Porphyry refers to its texture: large crystals of feldspar embedded in a mass of smaller crystals.
If you look very carefully, you might see a very old ladder as well as two climbers in the picture above. Quite honestly, I needed my binoculars! It also helped to see a picture to know what to look for (see below).
Enlarging the photo also helps (see below). In the comparison photo I circled the ladder and the hikers.
Three more photos to finish the hike. The arrow in the middle photo is pointing to a person.
And, yes, for those who are wondering, this is the tower in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).
Next up: a glimpse of my visit to the Iowa Arboretum. The school house is so small there’s just enough room for a student or two with the teacher. The metal sculpture of a cardinal is the best cardinal photo in my collection – maybe someday I’ll get the right equipment to take live bird pictures.
Little Red Schoolhouse. Iowa Arboretum. July 20, 2021
Metal Cardinal. Iowa Arboretum. July 20, 2021.
For a little fun, here is a new fire hydrant looking at an older relative to see if it is safe to remove its covering.
It was the first week of August so Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge is Macro or Close-Up photographs. I took these Tuesday morning (August 3rd) at Big Creek State Park. The dew drops in the sunlight caught my attention; click on each image to enlarge.
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.
Another LQQK 