nature

We have had a small population of very tiny, nimble lizards living in the house over the past few weeks.  I find them charming rather than creepy.  When I first spotted them, I saw three near one of our window air conditioners and they were probably an inch and a half long max.  I’ve now seen several, progressively larger but still wee, around the apartment and even one on the doorknob as I was coming home from work yesterday.

I found one today and he or she was courteous enough to stay put long enough for me to take a few photographs.  Our little guests are Mediterranean geckos, an invasive but harmless species that tends to live in walls.  (Surprise!  I knew that already.)

If they eat bugs, they can stay.

On a separate note, Tropical Storm Hanna is passing just to the east of us, and we’re fine.  Conditions are going to deteriorate as the evening wears on but we’re tucked in for the night.

I’m delighted to report that we’ve spotted the first of the night herons at the rookery near the Gailliard Auditorium on George Street.  I’ll be spending some quality time down there with my camera before too long.

Six photos for seven days. I did in fact take photos on February 20 — those would be the eclipse photos, which warranted their own album. The EXIF information for these can be seen in the Detail view of each photo from the gallery, if you’re interested.

Starting at the top left: The man made from miniature clay pots, affectionately known as “Pot Man Junior” (my mother has the full sized one); our new team mascot at work; the nearly full moon from the parking lot at work; Dexter eating Worm Man’s Worm Farm roasted waxworms out of the jar (mmm); the black vulture Mom gave me for Christmas; and a hedgehog and dragon figurine from my sister-in-law Jan and niece Athene.

It was cloudy here, but fortunately, there were enough breaks in the clouds to photograph the eclipse. I’ve got my sequence of photos online for your perusal. I do wish I’d seen this article on photographing the eclipse beforehand, but I actually did most of the things they recommended anyway. The tripod was invaluable, as was the remote shutter for my Nikon for long exposures.

My favorite of the lot: the glorious display of the eclipse at totality with Saturn, Regulus, and some other heavenly bodies visible around it. It doesn’t look like much in the thumbnail view, of course.

I haven’t forgotten about the photo a day project although I am behind in posting them. I promise I have a photo for every day.

The eclipse will begin around 8:45 PM tonight, with totality between 10-11 PM and ending just after midnight. If your skies are clear - go out and see it!
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/eclipse.html

Weather permitting, I’ll have photos tomorrow. My tripod and my 200mm lens are ready.