Standing Into Danger

Friday, August 18, 2023

Happy Smiling Faces!

Thousands of happy smiling faces lined the road greeting us

as we drove home from the airport after visiting Nova Scotia recently.

Home again on Colorado's Beautiful High Plains

E-470, Aurora, Colorado, USA

August 3, 2023

Colorado has enjoyed a cool summer with lots of rain and sunshine,

and millions of wild sunflowers have exploded along roads and highways

and in odd corners of disturbed ground.

A Sunflower Explosion

Aurora, Colorado, USA

August 14, 2023

Wild sunflowers are sustained by run-off moisture from the roads,

heat from the asphalt, and little competition from other vegetation.

They can outgrow noxious weeds like sweet clover and thistles.

Vail Daily

The Common Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)

Aurora, Colorado, USA

August 14, 2023

As I drove around on errands and to appointments last week, I became

more and more curious about this happy, cheerful plant dominating the landscape.

So on Tuesday I grabbed my camera and went on a sunflower hunt along Piney Creek.

Upper Pond Along "My" Section of Piney Creek

Aurora, Colorado, USA

August 14, 2023

I knew the sunflowers would not grow near the creek bed

because they don't like water-logged soil,

so I headed for a dry bank above the creek where I thought they might be.

Sunflowers Clinging to a Bank

Aurora, Colorado, USA

August 14, 2023

The gangly sunflowers clung to the bank, but not displaying the beauty I hoped to find.

So I headed up a gully and found hundreds and hundreds.

Voilà!

I followed another gully back to the trail that led to the power line right-of-way,

because I was getting worried about snakes and ticks.

After taking a brief break from the strong afternoon sun

in the shade of a cottonwood stand, I headed uphill for the power line.

Cottonwood Stand

Aurora, Colorado, USA

August 14, 2023

The last time I had walked this way on May 2nd,

a large grading and restoration project blocked my way.

Land Restoration

Aurora, Colorado, USA

May 2, 2023

Today I found a new cement trail had been constructed

beginning at the Douglas County line and running south.

It followed the power line down into marshland,

straddled a stream running into Piney Creek, and wound up the other bank

to link up with the trails in the Inspiration development.

The New Concrete Trail

Aurora, Colorado, USA

August 14, 2023

Sun Flowers Galore!

I followed the new cement trail down the hill, across the stream, and up the other bank: Sunflowers galore!

The New Stream Crossing

Aurora, Colorado, USA

August 14, 2023

And Up the Other Side

Wild sunflowers are beneficial to the environment in many ways,

one of which is land restoration.

Sunflowers are used as a forb component in reclaiming drastically disturbed lands,

renovating ranges for domesticated animals, and other conservation practices

such as pollinator habitat for bees and other pollinators,

establishing permanent vegetation in areas of high erosion,

and the restoration and management of declining and rare habitats.

Sunflowers provide food to insects, birds, deer, and other wildlife.

Bees Love Wild Sunflowers!

Restoring an Eroding Slope

Stabilizing Slopes

The wild sunflower is native to North America,

and Native Americans first domesticated the plant as early as 3,000 BC.

They boiled and ate flower buds and raw seeds

and ground the seeds into flour for cakes and bread.

They drank an infusion of the plant that eased

rheumatism and chest pain and stimulated appetites.

Different parts of the sunflower plant were boiled to make yellow, purple, and black dyes.

Dried sunflower stalks were used as building materials.

nrcs.usda sunflowernsa

Spanish explorers took the wild sunflower to Europe around 1500.

By 1716 an English patent was granted for squeezing oil from the plant's seeds.

Peter the Great is credited with popularizing the sunflower

as an ornamental plant in the 18th century.

The Russian Orthodox Church added to its popularity

by forbidding the consumption of most oil foods during Lent

and leaving the sunflower off the prohibited list.

By 1830, sunflower oil was produced on a commercial scale in Russia.

Eastern Europeans and Russians who had emigrated to America

imported the commercial sunflower because it was a protein-rich food for animals.

By the 1920s the US was growing commercial crops of sunflowers,

followed by Canada in 1930.

nrcs.usda. sunflowernsa nuseed

Some of my happiest hours are spent roaming along the trails in my area,

and hunting for sunflowers on a gorgeous August afternoon is hard to beat.

Smiling Happy Faces!

I'm linking to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date and Nicole's Friday Face Off.

Thank goodness I have an understanding husband who takes me out for dinner

when I arrive home hot, happy, and too tired to cook.

A Club Sandwich and Sauteed Vegetables to Share

Parkway Bar and Grill

Aurora, Colorado, USA

A Muley Walking Past Our Car

Aurora, Colorado, USA

August 3, 2023

I was slammed this week with appointments and commitments,

so I'm still catching up with last week's comments. So sorry!

Have a great weekend!

Till next time ~
Fundy Blue

My next post will be soon! 🤞

On the Bay of Fundy
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved

Friday, August 11, 2023

Farewell to Nova Scotia's Charms

I seriously considered not posting today.

We've been home a week, and I'm still wiped out from our trip

and with everything that's been going on since we returned.

It's always bittersweet to say goodbye to my family

and to leave my beautiful, sea-bound native province.

Picnic at Point Prim

Martin, Jackson, Bluebell (under the table), Me,

Colleen and Lisa (behind my head), and Terry

Point Prim, Nova Scotia, Canada

July 29, 2023

Looking Across Digby Gut at Victoria Beach ~

Digby Gut is a narrow channel connecting the Bay of Fundy to the left

with the Annapolis Basin to the right.

Point Prim, Nova Scotia, Canada

July 29, 2023

I'm posting some trip photos below,

but first I'm sharing a different experience I had yesterday.

You have not lived until you've gone through almost two hours

of eye calisthenics in a university teaching hospital.

UCHealth Eye Center

University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus

Aurora, Colorado, USA

August 9, 2023

My eyes dutifully performed for over an hour

for a neuro-ophthalmologist doing a one-year fellowship at the UCHealth Eye Center,

while an ophthalmology resident observed us.

Then the neuro-ophthalmologist, who will eventually operate on my eyes,

came in and examined me while the fellow and the resident observed.

Terry sat quietly in the corner watching everything and flashing me encouraging smiles.

"I'm a great surgeon!" Dr. Prem Subramanian assured me,

which is what you want to hear when someone will be operating

on the muscles behind your eyeballs.

Unfortunately, I can't have surgery until my thyroid is stable

and in the normal range again, likely sometime next year.

Source

The good news is that I have developed great coping skills for taking and editing pictures!

I'd be devastated if I couldn't enjoy photography while all this is occurring.

I've chosen a few photos to share from our trip home to see my family in Nova Scotia.

All of Us Together Again ~

First Time Since Before the Pandemic

Bottom to Top: Bertie, Barb, Donnie, Roy, and Me

Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada

July 31, 2023

Queen Anne's Lace

Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada

July 27, 2023

Everyone's Darling ~ Little Jackson

Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada

July 27, 2023

A Timeless Sight ~ Clamdiggers Working on the Mudflats

Digby Gut is in the background, and the Annapolis Basin in the foreground.

Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada

July 31, 2023

No Glass of Water is Safe from Scotia!

Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada

July 24, 2023

Morning Lattes at Bertie and Peter's

Marissa, Carlyn with Marty, Blair, Sue, Bertie, Julie, Me (Louise), Heather, Lisa, and Sara

Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada

August 2, 2023

A Baby Photo of My father I Had Never Seen ~

At Barb and Pat's Home

Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada

July 24, 2023

My Nephew Blair Meets the Newest Family Pet, Josie

Josie, a rescue husky from Texas, arrived in the middle of everything the night before.

Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada

July 30, 2023

The Digby Wharf and Scallop Fleet ~

In the foreground you can see sailboats moored at the floating dock.

As the tide rises, the dock floats upward held in place by the tall brown poles in the photo.

Digby Nova Scotia, Canada

July 29, 2023

Catching Bubbles

Lisa, Donnie, Krista, Colleen, and Jackson

Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada

July 25, 2023

Pizza and Beer at the Lazy Bear ~

Olivia, Naddy, Martin, Dean, Baby Jackson, Colleen, Gavin (standing)

Lisa (standing), Pat, Barb, Terry, and Me

Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada

July 27, 2023

Timeless Sight ~ Family Bonfire at Donnie and Martin's Home ~

Donnie, Claire's Pat, and Peter

Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada

July 29, 2023

Heading Home to Different Houses ~

After Another Family Get Together

Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada

July 31, 2023

I'm linking to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date and Nicole's Friday Face Off.

Scallops and Lobster Tail Special~

The Fundy Restaurant

Digby, Nova Scotia, Canada

August 1, 2023

Terry and I

The Fundy Restaurant

Digby, Nova Scotia, Canada

August 1, 2023

Have a great weekend!

Till next time ~
Fundy Blue

My next post will be soon! 🤞

Books Read in 2026

"18 Days in Heaven" by Gale Poirot
"A Serial Killer's Daughter: My Story of Hope, Love, and Overcoming" by Kerrie Rawson
"Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life" by Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD.
"Is Math Real? How Simple Questions Lead Us to Mathematics Deepest Truths" by Eugenia Cheng
"Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir
"Tell Me Everything" by Elizabeth Strout
"The Covenant of Water" by Abraham Verghese
"The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity" by David Graeber and David Wengrow
"The Life Impossible" by Matthew Haig
"The Lord go the Rings" by JRR Tolkien
"The Match" by Harlan Corben
"The Night the Path Disappeared" by Terri Bergen
"The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper" by Roland Allen
"Theo of Golden" by Allen Levi
"Think Twice" by Harlan Corben
"Why Christianity Must Change Or Die" by John Shelby Spong

Standing Into Danger

Pages

Friday, August 18, 2023

Happy Smiling Faces!

Friday, August 11, 2023

Farewell to Nova Scotia's Charms

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