June 2011
June 19, 2011
The shale banks along a particular stretch of the Vermilion River are becoming more interesting to me. I think the rains are sculpting them. Lately, like today, they have harbored small patches of Leptothrix discophora, and today the rock itself seemed especially colorful. Earlier in my walk I had found some L. discophora a little more intense in color. The bubbles are from submerged algae. . . . I don’t remember ever seeing a caterpillar that looks like this one. Turns out it is the caterpillar of a white-marked tussock moth (Orgyia leucostigma). The moth’s coloration is pretty subtle: light grey, dark grey, white, and black. It does have elaborate antennae and fuzzy legs. The female is wingless! I’d never heard of a wingless moth. You can see photos of the male moth and its coccoon at http://www.buglifecycle.com/?p=807. . . . Climbing up from the floodplain to head home, I heard some rather loud crashing through the foliage ahead of me. At first I couldn’t see anything that could have been crashing. Then I saw. The deer and I must have stood still watching each other a full minute before she bounded away, white tail bobbing. . . . I took the last photograph on my way to the river June 4. When I was a little girl, a classmate who lived down the street told me that whenever you see sunlight beaming through clouds, it means that angels are singing in heaven. I didn’t believe her then any more than I would now, but to this day I never fail to see that sight with a feeling of reverence and memory of the story, though I cannot remember my friend’s name.
Romancing Reality 