Flowers for a Monday Morning

It's another Monday. Let's all go to work!
Wah.

The Damselfly

 

My apologies for having gone missing for about a week. I was a bit under the weather both literally and figuratively.

Here's a damselfly and the hope of spring.

Colors of Spring

As we had yet another record breaking cold day, I thought some spring colors were needed. This is the inside of an iris, up close and personal.

Bring on the Damselflies!

 

Yes, bring on the damselflies!

Or, at the very least, spring.

Heck, I'd be happy with the 30s.

Spores Gone Wild

 

This is what happens to the dandelion spores when I mess with them with a photo editor.

Feel the power.

Cold Acorns

 

The squirrels are talking about beating up the ground hog.

Spring Can't Come too Soon!

 

Yes, I need to see goslings.

I need spring.

I'm over the winter.

It needs to go away.

Now.

Let There Be Berries

 

But when the birds won't eat them, you shouldn't.

These berries were obviously growing in nicer weather.

A Taste of Europe

 

Well, okay. It's not really a taste of Europe. It's a European Starling, a bird considered a nuisance or invasive bird in these parts. And, more obviously, the photo wasn't taken today!

Just Trees

 

Just trees. Trees in Texas, the shot taken while I was on vacation there one year. At least they don't have snow and ice on them.

Magicicada

 

A Brood IV Magicicada looks up at me from his perch in a bush. The 17 year cycle of the cicadas was a few years back. We won't see each other for some years to come.

The Plainfield Train Station Groundhog Says ...

... he wants SPRING, the sooner the better! After all, no one gives him bread when he's hibernating.

Dandy Dandelion

 

I'd prefer to see these covering the lawns rather than snow.

Mother Nature doesn't care what I prefer.

Grr.

Red-Spotted Purple Admiral

 

Yep, it's a Red-Spotted Purple Admiral butterfly. Although blue to my eyes, I guess it's deemed purple. You can just make out the reddish spots at the top of its wings. I found this little guy one summer day at the Bridgewater Train Station (NJ). He was a cooperative model for the photo shoot.

What's With This Winter Stuff?

 

Dear Mother Nature,

Okay, we've seen the snow. We've felt the cold air. Spring can come now. Thank you!

Eek! Help Me!

 

EEK! A cicada killer wasp is flying right at me! Eek!

Oh, wait. They don't sting. They hover, dart and fight with other male cicada killer wasps for territory. How do they fight? They beat each other with their wings. It's loud, but funny!

Not For Eating!

 

Oh, no. You definitely don't want to eat these! Beside the fact that I don't know if they're poisonous, they're most certainly beyond their prime. I edited this shot to make them appear a bit more illustration-like.

Fungifence

Fungi growing on an old tree stump abutting a chain link fence = fungifence! I took this shot years ago. Only the bark from the stump still exists entwined with poison ivy.

A Storm Moves In

No, no ... while we expect some snow, it's not like this! I took this shot as a storm moved from inland as I was on The Outer Banks. We had some really cool thunderstorms there while I was on vacation a few years ago! Nothing like lightning over the ocean!

Let's See Flowers!

 

We're supposed to have a dusting up to a few inches of snow tonight with a possible significant storm over the weekend. One day it will be spring once again with new life sprouting all over the place.

But, not today.