What Is It XIX

Since I had fun with a trio of finds I'm doing it again on What Is It. Let's see how you do.

This close-up could be tricky.
This one may be hard for some of you.

Here is the one that I only expect one person to get but take your best shot. I need an identity with this one. Do not guess a branch, but I did mention it recently.

Have fun but don't stress out on what it is. Answers will be tomorrow morning.

My World # 24

This is my posting for the My World meme . It is hosted by Klaus, Ivar, Sandy, Wren, Louise and myself. Last week there were over 120 people showing their worlds to us. Won't you join in, I want to see where you live and thrive. Here is part of 'My World'.

This is an important part of my recovery at Robinson Memorial Hospital in Ravenna, Ohio. This is the main entrance to the hospital. It has a fairly large campus.
They were honored as one of the 99 best places to work in NE Ohio. People often rush just to visit the place. I was going to say that people were dying to get in but thought it might not fit right.
This is the new heart wing, it is right next to Emergency where I started this experience. The windows to the left under the portico is where I go to exercise.

Here I am hooked up to a heart monitor and walking on the treadmill. You do 4 exercises for 10 minutes each and are monitored the whole time. My heart is on the bottom right and was bouncing around today. I think I must have had a bad connection. I wore my Ohio State Buckeyes shirt for today's exercise. You can see I was going really fast, only walking of course. My daughter is friends with one of the nurses. She had been on vacation so I met Mavis for the first time today.

Have fun visiting the places around the world.

Today's Flowers # 34

My friend Luiz from Brazil does the Today's Flowers Meme, check it out. Come and join with your flower photos. Sunday at 7 GMT is the post time.

The Crocus in the neighbor hood are ready to put on a neat Spring show. The weather is at freezing each night so they are waiting for better weather to show their true beauty. These three types are all around one tree on my walk. This deep purple one will be really neat.
There are several group of the yellow.

My favorite is the white with the lavender at the stem.

These are much bigger then the ones in my yard so I await the true show when they decide to open the petals and ask the bees for a visit. I also haven't seen any more bees since the weather has gotten colder.

You can see some great flowers from around the world by visiting the above site.

Camera Critters # 51

Camera Critters by Misty Dawn, go here to see who's participating. The next post is a special week for my friend Misty as Camera Critters reaches one year. I would like to congrauate her on keeping this going for the full year. The Meme's are a lot of work and it takes much dedication.

I continue to heal from my heart operation and try to visit as much as possible.

Today I was again trying to get the best Mallard Duck reflection that I could. I must have a duck compulsion because each time I see them on my walks along the little Fishcreek stream I have to stop and shoot.
This day was a little special as two males were swimming together in close formation. I was standing very still and happily snapping away.
All of a sudden my gaze was averted as something came swimming along my side of the stream.
Do you know what it is? I was shooting through the weeds so I got this fuzzy capture.

There was finally a break in the weeds and I got a good head shot.

The next thing I knew after the few shots it was gone down the stream. Can you tell what just surprised me along the stream? Make sure you check the shape of the tail before you decide. Here's a clue, it's not a beaver but does live in the stream.

I will let you find out if you really don't know. If you look at Camera Critters # 5, you will see one I captured and named last year.

Sky Watch Friday #37

Sky Watch Friday is doing really well. Please check out the site and link in if you wish to participate. There were over 300 people last week with beautiful Sky photos. You can link in from my side bar or at the start of this post.

We have a rainy/chilly day today. The skies are all gray but I try to capture the sky when the weather is better. I started my cardiac rehabilitation today and spent some time indoors doing exercises. I was tired but got through it without much problem.

Looking to the sky to see what may come overhead. I took a trip into the landing pattern at the Kent State Airport in Stow, Ohio. A cold clear blue sky greeted me with a training flight of a Piper Cub coming in for a landing directly overhead.
This was a morning sunrise last week with the clouds covering the sun.

One more shot from my trip to Brandywine Falls. This time I used the reeds to capture the sky.

Go to the site above to see some other great skies.

Wednesday Potpourri - House Wrens

When I was down in Texas this year I was able to capture some House Finches. I didn't know what they were but did get some help in identification. Now that I know I can look at this great little bird and spot them right away. Here are group in the trees along Fishcreek's little stream.
The males are quite showy and stand out in the branches.
There were several males trying to impress the ladies. If you click on this one you can see two males and two females.

I thought I might go in close and fancy the photo a bit.

They are fancy little guys and the colors do stand out.

I'm happy to continue to learn more about the nature around us.

World Epilepsy Day

The thought of a seizure from Epilepsy is awful to comprehend. I have a very good friend who fights this every day. Michele from British Columbia, Canada has to live with this disease. Michele is a gifted artist with the camera and with her drawing ability. Her web site Rocky Mountain Retreat is a gift to the world. Her husband Marcel was able to save her life last week when she had a seizure while at home alone. I count them both as my special friends.

She has a life story that is very sad, and still, I know her from her strong spirit. She was abused as a child, her twin sister Mandy died from the abuse. She is left, from the abuse, to fight every day with epilepsy. She has just gone through a bad time recently and has been trying to fight her way back. Stop at her site and let her know that you care.

This is a gift to Michele:

1. Purple Crocus in honor of the special day.

2. The Canada Geese, which is one of her favorite birds, with a purple frame. I could not decide on one so here are three different ones for my friend.
This one from the Cuyahoga River.

A pair of geese from a little pond that I saw with my grandson.

This pair were from Lake Hodgson when the ice was just melting.

Get well soon, Michele. I miss your wonderful photos.

What Is It - XVIII -Answer

Here are the answers where I got the photos for the game.

#1 - This tree had three different colored lichen growing on the tree. I thought the color combination was very interesting.
#2 - This was a tree that got blown down when the remnants of a Hurricane Ike came up through Ohio, I did show some downed trees at that time. The roots in the crack were from a vine growing on the tree or the other offshoots of the tree. I thought the cut pattern from the saw might have given it away.

#3 - Is the head of a reed plant (Phragmites australis subsp. australis) that had fallen over. You can see some of the stems to the right. My friend Tom from Columbus Ohio Nature Blog got them all easily and gave me the reeds name. He does work in the field for the State of Ohio. He often helps me with nature suggestions such as visiting Triangle Lake and the Kent Bog.
Those were some great guesses right away of the unusual sights from nature.

What Is It XVIII

What Is It today is a trio of finds. Let's see how you do.

#1 Don't let the colors fool you or the big E. These are the true colors.
#2 Okay, here is a neat one. Put on your thinking caps.

#3 This could be the hardest of the bunch.

I'll try to check and see how you are doing.

Joan in South Africa got me started into this again, she had another neat one this week with only the eyes of a Mud-skipper. she does it on Mondays with the answers on Tuesdays.

My World #23

This is my posting for the My World meme . It is hosted by Klaus, Ivar, Sandy, Wren, Louise and myself. Last week there were over 120 people showing their worlds to us. Won't you join in, I want to see where you live and thrive. Here is part of 'My World'.

I thought I would return to the Cuyahoga River to see some of the areas that were flooded. You can see the original flooded photo here. It is still a little wet but you can walk along the Cuyahoga River to the Main Street Bridge and beyond to Brady's Leap.
I was looking from the Stow Street Bridge under Haymaker Parkway and you can see the Main Street bridge aways upstream.

There were some others walking the river and they decided to climb the wall for a better view. It looked to tricky for me to get up there.
I showed the Middlebury Avenue Bridge a while back and told you it was to be replaced. You can see the progress that has been made on the bridge. It looks like it will be done by May as planned. You can go here to check out the old steel structure.

Here is a good view across the span of the river. The base is complete and only the flooring needs completed.
Go out and visit some other great sites around the world.

Today's Flowers # 33

My friend Luiz from Brazil does the Today's Flowers Meme, check it out. Come and join with your flower photos. Sunday at 7 GMT is the post time.

My wife received some flowers from her sister so I captured some photos. There were this great Pink Daisies.
There were some White Mums.

This tiny flower was a neat part of the show.

I thought these two coupled in nicely.

There were also some Pink Aster. That is my best guess.

You can see a lot of neat flowers at the site above.

Camera Critters # 50

Camera Critters by Misty Dawn, go here to see who's participating.


The Honey Bees finally came out on some warm days to gather nectar from the Crocus. The beauty of the Crocus is only enhanced by the Honey Bees visiting. You can see the pollen on the bee's legs as he does the work. This one is really working hard to get every drop.

The Honey Bees had a lot of choices of which flower to check.

This one is making an approach with the wings beating furiously.

It was good to see them back, even if it was only for a day.

Not Done With the Birds Walks

The area bords can be kind at times. This Mallard Duck decided to pose and show off it's massive breast. It looks like he is saying "Go on mister camera man, check this out". I saw a pair swimming on Fishcreek and couldn't resist a shot.

They both were showing fun reflections.

The Redwinged Blackbirds have returned into the area.

This one got joined by a friend and was none to happy.

These are some more birds of my area from my walks.