I wish all a good weekend.

Just finished reprocessing and old (from 2007) favorite: a Katydid surrounded by colorful flowers taken in my front yard. I re-cropped and flipped it horizontally.

   

Greetings all. I was driving down Main this morning and noticed all the day lilies on the corners. Thought it would make a good post. The building on the left started life as a car dealership back in the 20's. They had an elevator that was big enough to haul a car to the roof where they had a few to show off the new models I suppose. Later it became a Montgomery Wards building.

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A few days ago on a mid-morning walk I altered my usual route and spotted a house dwarfed by an old and very tall tree; I estimate its height to be nearly 100 feet (30.5 meters).

The tree showed some interesting textures...

   

   

And there were pink flowers reaching all the way to the top. I don't know if the tree and the flowering plant are in a symbiotic relationship or if the flowers are parasitic invaders.

Another shot from 2025-03-25 when I spent over 90 minutes photographing White Pelicans gorging on large catfish that the city had just stocked in the small artificial lake.

   

What a game yesterday!  Messi and his Argentine teammates again delivered amazing late-game heroics. Can they do it again vs Spain on Sunday? Unlikely, but so were similar victories in previous games. The odds favor Spain but it's hard to bet against Argentina's resilience.

Good day or evening.

Another recovered photo from decades ago. Looks like some sort of seed inside an irregularly-shaped pod.

It was the red of the "seed" that caught my eye, and that is nicely complemented by the greens of the background...

   

In today's World Cup games, it's France vs Spain. France seems to me to have been the most balanced team, but Spain is right up there with them.  I'll go with France by 1 goal.

Tomorrow features England vs Argentina, and I don't know what to make of either team. Argentina's dominance seems to have stalled, while England certainly hasn't played as well as their #4 world ranking suggests they should have. Could be another close game: can Messi rediscover his magic touch? Will England finally play as well as they are capable of? If forced to choose, I'd go with Argentina by 1 goal.

Saturday morning here. Thought I'd give members more time to get their weekend together.

Last eve on my way home from town, stoopped less than a kilometre from home to snap a couple of shots with the phone.

Another old photo rescued from decades old CDs that were still readable.

Canada Geese leaving a small local lake in the early morning...

   

Of course I'm gonna write about the World Cup.

Today's match is France vs Morocco. Although Morocco is highly ranked they haven't overpowered anyone. Meanwhile France seems to be a team without weakness. I give France an 85% chance of winning.

Tomorrow it's Spain vs Belgium. Maybe Belgium gained confidence from routing USA, but Spain is the better team - I give Spain a 75% chance of winning.

Saturday has 2 matches:

First it's Norway vs England, and I have no idea what to expect. England hasn't dominated as their #4 ranking would expect. And Norway could beat any one as long as Haaland is on the field. I see this as even but I wouldn't be surprised if Norway upsets England.

Then it's Argentina vs Switzerland. Everything points to an Argentina win, but maybe they've been relying too much on late game heroics by Messi. Still, I think Argentina should win.

On a slightly overcast day in January 2007 I had a remarkable photography experience. The city had just stocked a small artificial lake at a local park with large catfish, and somehow the White Pelicans knew it. So over the next couple of hours I watched and photographed their feeding behavior. Later I made  a 9-photo poster.

Due to several hard drive failures over the years I thought the original set of photos was lost, but recently rediscovered them on an old CD that to my amazement was still readable. So I've been able to start reprocessing the best shots

This shot that shows an interesting detail of their feeding. Here's what I think was happening: the pelicans usually snag the fish from behind, then must maneuver it head downwards to swallow it. The water drops flying off the bill suggest that the bird has just has flipped the catfish head down with a strong backwards motion off its head...

   

Sharp-eyed viewers will notice that the second pelican has also snagged a fish.

I'm scheduled for my second cataract surgery later this morning. I'm looking forward to finally getting this done.

Another once lost photo recovered from decades-old CDs, taken 2006-02-18. It's a sunrise (or maybe sunset - I don't remember) over the wetlands, years before the city, various ecological experts, and associations dedicated to preserving the wetlands made the wise decision to reconnect the wetlands to the ocean water.

   

I was completely wrong on yesterday's World Cup matches; I had Brazil over Norway and Mexico over England. Both Brazil and Mexico lost. Good that don't do any betting on sports.

Today's games are 1) Portugal vs Spain and I think Spain will win; 2) USA vs Belgium and I think USA will win.

I still think France will win it all, probably in a high-scoring match (4-2 or 4-3) with Argentina.

I'm posting mainly to wish MFI and the Aussie team good luck against Egypt. Should be a close match.

Then it's Argentina vs Cape Verde (which Argentina should win easily) and Colombia vs Ghana (probably will be a Colombia win).

But I gotta post a photo, so here's another of the formerly lost ones that I recently found on old CDs, taken 2005-10-18).

A Snowy Egret on a float in some shallow water...