Another Walk around My Neighborhood
October 24, 2021
No fog last weekend but another lovely day to take photographs in our natural and built environments.
1 To borrow wording from Mic., here is some ironweed (Vernonia spp.) turned to rust.
2 Our little white asters (maybe Symphyotrichum pilosum) are still going strong even now, a week after I took this photo, but the purple New England asters (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) are all but finished. Too bad; maybe next year I will catch them in their glory.
3 I hesitated including this photograph after finding out that it is the unwanted Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii)—another unwanted plant making a beautiful appearance.
4 I wouldn’t say that the nest of the bald-faced hornet is exactly unwanted (it’s so beautiful!), but you probably don’t want to get too near. This one is hanging over our Buttonbush vernal pool, far from easy reach.
5 Sun shines through ornamental grass planted along a pathway.
6 Here’s the color version.
7 I can’t tell you how many times I walked past my neighbor’s place before I finally took this photograph of Queen Anne’s lace (Daucus carota) stalks.
8 Someone unnailed this pallet apart.
9 Here’s another view of the strip-curtain door I first photographed in August.
10 And here’s another look at the spiraled fencing I photographed last month.
11 Another spiral turned up next to the first one.
12 And another one next to it.
13 What will I find the next time I prowl the groundskeeping yard?
Romancing Reality 
Your neighborhood hasn’t left you in the lurch, photographically speaking. The two-tone spirals in #11 are especially captivating. It’s hard not to love ornamental grasses at this time of year. #4 is a reminder of the bald-face hornet nest I came across in upstate New York two years ago.
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October 24, 2021 at 1:33 PM
Thanks, Steve. I wonder how the bluegreen color comes to the fencing in #s 11, 12, and 13. I wonder if the wires are an alloy with copper in it. Did you collect the nest? (After a frost, of course.)
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October 24, 2021 at 5:42 PM
No, I was only passing through, and the nest was active. I did at least risk getting close enough for a picture:
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October 24, 2021 at 5:47 PM
Oh, yes, a good nest—and photograph. That looks like an interesting park. I’ve never been to the Finger Lakes. Yet.
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October 24, 2021 at 5:52 PM
Oh, it’s quite an area. If you ever plan a trip to western New York State, you can click the “New York” tag at the bottom of my linked post and see other scenic places worth visiting.
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October 24, 2021 at 10:11 PM
Copper seems a good guess for an ingredient in the wires that would account for the color.
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October 24, 2021 at 5:48 PM
Nice walk, Linda! For me spirals are the most difficult things to photograph, because ‘I can’t get the whole idea in a frame’.. 🙂 But my favorite shot is nr9 Kind of abstract cartoon.. See you!
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October 25, 2021 at 4:39 AM
Thanks, Harrie. It’s amazing how many times I can take this same walk and find something new. I like thinking of #9 as an abstract cartoon.
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October 25, 2021 at 9:33 PM
We are converting an area in the yard to a pollinator garden and while it was being cleared noticed a large nest in the hemlock branch above just slightly above head height. That part will wait for clearing until we have a frost or two. That solved the mystery as to where all the bald-faced hornets (yellow jackets actually) that I kept seeing on the back of our house came from.
I’ve disassembled more than a few pallets for firewood findling and those nails are nasty. Some have a glue coating and are almost impossible to pull. We use the ashes in our garden so don’t want sharps in the soil.
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October 25, 2021 at 7:23 AM
I remember your photo of the bald-faced hornet (yellow jacket actually). It was a real beauty. You pull out all those pallet nails? That must take some time—and muscle.
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October 25, 2021 at 9:34 PM
It does and lately I just cut the ends off the pieces. I hate to see wood go into the landfill (especially when it’s oak) but at some point pulling the nails just isn’t worth the effort.
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October 26, 2021 at 3:14 AM
Maybe it’s just the time of year….
My imagination went wild before I could even read
the caption, photo number 8 sparked thoughts of “what creature
Is behind that wall trying to get out…???…”
Now that’s great photo!
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October 25, 2021 at 11:01 AM
Thanks, Indy. I admit that the nails in #8 look pretty scary. Hadn’t thought about Halloween, though.
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October 25, 2021 at 9:34 PM
A few years ago we had a bald-faced hornet nest in our front yard only about 6 feet up in a tree. Much to our neighbor’s displeasure- we left it there assuring them if they didn’t bother it, they don’t have anything to worry about and would be gone in October. I got to look inside it then – such an amazing piece of architecture that served as a reminder of the many wonders out there created from rather small creatures and small beginnings.
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October 25, 2021 at 2:40 PM
Thank you, Mark, for inspiring me to look online. I found one video that shows the inside of the nest (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Vm-D4nYeII) and two sequential videos of a bald-faced hornet queen building a nest (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsihnTKAzuE and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WaEIqqiABs). You can see why the nest’s surface is scalloped.
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October 25, 2021 at 9:35 PM
No, thank you for looking those up – something I’ve never done. I was watching those videos mesmerized. I didn’t know the queen builds the whole nest? The one we had was the size of a basketball.
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October 26, 2021 at 9:27 PM
You’ve prompted a hornets’ nest share-a-thon. 😉 My most recent sighting, just a few days ago, was in the bookstore cafe in town. Someone brought the whole branch in, nest attached, and put it into a vase, where there were dahlias a few weeks ago. Clever! I like the way you move seamlessly from nature to human-made, without skipping a beat. My favorite overall has to be the curtain closeup – I love that detail! The Lonicera is beautiful, no wonder it escaped, there are probably lots of gardens with that plant. The ornamental grass appeals to me more in color but it’s good to see two versions. I like all the fencing photos…and why did someone bundle those Queen Anne’s lace flower stalks? As usual, there is something about your eye that lends dignity to every subject. I admire that.
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October 25, 2021 at 5:38 PM
You’re right! Isn’t it fun to discover others who share a love of nature. And to think #4 was a photo I was hesitant to include. I’m glad you found the transition from nature to human-built objects reasonable. It’s always tricky, but I enjoy the challenge. The color and translucency of the split-curtain door appeal to me. I hope I can find more photographs there. I wonder if it will look different in winter. Did you click on the link for Lonicera maackii? Wikipedia says that this species, which is invasive in Ohio, is endangered in Japan. There are probably other plants that are invasive in one location and endangered somewhere else, but this was the first I had read about. I’ll ask my neighbors why the Queen Anne’s Lace flower stalks are bundled in front of their cottage. They have been there quite a while. Thank goodness: it took me long enough to finally photograph them. Thanks for all your words, Lynn.
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October 25, 2021 at 9:38 PM
I didn’t click on the link – that’ interesting! I don’t know of any plants (well now I do) that are endangered in one place and invasive in another. Crazy. And that’s an interesting thought about the curtain in winter…TBD…
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October 26, 2021 at 1:47 PM
Stunning photos, Linda. I’m partial to #5, the B&W version. Excellent shot.
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October 27, 2021 at 6:05 PM
Thank you, Ken. And thanks for weighing in on color vs B&W. I’m just now getting to comments from last month (because of my computer problems). Happy to see you commenting; waiting to see you posting. 🙂
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November 28, 2021 at 8:40 PM
Nice collection of images, Linda. Like Ken, I’m partial to both 5 & 6…I think if you desaturated the green in #6 you might be close to a sepia toned black & white. I also found it interesting that you took us seamlessly from metaphorically rusted ironweed to truly rusted fencing…I like it! 🙂
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October 27, 2021 at 8:28 PM
Thanks. I like your idea of desaturating the green. Calling the ironweed rusted was all your idea, Mic. Thanks for letting me steal it. (I couldn’t really say steel it, could I???)
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November 28, 2021 at 8:45 PM
Oh! I think you could! 🙂
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November 28, 2021 at 8:48 PM
Thank you! Then I will: Thanks for letting me steel it.
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November 28, 2021 at 8:49 PM