Author Archives: makielb

The day started with us losing power during high winds after a storm passed through the area. So, not much happening for us today. As a result I started looking at plants and animals that I had photographed on this day in past years. The above photo is a Bog copper. We’ll be headed outContinue reading “What to do when you lose power during a thunderstorm?”

The out-doors seating getting set up at Avalon in Downtown Ann Arbor, where we had breakfast the other day. As we were heading north to Whitefish Point, we stopped at a rest area where somebody had fun with an interesting array of stickers. More stickers that were all lined up on a light post. WeContinue reading “Eating and traveling”

It’s hard to imagine writing today for 200 years in the future without a “living, changing” document. The Big Lie and the liar who tried to overthrow the government with weave through the memes and comics today. Some people deserve no peace. Mixing law and religion is a bad idea. Just look at the Taliban.Continue reading “Cartoons and the meaning of life”

Before we said goodby to Alexis, Camilla and Oscar their flight was changed and it would have resulted in missing a connection. So, Alexis changed their flights to this morning. As a result we all got to spend another day together. But even that came to an end at 4AM this morning. Here’s Camilla andContinue reading “Changes in flights and another day in Ann Arbor”

Camilla, Oscar and me at the fountain at the Detroit Zoo. Me with my grandfather and great-grandfather at the Belle Isle Fountain. Me with my grandfather (Michele Bellotti) and great-grandfather (Davide Di Francesco) at the Detroit Zoo some 70 years before the photo of me with Camilla and Oscar. Lots of generations between my great-grandfatherContinue reading “The zoo and more”

After getting up Camilla and Simon get to playing some games. Oscar got up and sat with Alexis while she had her coffee. Alexis and I went to Da Lat and picked up a delightful Vietnamese lunch. In the afternoon we took a long walk and took Camilla and Oscar to visit some great fairyContinue reading “A full day in Ann Arbor”

One of our dill plants is now home to a black swallowtail caterpillar. We are willing to give up some dill for this wonderful insect. A nearby tomato plant was home to a tobacco hornworm moth caterpillar. However this pest did not pair well. It was first parasitized (all of the while chrysalis structures), thenContinue reading “Insects, chalk and fossils”

We took the bus to Farmers Market this morning. It was time to get some more veggies and fruits. It was fun letting the kids help with picking out what we would get. But I also enjoyed just looking at all of the vegetables that were available. I enjoyed finding someone who sold middle eastern/MediterraneanContinue reading “Ann Arbor Farmers Market and Kerrytown”

We were able to go to Dinosauria at the zoo yesterday where we got to see animatronic models of many of the dinosaurs that we saw at the museum the other day. We started with this dimetrodon. Then we went on to larger dinosaurs that roared with jaws moving heads turning and arms grabbing atContinue reading “Dinosauria”

Today we spent close to seven hours at the Detroit Zoo. We started with the penguins which Oscar and Camilla both liked. In the butterfly house we saw a lot of Central American tropical butterflies. I just included a few of my favorites. Two of the larger butterflies that we saw. The Morpho (the blueContinue reading “It’s all happening at the zoo”