Next, off to the shuttle launch. We had scoped it all out ahead of time, and decided to take back roads to Sears, where we could park for free and walk a short distance to the shoreline, for a good view. It was predicted that 750,000 people would show up, and that it would take 4-6 hours to clear everyone out afterwards, and Lee and I thought we had a pretty good plan. As many of you may know, the launch was scratched ("scrubbed" was NASA's term) at 12:16. The next attempt might be Monday, so we will extend our stay for at least that long.
Since we had some unplanned time on our hands, we went to the "Enchanted Forest", a local park with several natural ecosystems. So, more photographs, these all taken by Lee. If you don't like insects or lizards, you might not appreciate today's post.
This first photo is of a "wheel bug". I have seen this bug only once before, in Pennsylvania a few years ago. I saw at least seven at the Enchanted Forest. They were everywhere. They are a very scary looking bug, and large. The one pictured here was about 1 1/2 inches in length. They are like creatures from another planet, they are so weird. They are a type of assassin bug and bite, so don't touch!
Lee took a few photographs of dragon flies as well, including a large yellow one and a smaller green one:
Lee takes such beautiful photographs, it's hard to choose! Here's one of a Gulf Fritillary (the butterfly) on a passion flower.
And the flower itself. No matter how often I see these, I am always struck by their beauty and complexity.
Lee also took several photographs of a flowering cactus:
More from Lee's gallery of photographs:
And finally, several lizards. I especially love the green one, an anole lizard. Anoles have pink "dewlaps", or throat flaps, under the chin. They display this from time to time, but never on cue!
Here's a lizard tail disappearing from view! So funny:
And more lizards. I love lizards.
Lee is getting really good at this!
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