We have had a potted Meyer lemon plant on our patio for several years. We fertilize and water it regularly. The record-setting desert heat this year has been rough on our small plant. Some of the lemons formed splits in the surface. This is the first year we have experienced the splitting. In addition to the hotter than normal temperatures, we have had a little over two inches of rain, which is about four inches less than normal for this time of year.
This year we still have 15 lemons on the plant, which is not a lot for this plant. A couple years back we harvested 55 lemons.
View Above Hutch’s Pool In the Santa Catalina Mountains — Image by kenne
“In those vernal seasons of the year when the air is calm and pleasant, it were an injury and sullenness against nature not to go out and see her riches, and partake in her rejoicing with heaven and earth.”
The Two-tailed Swallowtail is Arizona’s State Butterfly — Image by kenne
“The adult butterfly (also commonly called two-tailed tiger swallowtail) has yellow to orangish-yellow wings edged thickly with black. Each wing has 4 almost parallel stripes (the innermost stripe is the longest, while the outermost two may simply be bars). The hindmost part of each wing has a curved row of blue patches and below the blue are several bars or spots of orange. Two tails extend from the rear of the hind wing, with the innermost tail considerably shorter.”
Fall Colors Along Sabino Creek Hiking to Hutch’s Pool — Panorama by kenne
One of my favorite hikes is to Hutch’s Pool. In the past, the Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists (SCVN) would guide a fall and spring hike, each hike having a many as 15 hikers. However, like so many things, not this fall because of the pandemic. The trail is open, but not for groups.
— kenne
* * * * *
I bear many scars,
but I also carry with me moments
that would not have happened
if I had not dared
to go beyond my limits.
— Paulo Coelho
Crossing Sabino Creek Below Hutch’s Pool — Image by kenne
Tarantula on Bug Springs Trail (November 13, 2020) — Image by kenne
I spotted the young tarantula while hiking the Bug Springs trail last Friday in the Santa Catalina Mountains. The trail’s elevation is between 5,000/6,000′ elevation as we continue hiking at lower levels of the Santa Catalina Mountains.
Wildflowers on Mt. Lemmon, Santa Catalina Mountains — Images by kenne
What is the late November doing With the disturbance of the spring And creatures of the summer heat, And snowdrops writhing under feet And hollyhocks that aim too high Red into grey and tumble down Late roses filled with early snow? Thunder rolled by the rolling stars Simulates triumphal cars Deployed in constellated wars Scorpion fights against the sun Until the Sun and Moon go down Comets weep and Leonids fly Hunt the heavens and the plains Whirled in a vortex that shall bring The world to that destructive fire Which burns before the ice-cap reigns
Common Buckeye Butterfly (Junonia coenia) — Image by kenne
So, I begin researching articles on butterfly color and found “The evolution of color: How butterfly wings can shift in hue” in ScienceDaily. They found that buckeyes and other Junonia species can create a rainbow of structural colors simply by tuning the thickness of the wing scale’s bottom layer (the lamina), which creates iridescent colors in the same way a soap bubble does.
“In each Junonia species, structural color came from the lamina. And they are producing a big range of lamina thicknesses that create a rainbow of different colors, everything from gold to magenta to blue to green,” says first author Rachel Thayer. “This helps us understand how structural color has evolved over millions of years.” You can find more information structured color at Marine Biological Laboratory. (Please note, I’m a photographer, not a biologist.)
