Low light, fuzzy subjects

My photography mentor, T. L.Gettings, usually refused to take his camera out of the bag unless his shadow was longer than he was tall. That’s pretty much all day around here this time of the year.

The low light (low in the sky, that is) really brings out the best in the tan-and-fuzzy subject matter that dominates most years around Thanksgiving. Here’s a sample:

Grasses and bottletree.

grasses and bottletree

Fuzzy asters.

fuzzy asters

Fuzzy cattail.

Fuzzy cattail.

Fuzzy goldenrod.

Fuzzy goldenrod

And a couple more bottletree views.

grasses and bottletree

grasses and bottletree

Clinton Library gets green roof

clinton library roof constructionThe William Jefferson Clinton Library in Little Rock, Ark., is getting a green roof.

Bill Clinton likes to brag about his presidential library being an eco-friendly building.

Now even the roof is going green.

Over the past two weeks, workers have been hoisting 90 species of plants and more than four truckloads of soil atop the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum to create a garden on an area surrounding Clinton’s penthouse apartment.

Instead of bare concrete, the glass and steel building will be topped with strawberries, ferns, switch grass, roses and other greenery.

“This is just an area he can come and relax in and just enjoy the view,” Clinton Foundation Facilities and Operations Director Debbie Shock said in a recent interview on the roof.

However, it’s not just for looks. That layer of soil and plants will provide insulation and capture rainwater that otherwise would just be wasted as runoff.

clinton's other libary?You can hear ‘Bill’ wax eloquent on the roof via the Stephanie Miller Show [mp3]. “You can lead a whore to culture but you can’t make her think.”

I’m a little confused, because looking for better images of Clinton’s green roof garden I ran across this image of a tornado threatening the Clinton Library.

Busy beavers

They’ve extended their damn and built up their lodge. I just hope that they can withstand the usual spring melt that turns that tiny little stream into a torrent.

beaver pond

Bonus shot: For the first time, the Miscanthus floridulus went down. It grew tall this year. And I don’t think it dried down as quickly as usual because it kept growing into fall, throwing out flowers in October. We got a little wet snow and the not-quite-dry stalks bent over, burying the viburnum.

beaver pond