Nature

Central Indiana Air Quality Alert

/ Roadtirementvintage / 13 Comments

Smoke from Canadian wildfires have blanketed Central Indiana with enough smoke to prompt an air quality alert for Central Indiana on Tuesday June 27th. This covers our home county. This is part of an email distributed by the Indianapolis National Weather Service:

AIR QUALITY ALERT IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT WEDNESDAY NIGHT…
The officials at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management have declared an Air Action Day, in effect until midnight EDT Wednesday night.
An Air Quality Action Day for PM 2.5 has been issued. Fine particulate levels are expected to be in the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups range. Active children and adults, and people with respiratory disease, such as asthma should limit prolonged outdoor exposure.

The smoke is visible when you look outside, and there is even a faint smoke smell detected. It is more obvious in the country as seen in the photo below. Normally the tree line on the horizon is clearly seen with a dark green color.

An obvious smoky haze as you look across the fields

We are hunkered down in the house with the AC and air filter running. I was outside briefly and noticed some immediate congestion, and Sher also has felt the effect of the poor air quality. Hopefully the forecast will be correct, and by Thursday the smoke will start to dissipate.

Lavender farm near Mooresville

/ Roadtirementvintage / 12 Comments

Lavender field in bloom

Rows of Lavender

 

 

 

 

 

Recently we had a delightful day trip suitable for not only seniors like us but people of any age.  The Willowfield Lavender Farm  is south of Mooresville, Indiana southwest of Indianapolis.

Enjoying the sweet Lavender Mint iced tea

Healthy Lavender plant we now have

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a glass of their fresh Lavender-Mint tea. It was so good that Sher had to have one too. The gift shop was fun to see, and the staff was very friendly and informative. We even bought a live Lavender plant and some lavender soap.

Comfortable seating under shade

Go to the Willowfield Lavender Farm website for hours, directions and special event calendars.

Honey farm in Martinsville

/ Roadtirementvintage / 12 Comments

Martinsville, Indiana is a quaint little town south of Indianapolis in the beginnings of southern Indiana’s hill country. West of town is a family owned, fourth generation of beekeeper’s honey farm producing a multitude of products from bees.

Store signage

Honey for sale!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hunter’s Honey Farm has 65 beautiful acres providing homes for bees, timber and Christmas trees. The family has been producing honey and honey related products in Indiana for over 100 years.

More honey products

Round table is full of samples!

 

 

 

 

 

The store on site is filled with anything and everything honey! Available for sale is honey, honey comb, honey mustard, honey candy, honey products, raw honey, honey sticks, and a variety of honey based soaps and lotions.

Live bees at work in an award winning display

Of course we bought some honey!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The farm also offers tours of the grounds, including trips out to the timber and Christmas Tree areas as well as bee hives and beekeeping demonstrations. Go to Hunter’s Honey Farm website for details concerning farm tours and upcoming special events. This is a great day trip destination.

Mayfly near the end of life

/ Roadtirementvintage / 6 Comments

There are over 600 species of mayflies in the United States, and over 3000 species worldwide. They spend most of their life in the water, and come out as for a very short two or three days in order to mate.

An interesting view of this remarkable insect

Same bug, good look at the eyes

After molting, even the tail shape is retained

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mayflies have an interesting life cycle that includes molting. We spotted this insect a couple of days ago and his molted shell showed up this morning. There is lots of good information on these insects on the web. Hit up “life cycle of mayflies” on a search.

Nature plays a trick on us

/ Roadtirementvintage / 25 Comments

Monday, 6/12

A couple of days ago we posted a picture of a white Asiatic lily bloom that was on an individual plant that has always produced colorful blooms. This was a puzzle, and we asked if anybody knew, botanically at least, what was the story here. (Thanks to those who responded to our questioning!) Imagine our surprise when we noticed a change in color of that white bloom this morning.

The color on Wednesday, 6/14

This transformation from white to faint coloring was not really expected, but has brought a great deal of interest. We had a long soaking rain yesterday, perhaps that had something to do with the change? It is going to be fun watching if further darkening of the color will take place. Nature is amazing, be it the complex cyclical changes of the seasons to the simple change in color of an intricate bloom.

So where did the white lily come from?

/ Roadtirementvintage / 18 Comments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ve been blessed with lovely Asiatic lilies blooming recently. Today a white bloom showed up. We’ve never seen one before on our plants, and can’t figure where it came from. A quick search found a reference to heat affecting coloration, however all of the blooms have been exposed to the same environment.

Any botanists or horticulturists  out there have an idea why we have this pure white bloom? This is the third year of blooms for these Asiatic lilies.

Hawaii’s Kīlauea Volcano is erupting

/ Roadtirementvintage / 11 Comments

Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park is on Hawaii Island (the Big Island). Kilauea and Mauna Loa active volcanoes are the main features of the park which receives thousands of visitors each year.

Screen shot of the USGS live cam

Right now the Kilauea Volcano is erupting. The molten lava so far has been contained in the Halema’uma’u crater. The United States Geological Survey has provided live cams of the eruption. The live cam  (seen above) is stunning to watch. This is the link to the live cam on YouTube. I’d highly suggest you take a look. You can see the lava bubbling up in the lava field, and see the progress of lava cones developing. The history of the National Park and the sacred significance of the eruption is also worthy of study.