Viola

According to Wikipedia, there around 400–500 Viola species distributed around the world. This is one from my back yard.

History Repeats

Tennessee really wants to corner the market on "monkey trials." A piece in the National Center for Science Education says that the Tennessee legislature has passed a new bill that encourages

teachers to present the "scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses" of topics that arouse "debate and disputation" such as "biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning"

The only thing standing it its way now is whether or not Governor Bill Haslam has the backbone to veto this ridiculous legislation.

Veni, Vidi Vinca

The Lesser Periwinkle (Vinca minor) is yet another invasive species. Damn European immigrants. Ukrainian name is "Barvinok."

Wet, Wonderful West Virginia

Decker's Creek rapids near the rail trail below Masontown. Shot Saturday, March 17, with a Canon 550 using a EF 28-105mm lens.
In quieter water, I saw snapping turtles and frogs (already!).

Scientific Basis for Bar Flies

An acknowledged pest in bars and taverns, the fruit fly it seems has been driven to drink out of sexual frustration.

According to a group of scientists at the University of California San Francisco:

Sexually deprived male fruit flies exhibit a pattern of behavior that seems ripped from the pages of a sad-sack Raymond Carver story: when female fruit flies reject their sexual advances, the males are driven to excessive alcohol consumption, drinking far more than comparable, sexually satisfied male flies.

Dead in Morgantown

A black & white sepia effect sets the proper mood for this early evening shot:

View From the Outside

Lichen Log

Lichen growing on a log along the Mon River bike tail near Hildebrand lock   & dam. This is from a photo stack of four shots taken with a Canon EF28-105 on Sunday, March 11.

Coltsfoot

Yesterday was my first bike ride of the season. Given how unseasonably warm it has been of late, I thought there would be more blooms than daffodils and coltsfoot plants.
Truth be known, these were probably early bloomers.

Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara)

It had been so long that I'd taken my camera out that I couldn't tell my favorite macro lens from my trusty EF28-105. These were shot with the latter, near the Uffington boat launch near the Mon River bike trail.