Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #895 –The cry of summer’s heat- The Cicada

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Ah yes, along with the oppressive heat comes the ear piercing cry of the cicada. More info than you probably want or need:

Although only males produce the cicadas’ distinctive sound, both sexes have tympana, membranous structures by which they detect sounds. They are the cicadas’ equivalent of ears. Males disable their own tympana while calling, thereby preventing damage to their hearing this is necessary partly because some cicadas produce sounds up to 120 dB (SPL), among the loudest of all insect-produced sounds. The song is loud enough to cause permanent hearing loss in humans should the cicada sing just outside the listener’s ear. In contrast, some small species have songs so high in pitch that the noise is inaudible to humans

To the human ear, it often is difficult to tell where a cicada song is coming from; the pitch is nearly constant, the song sounds continuous to the human ear, and cicadas sing in scattered groups. If a singing male becomes alarmed on the approach of a possible enemy, it softens its song so that the attention of the listener gets distracted to neighbouring louder singers, creating a confusing ventriloqual effect.

In addition to the mating song, many species have a distinct distress call, usually a broken and erratic sound that the insect emits when seized or panicked; at the same time it is likely to squirt waste liquid from the sap that it had been sucking, possibly distracting certain classes of attacker. Some species also have courtship songs, generally quieter, and produced after a female has been drawn by the calling song. Males also produce encounter calls, whether in courtship or to maintain personal space within choruses.

A pray for cool and quiet!  monos en theos†††jas L

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #888 – Young Katydid in the green

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Oh brother is it HOT. Dog days of summer and all that. Did get out and walk the dogs early this morning it was a nice 72 degrees. Now my mercury sets at 105 in the shade, and I don’t even want to know what the humidity is. This desert boy is dying in this damp heat. In West Texas, we always got to say it was a dry heat. It was true, you could go for the shade and it was very comfortable even in the high 90’s.

In addition to the damp heat,  the difference of East Texas culture gets to me. In dry heat, men wore long sleeves and pants. Not so here. I have almost bolted and run at the number of middle age, out of shape men that think nothing of strolling the aisles of the grocery store without a shirt on.

And I thought the heat and humidity was bad, but that is enough to make you run for the air conditioned comfort of home and draw the shades.

I digress, I did manage to find this young katydid out in the heat amongst the honeysuckle. He was shirtless, but looked good none the less……monos en theos †††james

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #879 – Fourth of July Dog Days!

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It is the Fourth of July. I am not going to bore you with one more flag photo or rant about neither our grand Freedom nor the decline of such.

It is hot and Clovis has the right idea. He spends hours with his head darn near in the grill of the Vornado fan. He puts off going for a cooling drink as when he does Grace (our other dog) quickly occupies the vacant space.

It is a dog eat dog world. Enjoy your Freedoms and stay safe……………..monos en theos ††† james

Images of small things from the biggest county in Texas #529 – Had to switch to something a little more peacefull – A red gerber daisy.

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Just feeling the need for just a little calm beauty. Summer is ending and we are back in working mode. Need peace, a calm heart and a cooling influence for manana. We have about 150 high school football boys to photograph in the debilitating west TX 100 degree heat. Be calm my heart, be cool my spirit.

“Little flower, but if I could understand what you are, root and all in all, I should know what God and man is.”
–  Tennyson

en theos….jim

Photos on the journey #400

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Blue Heron keeping his wings stretched and ready for flight!!!!

This friendly guy was photographed at Bosque Del Apache game preserve back this past summer.

It is only January which means for us at least another couple months of winter. I know for you who live in colder climates are probably saying “So”? But, I am so ready for warm weather and the return of birds, bugs, blooms and all the beauty that comes with the warmth. I just can’t seem to appreciate the winter and the cold. As I get older my bones & body ache a little more than usual and I have a hard time even exposing my hands to hands to the elements. Call me a wuz, I’ll get over it…..and then it comes to mind that the cold is just another tactic that resistance uses to keep me from moving forward.

“The warrior and the artist live by the same code of necessity, which dictates that the battle must be fought anew everyday” ….Steven Pressfield

I think it really has nothing to do with weather, but more to my giving in, finding justification and excuses for not doing the work……en theos†††††jim