Giant Tulips March on Capitol

They grow 'em pretty darn huge here on the grounds of the state Capitol in Madison. Note how some of them are big enough to dwarf the statue of Hans Christian Heg.....

Breakfast!

I passed this patisserie 25 years ago, somewhere in France or maybe Belgium or Austria or Switzerland. Even if I invited all my friends and neighbors, the contents of this window would make for a dejeuner that is anything but petit.


Bonjour avec happiness!

Dashboard Pear

Sometimes, "because you can" is sufficient rationale to act on a juvenile flight of fancy.

Barking up the Wrong Mushroom

I'm neither mycologist nor arborist. Indeed, when it comes to identifying fungi, my utter inability exceeds my ignorance of tree species. But that doesn't mean I can't appreciate the impressive esthetics of each. Take these mushrooms, growing on a birch up north....


As for trees, there are those who can name a tree based on a brief glance at its bark. Not me. Well, I think I've got the birch down. At least, as a genus. But don't ask me to taxonomize the species....


Beyond the most rudimentary taxonomic identifications, however, I might as well be watching the old Monty Python routine involving the larch (And now, number two, the larch -- the...larch). This might be a larch, for all I know....


...but I just like the look of its bark.

Twilight Frog Opera

There is a small lake up north, near a town with a name that means towering hill and another town with a name that means stop. At twilight, the frogs establish a chorus that is operatic.



The next morning, the operatic twilight frog chorus is replaced by arias of birdsong, and daylight reveals the small lake in greater detail as gusts of wind riffle the water's surface.



The duck is quackless. A decoy.

PT Cruiser Blue

I often walk or bike past this PT Cruiser on the commute to and from work. Reckon it's one of the most beautiful paint colors I've ever seen on a car.

Word Spy Etymologizes Flotsametrics

Paul McFedries' Word Spy site, which tracks and documents the etymologies of neologisms, has a good one this week that relates to the first word in this blog's title. It's flotsametrics, a noun defined as "the use of floating debris to study ocean currents." The listing goes on to list sample citations, including the earliest known usage, by the scientist who coined it, during a 2003 appearance on NPR. If you've read The World Without Us, by Alan Weisman, or have heard of the North Pacific Gyre, this is a word to savor.