Clouds, and a Butterfly

On my weekly walk to the grocery store this morning there just didn't seem to be much the camera could catch as I walked through the Dykeman Spring Nature Park. There were lots of butterflies, and even a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird, but none of them seemed to want to sit still enough to get their portrait done. However, when I got up to the meadow I saw that the humidity and the heat had created some pretty impressive clouds. So I got some cloud pictures. And I also came across an Eyed Brown butterfly on the railroad overpass on Baltimore Rd. on the way home from the grocery store. Finally, a subject willing to sit patiently while I moved around to get the best angle!

© 2016 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

Corn Festival 2016

Today is Shippensburg's annual Corn Festival, always the last Saturday in August, when they shut down the main drag (King St.) from Spring St. to Prince St. and fill it up with handcrafts, food, and entertainment from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. I know people who grumble and think the whole thing is tacky, but I love this kind of thing and have a great time every year. Here are some shots of some of my favorite parts of the festival, plus a brief video shot with my cell phone to give you a taste of the atmosphere at the center of the festivities. Enjoy!

The street was packed at 10:00 am

The Cameron Molloy Band and Laurie Matlock on the main stage, playing "Route 66"

Carved gourds

Wooden and bamboo flutes and dreamcatchers

Quilts displayed for a raffle hung on a fence by McLean House

Handmade, old style brooms

Ray Owen performing at the gazebo across the street from my house

Here's the video I shot today to give you an idea of the atmosphere of the festival:

And here's the slideshow I put together 5 years ago after my first Corn Festival:

© 2016 by A. Roy Hilbinger

A Rainy Sunday Morning

"Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby."
– Langston Hughes

" Rain is grace; rain is the sky descending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life."
– John Updike

We finally got some decent rain today. Not all that we need, but it was pretty soaking this morning and there looks to be more of the same later this week. We need it. And it rained on me while I was doing my errands this morning.

It started raining while I was doing my laundry, two showers, one after the other. Then it stopped for a while. When I headed for the grocery store via my usual route through the Dykeman Spring Nature Park, it started out with just dampness from the previous showers but no actual rain, so I got the first photo of the butterfly. But not long after the rain started up again, and the rest of this photo essay is concerned with views of the park in the rain. Yes, I got wet. Happily so!

A Variegated Fritillary butterfly getting a meal in before the rain starts up again

A view of the north duck pond in the rain

Raindrops on the north duck pond

A view of Timber Hill from the upland meadow

Looking west from the top of the meadow

© 2016 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

A Hot August Morning

We're currently stuck in a Bermuda high; this means that there's a high pressure system sitting in the Atlantic Ocean off the East Coast just cycling, and it cycles in a clockwise motion, which means it's cycling hot, humid air from the south right over us. We've been stuck in it for about 4 days now and it doesn't look like it's going to move off for several more days. Right now at 2:20 PM it's 99ºF/37ºC, which combined with a dew point of 74ºF/23ºC means we have a heat index (what it actually feels like)  of 111ºF/44ºC. And a very humid 111º at that. A local weatherman called this weather "disgusting"; I heartily agree!

This is also my once-in-four-weeks weekend off. Nope, no hikes; during a heat advisory like this the advice is to stay indoors, but if you need to be outdoors don't do too much, don't stay out for long, and fer Pete's sake stay hydrated! I went out to the grocery store earlier this morning (full and previously refrigerated water bottle tucked into my messenger bag along with the camera) to get all my wandering done before the real heat set in, and I still totally soaked my shirt with sweat. Despite the discomfort, I followed my usual practice and walked through the Dykeman Spring Nature Park; these are the scenes that grabbed my attention.

Nice, cool water; the creek in the Dykeman Spring wetland

A Long Dash Skipper sipping on some Spotted Knapweed in the Dykeman Spring wetland

These reflections in the north duck pond look amazingly like Aurora Borealis

A Cabbage White butterfly sipping on Spotted Knapweed on the upland meadow

Mountains and clouds to the north seen from the upland meadow

© 2016 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

A Visit to Burd Run

Today I decided to head over to the Burd Run stream channel reparation project park at Britton and Fogelsanger Roads. I haven't been there in some time and thought it was about time for another visit. Due to the dry Summer the creek is running low, but it was still plenty green and there were some interesting photos waiting to be taken. Enjoy!

A male Goldfinch on the approach to Burd Run

Burd Run at Britton Rd.

A Cabbage White butterfly

Black-eyed Susans

A female Ruby-throated Hummingbird on a Buttonbush

A Long Dash Skipper

An Ebony Jewelwing damselfly on a branch over the creek

Heading home on the undeveloped end of the Rail Trail

© 2016 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

Stained Glass Wings

Today was a day for butterflies in the Dykeman Spring Nature Park, and the prolific Joe Pye Weed seemed to be the place to be the place to find most of them.

Monarch

Two views of an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Spicebush Swallowtail

Silver-spotted Skipper

© 2016 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

Beauty

Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumblebee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. – Ashley Smith

Scenes from a walk in the Dykeman Spring Nature Park

Photos © 2016 by A. Roy Hilbinger