http://4x6.my-expressions.com/atom_932.xml 2008-05-16T23:06:26Z Expressions Photoblogging http://4x6.my-expressions.com/archives/932_1200716553/292753 heydad2 2008-05-16T04:00:52Z 2008-05-16T04:00:52Z <a href="http://4x6.my-expressions.com/archives/932_1200716553/292753" style="border:0;"><img src="http://my-expressions.com/up_media/1137/pblog/916/1210893829.jpg"/></a><br> Russell, Kentucky I believe this to be a 17 year Periodical Cicada from brood XIV because the eyes are red whereas the annual cicada has green eyes. The cicada has just emerged from the nymph skin and is hanging on while drying its wings. I'm not an expert in identifying cicadas but this bug fascinates me because it is sort of a marker of history. I understand Periodical Cicadas belong either to 13 year or 17 year broods and periodically (!) make a spectacular appearance. Brood 14 appears in Kentucky and the surrounding eastern United States and dates back to the 1800s when they were first recorded in Indiana. The life cycle is interesting: the adults breed and the female lays eggs in slits that she makes in small tree limbs. The nymphs drop to the ground and live 17 years on tree roots. When the time comes, they wiggle to the surface and climb up on something to shed their skin and dry the body. Then the cycle begins all over again. The last time they appeared, I lived in the country and had an apple orchard. After the female makes the slits to lay eggs, the smaller tree branches often break and hang dead from the tree, being sort of a natural pruning effect. My small orchard had visible damage but nothing lasting. More interesting to me is being reminded of their appearance 34 years ago when I was in high school and before I could even drive a car. A friend and I had this ongoing tradition where we would skip a day of school in May to go fishing. The cicadas had made their huge appearance that May so we gathered up a large number of them and spent the school day at a pond located on a farm not far away. The ugly bugs gave us the best fishing day that I've ever had in my entire life and I still tell the story about being in awe over the number of big fish that we caught. Here's an interesting story from Indiana that tells more of the history and gives a prediction of May 20th for the appearance in that state. My photo was taken on the morning of May 15th in Kentucky, so the timeline isn't very far off. http://4x6.my-expressions.com/archives/932_1200716553/292245 heydad2 2008-05-15T04:00:49Z 2008-05-15T04:00:49Z <a href="http://4x6.my-expressions.com/archives/932_1200716553/292245" style="border:0;"><img src="http://my-expressions.com/up_media/1137/pblog/916/1210627385.jpg"/></a><br> http://4x6.my-expressions.com/archives/932_1200716553/292244 heydad2 2008-05-14T04:00:50Z 2008-05-14T04:00:50Z <a href="http://4x6.my-expressions.com/archives/932_1200716553/292244" style="border:0;"><img src="http://my-expressions.com/up_media/1137/pblog/916/1210627274.jpg"/></a><br> http://4x6.my-expressions.com/archives/932_1200716553/292242 heydad2 2008-05-13T04:00:53Z 2008-05-13T04:00:53Z <a href="http://4x6.my-expressions.com/archives/932_1200716553/292242" style="border:0;"><img src="http://my-expressions.com/up_media/1137/pblog/916/1210626533.jpg"/></a><br> Cleveland, Ohio I'll throw in this one last photo from the city of Cleveland. On my infrequent visits, if it isn't snowing then it's raining. http://4x6.my-expressions.com/archives/932_1200716553/292143 heydad2 2008-05-12T21:55:53Z 2008-05-12T21:55:53Z <a href="http://4x6.my-expressions.com/archives/932_1200716553/292143" style="border:0;"><img src="http://my-expressions.com/up_media/1137/pblog/916/1210557375.jpg"/></a><br> Greenbo Lake State Resort Park Greenbo is the one of biggest state parks in Kentucky, in terms of acreage. The history behind the park and lake is an interesting tale, being strong proof where an idea from one person can make a change that is enjoyed by everyone. The original idea for the lake came from a local hardware store owner who pitched it to a fish and game club. The idea of a Greenbo Lake caught on and a whole lot of money was raised from donations from the common working folks. My father still tells about the porch light campaign which was one designated night where you left your porch light on and someone would stop to collect a donation. Over 3,000 acres of land was bought and the lake was built. The local group then approached the state to bring the project into the state park system and Greenbo Lake State Park was formed. Here's the official history, which is told better than I could. http://4x6.my-expressions.com/archives/932_1200716553/291765 heydad2 2008-05-11T00:00:00Z 2008-05-11T00:00:00Z <a href="http://4x6.my-expressions.com/archives/932_1200716553/291765" style="border:0;"><img src="http://my-expressions.com/up_media/1137/pblog/916/1210299454.jpg"/></a><br> Cleveland, Ohio http://4x6.my-expressions.com/archives/932_1200716553/291763 heydad2 2008-05-10T00:00:00Z 2008-05-10T00:00:00Z <a href="http://4x6.my-expressions.com/archives/932_1200716553/291763" style="border:0;"><img src="http://my-expressions.com/up_media/1137/pblog/916/1210298648.jpg"/></a><br> Cleveland, Ohio http://4x6.my-expressions.com/archives/932_1200716553/291438 heydad2 2008-05-09T04:00:51Z 2008-05-09T04:00:51Z <a href="http://4x6.my-expressions.com/archives/932_1200716553/291438" style="border:0;"><img src="http://my-expressions.com/up_media/1137/pblog/916/1210129561.jpg"/></a><br> Ritter Park Huntington, West Virginia This is a photograph of a section of interesting wall art that's near the tennis courts. I picked the composition that I wanted and upped the contrast and the saturation a tad, but otherwise hats off to the real artist whomever they are. http://4x6.my-expressions.com/archives/932_1200716553/291434 heydad2 2008-05-08T04:00:51Z 2008-05-08T04:00:51Z <a href="http://4x6.my-expressions.com/archives/932_1200716553/291434" style="border:0;"><img src="http://my-expressions.com/up_media/1137/pblog/916/1210129315.jpg"/></a><br> Love Hardware Huntington, West Virginia This is another one from last year, I believe. The C.M. Love Hardware Company has been in town for a long time. The plans had been to tear off the 1970s facade and then restore the brickwork in anticipation of putting loft apartments or condominiums on the upper level. I wanted to capture a photo that shows both the old original sign and brickwork as well as the 1970s look. I've not heard any news about the condo project lately, though. In the meantime, the downtown is again booming on weekends and I'm always surprised about how many times the parking garage is closed due to being filled to capacity. http://4x6.my-expressions.com/archives/932_1200716553/291429 heydad2 2008-05-07T04:00:52Z 2008-05-07T04:00:52Z <a href="http://4x6.my-expressions.com/archives/932_1200716553/291429" style="border:0;"><img src="http://my-expressions.com/up_media/1137/pblog/916/1210128918.jpg"/></a><br> Lexington, Kentucky I'm doing some photography house cleaning around here, in more ways than one. This one is from the trip last year, maybe the spring meet.