Cloudy walk

 A cloudy but dry day to walk on Mon Oct 8, 2018.

 I may not encounter wildlife, but there were dogs and owners all along the path...perhaps that's why ducks and geese weren't there!

 The green grass at the far side of the lake, is all that grows on the earthen dam of Lake Tomahawk now.

 Yes, along the walk on the dam was fluttering a Monarch butterfly.  So I fluttered with my phone camera in hopes of capturing it too.

 There were obviously a few misses!

And surprisingly enough, I caught some mallards as they came in for a landing on the lake.  They also make a bunch of noise as they fly...perhaps saying to each other, "yes, there's good eating on the bottom of this shallow lake!"

Milkweed by the road!

Driving out of the Altapass Orchard parking lot back onto the Blue Ridge Parkway, what did I spy but the elusive milkweed!

Had to stop traffic and take its picture.  This is the only plant that our area supports Monarch Butterflies to lay their eggs on, and which is eaten by their caterpillars.

Of course in the fall there's not much left but the tailtell seed pods.

I hope these plants continue to thrive here.  They are not Roundup resistant, and many farmers have killed them in the dusting of crops when the wind blows Roundup into the ditches where Milkweed used to florish.

Quote for today:

Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense regardless of how it turns out.

Vaclav Havel