Posted in Geology, Native American, Nature, Park review, Southwestern Ohio

Serpent Mound

A huge rock hurtles through the empty void of space. Its been orbiting the sun for hundreds of millions of years. But this orbit will be different. This time its trajectory and the orbit of earth intersect. It will impact somewhere in southern Ohio releasing energy equivalent to a large thermonuclear weapon and creating a crater five miles across. Alert the governor, start evacuations! But wait, it's already too late! It's too late because the impact occurred during the Permian Period Read more ➜
Posted in Park visit

Northeast Ohio Fall Foliage

It was sunny, cool day today... perfect weather for seeing the fall colors! We visited two state parks in northeast Ohio: Mohican and Malabar Farm. At Mohican we climbed the very tall fire tower, visited the Gorge Overlook and drove to Pleasant Hill Dam. I think that the Pleasant Hill Dam was my favorite spot at Mohican. The biggest problem with the Gorge Overlook is that there are a lot of conifer trees on the opposite side of the gorge, so it's not as colorful as some other spots. We Read more ➜
Posted in Bugs

Can you spot the crab spider?

There's a crab spider lurking in the cluster of flowers pictured above. Crab spiders pretend to be part of a flower, and when an unsuspecting insect arrives to sample the flower's nectar, he'll pounce on it and have it for lunch. If you've spotted him (or given up trying), click the "Continue reading" link to see him plainly. He's turned his body sideways so he can hold a couple of his legs straight up. He 's trying to pretend that his legs are stem-like structures. Now that I've Read more ➜
Posted in Flowers

September Wildflowers

Below are a couple of dozen wildflowers that I photographed last month. I have numbered all the photos, so you can refer to the flower's number if you want to talk about a specific one. I haven't been able to identify all of them, so if you see one that you recognize please leave me a comment. Oh, and if you think I've misidentified any, I'd love to hear from you. Read more ➜