So, I've often thought that in order to 'explore' or 'discover' I would need to go on a vast and exciting road trip. Well, as my last post showed, you can have just as great a time (and distinctly better food) by camping in your own backyard. So this past weekend, I not only explored my own 'backyard,' in the literal sense, but also the figurative sense.
I went for a walk on my way back from a Dr. appointment in the same field I had explored several weeks prior. The last time I walked this vacant field, it was FILLED with some sort of gorgeous 'Black Eyed Susan 'like' flowers.' I don't know what they really are, but they were so beautiful. I picked a handful of them and brought them home to my wife, who loves Black Eyed Susans, and they lived for nearly two full weeks. They were very, very hardy.
I loved photographing them and like I said, the field was FULL of them. Three weeks later, they were totally gone!
All that was left of them were the centers. I must have walked a half mile in the vacant field trying to find them. Little did I realize, I had been passing them the whole time.
The centers made for a great subject to photograph as well; I especially like them in black and white.
The late summer/early fall sky was a rich shade of blue and the cool breeze made me realize how much I love this time of the year. Later that same day, I was in the yard moving some gravel when I noticed a strange sight: it was, what looked to me at first glance to be a very 'thick' hummingbird. After looking much more closely, I realized it was a moth body with hummingbird wings. I had never seen anything like it before. I stooped low to the ground and the creature was completely unafraid of me. I held my hand out to it, but it refused to stop, but continued fluttering around the flowers sticking its long promiscuous into the head of each of the flowers. I posted this video to my Facebook account and one of my friends shared with me that it is called a Hawk Moth or a Hummingbird Moth. (For some reason, I can't get the video to open here,
but here is a link:
Fascinating, no?
Saturday afternoon gave way to a soft and gentle rain. The rain continued through the evening and Sunday was a bit heavier. I could hear the soft rain lightly bouncing off the roof of the teardrop and I thought, "I"m going to take a nap, why not take it in the teardrop?" So I did. The rain lulled me to sleep and the cool temperatures made the nap all the more heavenly. Here's what it sounded like inside the teardrop!
We are planning at least one more family camping trip this year, but I'm also looking forward to giving the Carpe Diem its first snow test later this year. I'm looking into one of those inexpensive 12 volt heaters that truck drivers use. I'm thinking that will be more than enough warmth in that tiny little cabin.
So, there you have it. You don't have to visit the National Parks to
have a great expedition. You can have one in your very own backyard!
