Category: Mother Nature

Holy Moly!

White flowering plant with exposed roots in an enchanted forest
White blossoms rise from twisted roots in a glowing, mushroom-filled forest.
Batman and Robin driving a Batmobile through a city at night
Batman and Robin speed through a city skyline in their retro Batmobile comic scene.

The word moly does not stand alone as a single word except in myth. There is a magical herb in mythology called moly. In The Odyssey moly is a magical herb given to Odysseus by the god Hermes to protect him from Circe’s magic.

Several years ago I read the book Circe written by Madeline Miller, and moly is a magical plant that is also mentioned in this book. This mention carries forward the mystery of moly. Many botanists have tried to determine if there ever existed such an herb like it is described in these books. Nothing can be established conclusively, and it remains a mystery, though several theories do exist.

I remember watching Batman cartoons when I was a kid, and Robin would frequently use the phrase, “Holy Moly, Batman”, to express his surprise or shock about what was happening around them.

Molybdenum Mo, atomic number 42, electron configuration [Kr] 4d⁵ 5s¹
A futuristic infographic explores molybdenum’s atomic structure, electron configuration, and metallic crystal form.
No. 74 Moly Alloy Racing prototype car cornering on a racetrack
The No. 74 Moly Alloy Racing prototype accelerates through a sunlit circuit corner.

In real life there is the chemical element Molybdenum. It is a silvery white transition metal. It has many industrial uses. One use is to create an alloy called “moly steel”, and this is a high strength alloy that is often used to build race cars.

All the images and their captions were created by the WordPress image generator. I did provide prompts, though nothing as specific as what it creates. I find this fascinating, and I often want to exclaim, Holy Moly!

Are you ready for the race?

Two neon race cars on a rainy street beneath the Capitol
Neon-lit race cars speed through rainy streets beneath the U.S. Capitol.
In real news there will be a race this weekend in "Washington,D.C.,officially the District of Columbia,which is the federal capital of the United States."

It will look nothing like the picture here. This picture was created by an image generator.

The real race will be during the daytime. No neon lights will be needed.
I wonder if the real race will have rain. I have not seen rain predictions.
The noise should be loud like in the audio file above.
Have your earplugs ready. The excitement is building.
The road closures will cause frustration for many.
I hope everyone will stay safe!

Aug. 19th – Hiding in Plain Sight

Hocus Pocus Focus
When I originally blogged Hocus Pocus Focus I did not include a picture. Tonight I went back into my picture folders to find an example of a thing of beauty hiding in plain sight.
When I was taking pictures of these flowers I did not realize the bug was there. It was not until I got inside and got a good look at the picture that I saw it. It had been hiding in plain sight! 🙂 I edited the picture and zoomed in on what I had originally missed.

Goat Ears and a Moon Rock

Goat Ears

Keeping with the theme from my last post, A Look Back and a Look Ahead, I am re-blogging a post from this day, August 8th a few years back. I laugh every time I see these pictures of the goats and their moving ears! My look ahead for the day is a moon rock of sorts; I am preparing for the next full moon. I have been having fun with round ice molds, edible luster dust, and a trip to the Virginia ABC store.

The low ball/rocks glass I picked up long long ago at a thrift store. I bought 8 of them. I cannot remember how much I paid for them, however, they had to be very inexpensive for me to buy them at the time. The only reason I bought them is because my elementary school mascot was the Roadrunner, and back them I had some occasions to use the glasses. I found one suitable to use for my moon rock cocktail experiment. I used two small bottles of HYPNOTIQ because one would not cover the round ice rock. I played around with the edible luster dust. (It comes in six colors.) I used silver and gold. I named the drink a roadrunner babe. 🙂

A Look Back and a Look Ahead

Oh Happy Day!

The post you see above with a new baby robin still in its nest is from August 8th 2023, though I believe the picture was taken before that date. Anyways, WordPress shows me throwback editions when I open my home page and there exists posts from the same day on previous years. I can decide it re-blog it or not. The title is so positive and the picture is so cute that I decided to re-post it.

Currently I am still reading Caribbean by James A. Michener. I am about 20% through the book. It is thick, and I do enjoy it, though, I am often distracted by others, so the going is slow. I am learning a lot of history about this part of the world. This book is a library loaner. I have recently purchased two more of his books that are not available through our library system.

I also purchased and received today an interesting book which I hope to share with others. It is a book for anyone, though the target audience is younger readers since it is a graphic novel. Graphic novels are so popular with the middle school students that I know. The book is The Odyssey by Gareth Hinds.

https://garethhinds.com/

Since a movie has been recently released by the same title and based on the same original story, I was interested in getting my hands on a book that would be easier to read than Homer’s epic poem. I have linked the website for the author/illustrator that takes many classics and adapts the story in a graphic novel for younger students.

Have a Happy Day!

Monster Okra

The smallest okra is 5.5 inches and the largest is 7.25. I think I waited too long to pick them. More are developing, and hopefully I will pick them before they get too big. I read that if you don’t pick them between 2-4 inches you risk them being too tough. If I pickle them this might be a problem, though if I cut them up for a stew I think they will be okay. You live and you learn. 🙂

I decided to cut them up and saute them with some minced tomato. This is an easy way to cook okra. You can see what the inside looks like if you are unfamiliar with okra.

I added a picture from today (8/4/2026). The biggest ones were a little tough compared to the smaller ones. I went out today and picked two more before they got too big. I remember eating them fried and added to soups from my university cafeteria days. The smaller ones were delicious and the bigger ones did not taste bad they were just too stringy for my tastes. I relate this to spinach because I love baby spinach but when it gets bigger I do not like it as much. It all depends on how you cook it. I will grow it again next year, and the season is still ongoing for more experimenting.

The Beauty of Asymmetrical

Asymmetrical
I had trouble picking a picture for asymmetry because in nature we find examples of both symmetry and asymmetry. Both are beautiful in their own way.

The post about asymmetry is from this day July 31st in the year 2016. My early posts did not include pictures. I have included a picture today. A beautiful relative when she was much younger. She is from South Africa.

Rutabaga Revisited

Rutabaga in a woven basket with leaves, accompanied by harvest folktale text.
I have to applaud the image generator for this cartoon! 🙂

I have been looking through old posts that I printed before I deleted them. I have deleted many of my old posts, and unfortunately many do not have date stamps, so I have to guess at the year I originally posted them. I wrote a post about rutabaga, and now it all seems so funny. I had the image generator here create this picture in comic book style. Below I have posted a picture of the original post which was posted many years ago, and my guess is between 2016 -2018.