on the 25th. She went as gracefully as is possible in her sleep
at home. She was 95 years old. A small tumor which could
have been removed, but was overlooked--caused her death.
She was old but she might have lived well past 100 if she had
that tumor removed when it was detected. A reminder,
always get second opinions and even thirds from doctors
if you can--and ask all the questions. The tumor could have
been removed when It was small.
In The Dalles here it's not un-common to see bales of hay.
Horses often walk down the road surrounding this small
town. This was taken right in front of the local Safeway.
Just a few months ago they re-did it and we got our first
Starbucks Coffee place in here.
Below was a very difficult picture. It is a semi-microscopic
picture of a male aphid. Only the males have wings and
the females are born ready to give birth right out of the
backs-sides. Aphids have an amazing ability to reproduce
rapidly without sexual activity. Only when the colony
gets too large do males get born to advance the colony.
When a male lands in another colony with a few individuals--
it will mate with a few females and restart the process.
I'm not exactly clear on how and why they do this. I
need to brush up on my biology for the specifics. But
males are the only ones born with wings so that they
can change and enlarge other colonies with new genetic
material (I think). The process is a bit like bees, with drones
males but common aphids have no "queen" or head aphid.
I might be missing a detail here about aphid biology
so don't quote me on this one.
This male is less then 2mm long. This is one of the
smallest insects I've ever successfully photographed.
I used a combination of macro-lenses and light reflectors
to make it possible. I am very excited that I can shoot
this small. A small flea would be large and visible in this
picture about only slightly smaller then this aphid. I would
have photographed flees a long time ago, I don't
have any pets and don't really know where to get any.
I have not gotten the chance yet. It's gets cold here
fast.
(Male Aphid)(Below)
I got this bee picture in a new place I found for
flying insect photography. I don't know the name
of this plant but most all insects find much nectar
on these strange flowers--if that is what they are.
Fall in The Dalles, the trees are golden and the last flowers are in bloom now.
It's getting cold again.
This bee-fly was in the same spot as the bee I photographed. I got a number of good
shots of this one. I was thankful it let me photograph it. Bee-flies can be much more
afraid then bees--bees are ever-confident in there stingers.
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