Glory Amongst the Fencerows

The title of my last post was "Pictures Waiting to be Taken," and yesterday morning, while searching for Spider Lilies to photograph, I found lots of "pictures waiting to be taken" along the rural back roads of Hinds County, Mississippi.  Actually, some of them weren't on back roads ... they were on the South Frontage Road of I-20, near Edwards ... in plain sight of the hundreds of travelers who use the frontage road daily, on their way to and from work.  I'd be willing to bet that very few of those travelers have noticed God's glory amongst the fencerows, but I did ... and I'm so glad I stopped to get a closer look. The white wildflower vines trailed gracefully along the fence, and reminded me of little white morning glories.   As you can see in the first picture, there was a lot of tall grass between the road and fence, plus a shallow ditch, and I was sorry I didn't have my "grass-wading boots" with me. However, the next best thing to boots is a long lens, and whenever I'm on a photo shoot, I have one handy.  The following pictures were all taken with the long lens from a spot about three feet off the road. It was truly my lucky day as far as picture-making goes ... because I soon discovered that I wasn't the only one enjoying those glorious wildflowers along the fencerows.  There were several butterflies darting to and fro amongst the blooms, and I managed to capture a few pictures of them as they flitted from flower to flower, in their never-ending search for the bloom with the best nectar ...     This black swallowtail was a little more camera-shy than the yellow swallowtail ...    Isn't God's camouflage amazing!  You can barely see him nestled in the vines. I like the way his wings are positioned in the next picture ... And this is my favorite picture of him ... caught in mid-air!  As if the wildflowers and butterflies weren't enough, I found some lagniappe at my feet, literally ... Those are "Balloon Vines" ...  If you would like to know more about Balloon Vines, you can go back in time to a post I wrote a few years ago featuring Balloon Vines, by clicking the links below.  I found them to be very interesting plants, and the pods have unique little heart-shaped seeds inside them.  Balloon Vines Heart Seeds Just a few yards up the road from the butterflies another picture was beckoning to me, and there was no way I could pass by these beautiful yellow wildflowers ... I found a place to turn around and went back to get a closer look ...   I googled images of yellow wildflowers and was surprised to find these listed under "Poisonous Plants of the South." They are called Showy Crotalaria, and are extremely toxic to chickens, horses, cattle, and swine that might consume the green plant, hay contaminated with crotalaria, or dried seed in harvested grain.  Sheep, goats, mules, and dogs can also be affected to a lesser degree.  I'm not sure if it has adverse effects on humans, but I'm glad I didn't decide to dissect one to look at its seeds, as I sometimes do. Even though poisonous, the flowers were a beautiful sight scattered along the roadside.       Here are a few more "lagniappe" pictures I captured along my journey ... Champion Hill Road Hinds County, Mississippi This next "picture waiting to be taken" stopped me in my tracks ... or rather, on the railroad tracks. I didn't "hear a train a'comin,'" so I stopped on the tracks to capture this beautiful scene. This little guy was in a yard in Edwards, Mississippi ... and I couldn't resist stopping by for a visit. The soybean fields were decked out in their Fall colors, ready for harvest time ... which will be soon. I hope you enjoyed seeing God's glory in these "pictures waiting to be taken." I have one more fencerow I want to share, but since this post is rather lengthy, I'll leave it for next time.  I hope you will join me.

A Special Visitor

I was working in my yard yesterday and was delighted to see my first butterfly of the season. He (or she) was enjoying the blooms on our Majestic Hawthorn bush, and almost landed on me. His wings were torn and tattered, as if he had just arrived after a long journey from wherever butterflies go in the winter. But I thought he was beautiful, and I ran inside to get my camera so I could capture that bright glorious spirit, gracefully flitting from flower to flower, as if he was sent to personally wish me a "Happy Spring!" I hope your weekend is filled with butterflies ... and flowers ... and the sound of birds singing their songs of Spring. For behold, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone. The flowers have already appeared in the land; The time has arrived for pruning the vines, And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land. The fig tree has ripened its figs, And the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance. [Song 2:11-13]

In the Eye of the Beholder

"I begin with an idea and then it becomes something else." — Pablo Picasso

I love that quote from Picasso — because I can relate to it. So many times I have set out to photograph something in particular only to get sidetracked or distracted by something else entirely. That was the case yesterday afternoon.

I went outside to take pictures of a Gulf Fritillary Butterfly that was enjoying my gold Lantana blooms, and when the butterfly flew away for a few minutes, I noticed another not-so-pretty and a-lot-less-desirable insect on the flowers.

Yes, that's a wasp ... and as far as I could determine by googling wasp pictures, it is a Paper Wasp.

Now, I have never gotten close enough to a wasp to get a closeup look at it, but this one didn't seem to feel threatened by me, and, more importantly, went about its business without threatening ME. So, as it moved from flower to flower, I watched it through my macro lens (from a safe distance), and discovered that it was actually quite interesting. The saying that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," came to mind as I could see beauty in the wasp, too. It was interesting to see how it stretched its legs as it moved among the leaves and flowers, and how it would turn completely upside down as it explored the depths of the blooms.

For those of you who are less squeamish when it comes to wasps, you can click on the pictures to enlarge them and see God's glory revealed in this tiny, but amazing insect.

Now I know where the term "wasp-like waist" originated.

Of course, wasp stings can be very dangerous, even fatal in some cases, but capturing this one with my camera, on such an "up close and personal" level, inspired me to try to find out a little about what they do, besides sting people.

I'd like to say I discovered that they have a "good side" to them, but the only positive thing I could find is that they are beneficial to farmers because they eat caterpillars, which can damage crops. They also eat other insects like spiders, so if you don't like spiders, I guess that would be a good thing ... although, I really don't want to think about that, do you?

And to close on a brighter, happier note, I did manage to get a few pictures of the elusive Fritillary ...

If you have Lantana growing in your yard, you probably have Gulf Fritillaries, too. Here in Mississippi, they stay until sometime in October. Unfortunately, so do the wasps.

Flutterbys

The plants in our courtyard are attracting lots of butterflies and moths these hot summer days. Yesterday afternoon, I braved the heat and enjoyed watching a yellow swallowtail and black swallowtail fluttering from flower to flower on our Chaste Plant. There were lots of bumblebees swarming around the flowers, too, but they didn't seem to bother the butterflies (or be concerned about me).

Have you ever noticed how much butterfly wings resemble stained glass? I don't think even the most accomplished stained glass artist could ever duplicate the delicate, intricate patterns God created especially for butterfly wings.

The black swallowtail isn't as colorful, but is still beautiful in its own way. This shot reminds me of a Manta Ray.

Although a little out of focus, I love this next picture. It looks as if the butterfly is standing on tiptoe to reach an especially "juicy" flower.

The moths seemed to prefer my Lantana blossoms, and I love this little guy's soft and fuzzy look.

I hope you'll have a chance to get out this weekend and enjoy the butterflies in your yard. They won't be here much longer now that summer is winding down.