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Category : Photo Stories

11 May 2021

OAK APPLE

It’s an oak apple, but I thought oaks have acorns. They are called acorn trees not apple trees. So what’s an apple doing growing on an oak? Some weird cross pollination?

It’s a gall. A little wasp nursery. Momma wasp, along with some helper mites, directed an oak tree to make this nifty house for one of her kids. One larva per gall. Plants and animals teaming up.

Inter-kingdom cooperation.

10 May 2021

HOT DOG HAT

Wiener beaner. Frank-cap. It’s a fashion statement. A grocery store style.

09 May 2021

GABLE GABLE

There’s more than one kind of house painter. You can paint a house, or you can paint a house.

Painting a house is a big job. You need ladders and lots of paint. On the other hand, painting a house is a much smaller job. You can do it from the ground.

You may need to paint the sky, too.…

08 May 2021

FIXING GROUNDWATER

We’ve totally hosed our groundwater. It’s full of lovely toxic chemicals, especially around gas stations. Who would have ever thought that a regular steel storage tank would rust and leak if you buried it in moist soil? ( A third grader could have figured that one out.)

Now that the damage is done everyone is trying to undo it. Here’s an idea. Let’s pump more chemicals in to fix the problem. Ya never know. The march of science.…

07 May 2021

RECEPTION

It needs an antennae. Maybe one of those trees would work. Then we could watch Wild Kingdom.

Where’s the TV Guide?…

06 May 2021

SUGAR MOUNTAIN

Got a sweet tooth? You are in luck. A local grocery store converted about a thousand square feet of precious floor space to candy. Who needs real food when you can pick a mix?

Lovely colored, flavored sugar. Pure carbohydrates. Prod your pancreas and light up your brain.

I wonder if the daily candy price fluctuates like gasoline does.

05 May 2021

PUMP PRICES

Gasoline is volatile and so is the price. Every day thousands of gas stations across America change their signs showing the cost of gas for the day.

The formula is pretty standard: Sale Price = Wholesale price plus taxes plus profit. At some stations the supplier sets the price. Some stations can set their own price.

Why does it change so often? It’s crude. When crude oil prices change (and they do!), gasoline prices change.

Local stations can set their own prices. …

04 May 2021

CATCHING RAYS

Some individuals travel great distances to enjoy a little sunshine. And we all know that traveling can be brutal.

After packing up, blasting off, navigating across great distances and final landing, there is nothing like just chilling out in the sun. And don’t forget the sunscreen, especially if you are new to this sun.…

03 May 2021

ROLLER SKIER

He should have been here in February. He wouldn’t have needed the rollers.

Then again, maybe he was here (or over there) when we had actual snow. After all those days of training on the street it must have been satisfying to be able to walk out the door and do some sliding instead of rolling.…

03 May 2021

YOU BUGGIN ME

I like being attracted by roadside attractions. I stop and turn around a lot to double back and take a picture of something I’ve just driven past.

Of course this was worth a second look. Somebody spent some time on this. Maybe it was a group effort. It is loaded with a surprising amount of detail. This is just the front. There are three more sides.

I should have taken more photos.…