Summer Solstice Sunset from Airplane

 

While traveling on a late evening Southwest Airlines flight from Baltimore to Louisville I took this picture on the Summer Solstice (June 21, 2023) at what I think was about 32,000 feet as we flew in a western direction.

Sign of Spring - Blooming Daffodils

 

Sign of approaching springtime. Daffodils blooming in Clark County, Indiana USA.

Google Pixel 6 Comet Hunting

 

Image darkened to take out light pollution. Amazed at images the Google Pixel 6 takes on about a 5 minute exposure. I think the "green comet" C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is one of those dots in the picture.

2022 Watermelon Harvest

Here is a Charleston Gray watermelon picked today that weighed 29.4 pounds. I used the rest of a container of seeds (maybe over 100) from 2009 thinking they were only maybe 10% viable. Well it appears almost all of the seeds grew causing way too many plants.

Watermelons were organically grown in Clark County, Indiana USA. I used black plastic to grown them on to contain weeds and retain moisture. Next image shows 9 other melons picked that day. I did plant a few Sugar Baby seeds and a striped melon (maybe from farmer's market).

Potato Harvest

I had a potato that was starting to sprout months ago so I decided to plant it in the watermelon garden. For some reason, I did not plant watermelons this year. Well, some watermelon seeds were planted and have maybe 4 plants growing but they have not established vines. So no fruit this season.

One potato plant died on the surface so I dug up the plant and the picture above is what I harvested. The smaller potatoes I gave to my mother to use with cooked green beans. The larger ones I thin sliced and baked with a light coating of virgin olive oil, potassium salt, and ground pepper. Left in the oven at 450 degrees F until they started to turn a light brown. Yum!

Still have two more plants to dig up.

Louisville Racing vs Houston Dash

My sister and her daughter attended this game with my niece using my season ticket. Racing Louisville FC prevailed over the Houston Dash with amazing goal by new arrival Ebony Salmon in the 72nd minute of this June 20, 2021 game. Attendance at Lynn Family Stadium was 5,971. CeCe Kizer left the game in the 71 minute with black eye that later swelled up causing her to miss the next game. Goalie Michelle Betos had to fend of Houston's 23 shots with 8 on goal. 

The final score was 1-0.

Louisville Racing vs Washington Spirit

Louisville Racing FC hosted the Washington Spirit at Lynn Family Stadium on May 21, 2021. Louisville won the game 2-0. I did not attend this game as I let my niece use my season ticket.

Attendance was 6,011. Notable events for this game is Louisville native Emina Ekic scored her first goal in the 76 minute and later assisted on the second goal scored by CeCe Kizer in the 81st minute. Goalie Michelle Betos weathered 29 shots with 10 of them being on goal.

The U.S. National Women's National Team coach Vlatko Andonovski attended this game and spoke with some of Louisville's players afterwards. Picture below is after game of USWNT coachVlatko Andonovski talking to Louisville Racing FC coach Christy Holly and Washington Spirit coach Richie Burke.

Louisville Racing First Regular Season Home Game

I was able to attend Louisville Racing FC's first home game of the regular season on May 15, 2021. They played Kansas City NWSL, the other 2021 expansion team of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Attendance at Lynn Family Stadium was 6,622. The game ended in a tie 0-0.

The game was uneventful as I recall. I did not take very many pictures. Former U.S. national team player Lori Lindsey was in front of our seats doing some pre-game video for the game. It was shown on CBS Sports Network. She was joined by Jenn Hildreth off to the right side in the brown jacket.

Next picture is of Marisa Pilla interviewing Louisville Racing forward Cece Kizer before the game.

Last image is of a paper commemorative ticket that was left at the seats. All the tickets so far have been digital so this one is rare.

After 8 Years Amaryllis Blooms

I last recorded this amaryllis plant blooming in June 2013. The plant itself might be about 20 years old. It has not been repotted in probably 10 years.

Louisville Racing First Official Game

 

Louisville Racing FC women's soccer team got off to a good start with their first official game in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) on April 10, 2021. They played the Orlando Pride to a draw 2-2. The weather was a factor in the game where it had rained almost all day and then cleared up for the start of the game. About 10 minutes into play it started raining, at times heavy. Since there was no lightning play was not suspended. Later in the game a rainbow appeared.

The stadium was at limited attendance due to Covid. 5,300 people attended and I was impressed with Louisville's team effort/energy and the beautiful stadium. I hope they do well in the city and I did my part by becoming a season ticket holder. The games can be watched on Paramount+. After watching some of the league's other teams, Racing has a challenging season ahead of them.

Goal for it, Racing!

R.I.P. Uncle George

 

My Uncle George Popp (September 1, 1929-December 1, 2020) was buried on December 10, 2020. This fuchsia colored rose was part of his funeral arrangement. 

Memories of Uncle George is of a very tall man who did a lot of outdoors things (hunting, fishing, gardening, woodworking). He introduced me to snapping turtle soup. We tended to catch a lot of snapping turtles in the creek running through our backyard at my childhood home. In August of this year I saw some snapping turtles near my watermelon garden. It was the first time in decades I had seen this type of turtle out of water.

We had a family retreat on the Little Blue River in Crawford County, Indiana. He was able to catch a spoon bill catfish (American paddlefish or Polyodon spathula) there. The only one I have seen in person.

He worked and retired from the Armour Star meat packing company. Another childhood memory was when our families bought a slaughtered hog and the process of butchering it. It is my only experience of being up close to when pork sausage was made and day still is with me.

Aunt Mary Jean and Uncle George's house was only 2 miles from our home. I would cycle there from time to time. Also after I returned to Indiana after college, several times I cycled there from a home maybe 10 miles away.

Also remember birthday or other family parties at their house where home made ice cream was made. Such a treat.

All in all, I hope my aunt and uncle are now together again in some form after 70 years of marriage.

Requiescat in pace.

Hosta Flower

The Hosta flowers are beginning to bloom in Louisville, Kentucky.

Yellow-Red Flower at Cemetery

After an internment at the Cave Hill Cemetery (Louisville, Kentucky) on June 20, 2020 from that site I walked up the hill to Muhammad Ali's grave site. This picture is of a very nice yellow-red Sanibel Tropical Hibiscus flower. Below is a picture of his grave site.
 

Purple Iris 2020

 The Russian Iris bloomed in May 2020 and here are the pictures.

Double Spider Web

Two webs very close together, double trouble for flying insects!

Watermelon Seedlings

A wide body printer we have at work has cardboard tubes left after it finishes a 500' roll of paper. For a while I was trying to figure out how to use these rolls. After cutting a roll into 4-6" segments, I capped one end and then filled it with potting soil.

I then planted Charleston Gray watermelon seeds saved from last years harvest. I was not sure the seeds would get warm enough in the sunroom yet. It turns out they did and 3 seedlings have appeared. It might be warm enough by next month to put them into the ground.

Tomato Seedlings

In April of 2020 I started some heirloom tomato seeds in various containers. I think I planted over 30 seeds with 26 plants appearing. One seedling died and I planted two more plants outside. The weather is still not quite warm enough but soon after planting the plants were uprooted. I think a chipmunk started digging, but I am not sure.

Hopefully, these plants will produce a good crop of tomatoes this year!

Echinarachnius parma? Sand Dollar

I have had several sand dollars in box since childhood that I never knew the name of. Some of them have a gradient of brown across the surface. The shades of color remind me of the skin of marshmallow as it is being roasted over a campfire.

I cannot remember if I collected them on a beach in Massachusetts, North Carolina or Florida. They might have been given to me by our hosts on one of those trips as well. Unfortunately, digital cameras were not prevalent back then so no pictures were taken or these finds documented.

What I believe them to be are Echinarachnius parma sand dollar (echinoderm). It is also known as the Atlantic Sand Dollar. The species named by Lamarck in 1816 and the genus named by Gray in 1825.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinarachnius_parma

Watermelon Jack-o-Lanterns

Looking through some old pictures and found watermelon jack-o-lanterns from October 31, 2004. There were some immature watermelons left in the patch that were never going to ripen due to the fall weather. It seemed like a novel idea to make them into a Halloween decoration. The inside cast an eerie red when lit up with a candle at night. Some of the trick-o-treaters found it amusing when visiting the house that evening. Working with these old digital images, we have come along way with digital photography!

Cut Watermelon 2019

In an earlier posting on this blog, I showed a picture of the first watermelon of the season, https://poppular.blogspot.com/2019/08/first-watermelon-of-season-2019.html. Over the weekend I cut that watermelon and it turned out to be very good. I forgot to weigh this Charleston Gray melon but I would guess it weighed about 20 pounds.