"Knowing How Way Leads On To Way...."

This has been a wonderful morning. I left the house with the urge to do some photography in early morning light. The spot I had in mind was the corner of Chandler Road and Quincy Junction Road where the Common Madia have bounced back - again - from the latest roadside mowing. First, I needed to get some air in one of my tires. Since the service station was in the "wrong" direction, I let myself wander and decided to approach my destination by an indirect route. As I headed out Highway 70, westward, it occurred to me to stop by the Mt. Hough Ranger Station to see if my photos were still in the display case. I was pleased to see that they were, but disappointed it was still a showing of "spring" wildflowers, most of which have long since wilted and gone to seed. Then, I headed for the west entrance of Chandler Road. At this point, one of my favorite lines from Robert Frost was buzzing around in my head: "Yet knowing how way leads on to way...." Also, I was having occasional flashbacks to the T-shirt my wife bought me a few years ago that read "Not All Who Wander Are Lost." I know that if I saw my friend Mike in his front yard I'd stop and chat. That would likely have altered my course in yet another direction. He wasn't there, but one of my favorite milkweed patches was. A few days ago, I visited my main milkweed spot by the fair grounds and the milkweeds had turned brown and many had been mowed. I figured the season for watching milkweed beetles and bugs was over. But this little patch on Chandler Road was still looking pretty green, so I stopped. The very first plant I inspected sported the Red Milkweed Beetle featured in three of the above photos. As I drove onward toward my Madia place, I remembered the spot near the one-way bridge where I'd followed the Hooker's Evening Primrose through most of the summer. When I crossed the bridge, I saw a few blooms, so I stopped to look around. I noticed that the shoulders had been mowed, which I always find depressing, but the person mowing must have shared at least a bit of my aesthetic sense as he/she had mowed around a large, red-blooming thistle. I took a few photos of that thistle and of the remaining primrose which included some nice shots of its seed capsules. I also photographed some Gum Plants. I'll save these for later. The most exciting find was the hover flies zooming around the Chicory - next to last photo above. I started to feel like I had better get home as I am usually out only an hour or so on these unplanned wanderings. I figured I would try to get a few nice shots of the Madia then head straight home. Unlike Frost's poem in which the line cited above is followed by "I doubted if I should ever come back," I know I would come back often. This was comforting as my mind was buzzing with ideas for writing, sketching, and more photography. As I knelt in the dirt to get some nice photos of backlit Madia, I heard the "whistle" of a freight train passing by the Mt. Hough Road. The sounds of trains always lead my mind on other journeys, some nostalgic and others wishful. When I got back into the car, I quickly jotted down notes about the previous half hour's experiences, then noticed I had brought my old day pack that was stuffed with journals and writing/drawing paraphernalia as well as the new day pack I had bought in Reno yesterday. The plan was to transfer and reorganize my stuff. The new pack included a built-in sleeve for my laptop, an exciting new development. If they're mass producing these already, we obviously must be hiking around with our laptops in order to be "with it." As I type these musings while looking over my notes, I realize I've only touched upon about a fourth of the topics covered in my notes. Fodder for better-developed essays for sure. I must add one more tidbit, however. When I arrived home I decided to check on that daisy in my front lawn that had been the resting place for an Ambush Bug for nearly a week. The bug had disappeared a couple of days ago, and the daisy was now wilted. However, a fresh daisy was blooming in the bright sun about 25 feet away. I wandered over with my camera and found an Ambush Bug (bottom photo)! I wonder if it was the same one. After taking a few photos, I played with this one for a while. I even put her on another flower and watched as this usually immobile bug wandered all around the daisy as if it recognized it was on a different one. It crawled all over the top surface as well as underneath the ray flowers before finally settling into the position shown in the above photos. I look forward to checking daily to see if it takes up residence for another week or so, or as long as this flower lasts. As I said at the beginning, this has been a wonderful morning.