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.

Sunset in Verona

Sunset in Verona, Italy in August 2019.

More Iceberg Pictures

Pictures taken from a Boeing 767 flown by Delta Airlines going from Rome, Italy to Detroit, Michigan, USA. A GPS reading from about a minute later showed our position at N 61°50'00.760" W 42°22'44.917", speed 485 mph altitude 33,595 feet, heading 260° on August 21, 2019 16:58 (Rome time). Location at Google Maps shows this to be at Sermersooq Municipality, Greenland.

https://goo.gl/maps/tEyCigUnQRxVEwa97

Glaciers in Greenland

Pictures taken from a Boeing 767 flown by Delta Airlines going from Rome, Italy to Detroit, Michigan, USA. A GPS reading from about a minute later showed our position at N 61°50'00.760" W 42°22'44.917", speed 485 mph altitude 33,595 feet, heading 260° on August 21, 2019 16:58 (Rome time). Location at Google Maps shows this to be at Sermersooq Municipality, Greenland.

https://goo.gl/maps/tEyCigUnQRxVEwa97

First Watermelon of Season 2019

Picked Charleston Gray watermelon. My watermelon crop this season is not good, it looks like I will only get 4 melons this year compared to 50 from last year. This crop did not get affected by fungus like last year. I planted different varieties of watermelon and also cantaloupes.

About 20 cantaloupes were in the field, most are the size of softballs. Two got to be about volleyball size but deer have started eating on them.
I also picked some cherry tomatoes and Concord grapes. Most of the Concord grapes were eaten by deer. I also picked a basil leaf.

Icebergs off the Coast of Greenland

Picture taken from a Boeing 767 flown by Delta Airlines going from Rome, Italy to Detroit, Michigan, USA. A GPS reading from about a minute later showed our position at N 61°50'00.760" W 42°22'44.917", speed 485 mph altitude 33,595 feet, heading 260° on August 21, 2019 16:58 (Rome time). Location at Google Maps shows this to be at Sermersooq Municipality, Greenland.

https://goo.gl/maps/tEyCigUnQRxVEwa97

A Cat Protecting Spoils from a Dog Painting

Picture of cat defending its prey (dead chicken) from a small dog. Painting is entitled A Cat Protecting Spoils from a Dog. It was painted by Dutch artist Dirk Valckenburg (1675-1721) in 1717. The Speed Art Museum (Louisville, Kentucky, USA) acquired the work in 2005 with help from the estate of Alice Speed Stoll. Image taken in early 2019. Not the detail of a closeup below of a fly sitting on a peach.

Queen of Tears Flowering for 2018

The Queen's Tear plant flowered in November (2 bloom stalks) and December (5 bloom stalks).

100th Anniversary of End of World War I

I visited the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery to pay respect to soldiers who served in World War I. The cemetery is located at 4701 Brownsboro Road in Louisville, Kentucky. A number of World War I veterans are buried at the cemetery including Ethel E. Ochsner (nurse), Dee Royalty (bugler), Lovell Marion Humphrey (1st Lt), and Felix H. Carrico (field artillery).

White Alligator at Louisville Zoo 2018

Here is a picture of an albino American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). This alligator is named King Louie and resides in the Louisville Zoo. It was hatched and raised in Louisiana and then transferred to St. Augustine Alligator Farm in Florida. It was then acquired by the Louisville Zoo and the animal was named after the French King Louis XVI whom the city is named after.

Last time I visited this alligator was in April 2010. He is definitely a lot bigger. See this post http://poppular.blogspot.com/2010/04/white-alligator-at-louisville-zoo.html

Leaving Manhattan

A picture taken from the vehicle transporting us to the airport on July 22, 2018 morning. I believe it is a view of lower Manhattan. We were staying near Central Park in upper Manhattan.