Trying to Attract Monarchs

  This is the third year Tom has a "flower" bed devoted to Ohio native plants. Top of the list was milkweed. He dug up samples from nearby fields and planted then here. This is the first year they're really done well. The whole idea is to attract Monarch butterflies.

06-02-26

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06-05-26

06-08-26

06-09-26

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06-09-26

 I've been carefully watched the undersides of the leaves to see if I might find a Monarch egg. But so far nothing. How is this done? Check here.

 The plants are beginning to form the seeds pods. We'll probably collect seeds and expand our plants:

06-29-26

06-29-26

06-29-26

 I'll post more here as it happens ...

Catalpas Trimmed ... again

  How long has it been since the power company sent tree trimmers around to trim our catalpas? One year? Two years?

 "Trim" isn't a descriptive enough word. "Murder" is closer to the truth. You've surely seen trees under power lines completely gutted. They leave a branch perhaps on one side of the power line - sometimes on both - while the center is completely removed. They're silly looking things when they get done. They're hard to look at. And they surely can't be healthy. Or safe for passerby's or traffic.

 But I suppose in the interest of economy that's their only choice. The trees were planted beneath the power lines and that is the right of way. Proper trimming would take too long. So they hack.

 I have to show some compassion for the trimmers. It's been into the low 90's every day they've been working in this area and that has to be a miserable job.

 We first knew the trimmers were making the rounds on 06/11/26. I was cooking lunch when a man knocked at the door and explained what they would be doing "in about three weeks". He handed me this:

 I've heard them working all week. First down the road near Carla's house and later north of us on Mink's woods. This afternoon I heard the chipper getting ever closer.

 The trimming they did was relatively minor, at least to the trees in front of our house. I'll have to withhold my opinion until I drive north and see how the woods looks. But here's in front of the house looking north:

 One way I know the surgery was minor is that there is not a pile of logs at the base of either tree. The notice says "All debris will be chipped and wood will be left at the base of the tree". The last time we were here I had to have help (Jarred) moving the massive logs. This time I see none.

 Tom particularly hates seeing the trees trimmed. Today, I think, was minor enough that he won't be too upset.

Top Bucket List Item Checked Off

  I don't have a written bucket list but I've told plenty of people what the top item on that list is: Paul McCartney's autograph.

 Last Friday (06/26/26) Tom went out to pick up a package that the USPS placed on our brick steps while we were at the Y. I saw him take it into the garage where he remained for some time.

 When he came into the house he was carrying something. "Be careful what you wish for," he said as he handed it to me.

 It was Paul McCartney's autograph in a Lucite case (magnetic closures so it can be easily opened).

 He ordered it online some weeks ago. And it looks just like other autographs that are posted:

Credit: RR Auction

Credit: Autographia

 I've always been into The Beatles since I saw them on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. I attended a Beatles concert in Cincinnati in 1966 (click here) and a Paul McCartney concert in Green Bay in 2019 (click here).

 Those are both highlights of my life but a McCartney autograph is in yet another special category.

 How can I ever thank Tom for something of this caliber?

Paul McCartney - ©2019 William G Schmidt

Lunch with the Millhouse's

  I met Rich Millhouse when he was still a student at Centerville High School. That would have been about 1979. At that time he was starting a job at JCPenney at the Dayton Mall and  soon he was working for me in the Photo Department.

 We quickly became good friends. Myself and Loren Shade visited him at Bowling Green State University when he was a student. One year he accompanied me on vacation to Bear Lake, Michigan. Another year we climbed Mount Katahdin in Maine. And I visited his home many times (and vice versa) getting to know his family ... and he mine.

 Rich was not just any friend. And when he married Martha, I gained two of my dearest friends.

 Nowadays they live in Budapest, Hungary. He is the pastor of the Danube International Church.

 Tom and I don't see them often but they're currently in the United States for six months. Rich contacted me to see if we might have lunch. So today we met at Fazoli's in Moraine.

 We were tying to decide when we got together the last time. Was it five years ago in 2021? In any case, we had lunch at the same place.

 He's nearing retirement (he'll be 64 in September). The pair will probably return the US to live sometime in the future.

 Our lives are regularly brightened by many events. But none, I think, mean as much as close friends.

"Balloon" Gets Valley's Attention

  Yesterday morning I was on my usual walk back the neighbor's lane and a small airplane happened to pass overhead. I looked up as I always do - I took pilot training in the 1980's - and spotted the plane leisurely flying by.

 But quickly my attention was directed to something almost in line with the plane, but much higher. I'd have to describe it as "star-like", something along the lines of how Venus appears in the night sky. Of  course it was daylight (just  about 8 am) and the sun was shining brightly. I knew it wasn't a plant which would have been washed out by the sun. And I also knew there shouldn't have been a bright planet there anyway (Venus and Jupiter have been in the western sky at sunset, near conjunction).

 As I walked I took a few photos. I leaned against a telephone pole to keep my balance. And in the time I was walking - about 15 minutes - the light never appeared to move. Clearly it was not a plane.

 Here's what I saw:

8:02 am - wide angle

 There isn't much to see with this view, just a pint of light mid-frame. I zoomed in:

8:00 am - zoom

8:10 am - zoom

 I could see when I zoomed in that it was an actual object, not a point of light like a planet or a star.

 What I didn't realize is that it had made the local news the day before. It was almost certainly a high-altitude balloon. Here's some of what was said about it:

* High altitude balloon that’s been meandering between/around Dayton/Springfield/Columbus at around 66k feet since yesterday. Shows up on flight tracking systems as HBAL790

* FlightRadar showed this:

 * A local TV meteorologist said it was part of Project Loon. But Google says this about that project: "Project Loon was an Alphabet (Google X) initiative that used high-altitude stratospheric balloons to beam internet access to remote, rural, and disaster-stricken areas. Although the project was officially shut down in 2021 due to challenges in achieving commercial viability, its pioneering technology legacy lives on."

* Today's (06/18) Dayton Daily News has an article about it and says in part: "A high-altitude balloon that hovered over Dayton on Tuesday, June 16, was seen again over the skies in Preble County Wednesday.

The balloon was positioned northwest of Eaton, according to the online website Flightracker 24. It was first spotted Tuesday above Dayton and was described as orb-like object by people who witnessed it in the sky. Data from FlightTracker24 indicates the balloon originated in Illinois, south of Pattonsburg.

Hovering at 66,600 feet in the air, the balloon exceeds the typical altitude of commercial aircrafts, which tend to cruise between 30,000 feet and 42,000 feet, as well as private jets, which cruise between 35,000 and 45,000 feet according to Epic Flight Academy.

 In any case, it was an unusual sight and suggests why UFO reports are so common. I called Tom to come outside and see it and he wasn't very impressed. It was like looking at a daytime star.

 Last night the weather changed and just after midnight we had a Tornado Warning. If it was indeed HBAL790 it's now meandering the skies between Dayton and Columbus:

Credit: FlightRadar24  06/18/26 9:40 am

Credit: Kevin Rice

 This photo was posted to Facebook by ABC-6 in Columbus, Ohio (WSYX).

 The answer: Post by Nick Dunn, meteorologist with WHIO-TV in Dayton, wrote this yesterday:

 "BALLOONS: Hey there! Lots of questions and curiosity about these high altitude stratospheric balloons. In case you missed my post recently, these two balloons that are visible right now (and the past few days) are operated by Aerostar. These are very slow moving objects that are flying at 55,000 to 70,000 feet. 

Aerostar is a South Dakota-based aerospace and defense company. They can transmit locations using an ADS-B receiver and can be used for a variety of applications. From internet connectivity, to research, and testing being done in the stratosphere…these balloons appear to be something to not worry about. 

Power Pole Knocked Down

  I was sitting in the living room just before 6:30 pm yesterday (06-02-26) when I heard a loud crack and at the same time our lights blinked. I was happy they didn't go off and didn't pay any more attention to it.

 But later I looked out the window and saw that one of the power poles beside our neighbor's lane was lying on the ground. What gives?

8:05 pm - 6-2-26

8:06 pm

8:16 pm

8:49 pm

10:17 pm

 Later it occurred to me that I had two security cameras that likely recorded what happened. Both are time-stamped. The first is a Wyze; the second is an Arenti. Here are the recorded videos of what happened.

 Our neighbor who lost her power called and asked what had happened. By then I knew and related what I've written above. Apparently the truck that exited her lane (it carried a chemical that a tractor was spreading on the corn fields) somehow got tangled in her power line that drops from a pole on Clayton Road (ours uses the same pole but is buried). In the videos you can see the pole being pulled down as the truck exits the lane. Th driver never stopped. Did he not see (or hear) it?

 It's truly a wonder he wasn't electrocuted.

 Later in the day the local power company (AES) had a crew replace the pole (about 10:30 pm) and another crew (about 1:30 am) replace the downed wires. By 2 am everything was back up and running.

6:53 am - 6-3-26

 The new power pole is in the distance. It was replaced in the dead of the night.

Jupiter - Venus Close together

  It wasn't a conjunction - it wasn't nearly close enough for that - but I've been reading that for several nights Jupiter and Venus would appear fairly close together in the sky.

 Here's what I saw last evening:

05-28-26 - 9:40 pm

 This is looking west about a half hour after sunset. Jupiter is on the left and above Venus on the right.

 Here's a wide angle view of the same sky:

 We were luck to have a clear sky, especially after a week of heavy rain.

Credit: Stellarium

  And here's the same view with my planetarium software.

 The view was really nothing special but I appreciate anything the night sky has to offer, regardless of how mundane.