Keeping Our Distance

September Song

Photo by John

A Little Buggy

Up Close

I spent the morning weeding -- sitting on the ground and getting up close and personal with the border along our entryway. The little rose above is one of the first things I planted after we built our house -- given to me by a neighbor who rooted a cutting under a Mason jar. The blossoms are tiny, about the size of my thumb.

Once I was down at eye level with the Victoria blue salvia, I could see that the flowers were being worked by minuscule bees -- probably the same ones I've heard called sweat bees for their tendency to light in the crook of a sweaty elbow.

The red yarrow I transplanted about a month ago has taken hold. We have wild white yarrow but I'm really fond of these lacy ruby-toned blooms.

Inside, washing my hands before lunch,  I found this fellow lurking in a dishtowel.  He was quite obliging and stayed put for me to take his picture.

No, he's not a roach -- he's some sort of beetle. While Googling around trying to identify him, I learned that there are around 25,000 different types of Coleoptera (beetles) in North America and over 350, 000 worldwide. which makes the Coleoptera the largest order of the animal kingdom. They live in and on all sorts of things -- water, dirt, bark, leaves, dung, carpets . . .

Maybe he's a dish towel beetle.

Wordless Wildacres

Autumn Joy

I went outside, thinking to take a picture of the Autumn Joy sedum which has just begun to blush pink. It was my plan to take pictures of it and other signs of the coming Fall.







But then I took a closer look and was entranced by all the buggy busy-ness going on atop those blushing blooms.

A bumblebee . . .

Two attractive creatures I have no names for . . .






But I think this velvet-winged whatever-it's-called is a real beauty.

A honeybee -- a welcome sight as so many have died . . .

An ant of some kind . . .

As I said, a whole lot of buggy busy-ness
going on . . .

Autumn Joy, indeed! No wonder the sedum's blushing!