Black and white at Palo Duro Canyon
It wasn’t only grand geology that I focused on at Palo Duro Canyon on May 14th. How about the pristine white of a sprig of larkspur flowers, Delphinium carolinianum, against a clear blue sky? At one point a dark swallowtail butterfly, seemingly Papilio polyxenes, fluttered away on the flowers.
Sort of black and white was a moth I noticed on an Indian blanket (Gaillardia pulchella).
Only after looking at the picture back home days later did I notice the small bee.
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More than three years ago I was already linking to articles describing the ways in which the current American administration is paying to fly illegal immigrants around the country—and trying to keep it secret. You may have noticed in that sentence that I wrote “is paying” rather than “was paying.” That’s because the lawlessness has continued unabated, as have the efforts to hide what’s going on. You can learn the specifics in a March 9th article by David Seminara in The Telegraph. A June 3rd article by Benedict Smith in the same newspaper gives even more information.
© 2024 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Thank you, Steve, for the beautifully photographed flower and the visiting guests!
Joanna
gabychops
June 25, 2024 at 4:21 AM
I, drawing in pictures, was as much a guest as they, drawing in nectar.
Steve Schwartzman
June 25, 2024 at 5:04 AM
The main thing, Steve, everyone was happy!
Joanna
gabychops
June 25, 2024 at 5:29 AM
So we were.
Steve Schwartzman
June 25, 2024 at 5:47 AM
Just to remind you, Steve, “Happiness held is the seed; Happiness shared is the flower.” Thank you, Steve!
Joanna
gabychops
June 25, 2024 at 6:30 AM
I see that sentiment attributed online to a John Harrigan, but I haven’t yet determined whether the attribution is correct. I’m trying to find out.
Steve Schwartzman
June 25, 2024 at 6:50 AM
I am delighted, Steve, that you have such an exciting project to work on, but this quote could be in your father’s notebooks!
Joanna
gabychops
June 25, 2024 at 7:40 AM
The larkspur looks beautiful against the blue sky – and it’s clearly not just lovely, but useful too, as your butterfly photograph shows.
Ann Mackay
June 25, 2024 at 5:46 AM
You’ve seen how often a blue sky has served as a colorful yet formless backdrop in my photography. Useful indeed.
Steve Schwartzman
June 25, 2024 at 5:53 AM
The small bee on the G. pulchella referred to the one above the moth and not the one below? Great photos as usual- inspirational and informative. You clearly enjoyed your trip to Palo Duro Canyon, as did we, vicariously.
RobertKamper
June 25, 2024 at 10:13 AM
The only thing I’m sure is a bee is the one down and to the right from the moth. I’m supposing you might think there’s a bee’s head poking out from behind the firewheel’s disc up and to the right of the moth’s head. I’ve looked at the enlarged original photograph and I’m not sure what that thing is. You may be right, or it may be something else.
And yes, I sure did enjoy the day we spent at Palo Duro. It was well worth the return after less than two years.
Steve Schwartzman
June 25, 2024 at 10:37 AM
I didn’t say it was a bee… I only surmised that that little thing above and to the right was what you were referring to, since the non-plant entity below and to the right was clearly a bee, though the scale of big-ness was not specified. And you are correct, sir. That little head poking up could be or not be a bee – two bees or not two bees. That is the question. (Seems I’ve heard something similar to that before… B-)
RobertKamper
June 25, 2024 at 10:57 AM
I, too, have used variations on the famous line from “Hamlet.”
The bee down and to the right is clear enough when this photograph is viewed on a computer monitor. At the time I looked through my camera’s viewfinder to take the picture, however, I didn’t see the bee at all. Reasons for not seeing it included the bee’s small size, its darkness, and my focus on the moth.
Steve Schwartzman
June 25, 2024 at 12:57 PM
When I was still an active member of Flickr way back in 2017, I posted a landscape photo. I wasn’t aware of a bird sitting on a tree branch, until another Flickr friend pointed it out to me. Great nature shots as always, Steve!
Peter Klopp
June 25, 2024 at 10:26 PM
Thanks. I’ve noticed that people have different sensibilities for “seeing” things. Even the same person may have a different sensibility at different times.
Steve Schwartzman
June 26, 2024 at 4:17 AM
To paraphrase the old (and better told aurally) riddle: what’s black and white and red below? Your post, of course! I wouldn’t have expected to find larkspur in the Panhandle, although the USDA map shows it as widely present. On the other hand, the USDA doesn’t show it in Randall County, where Palo Duro is located. Your photo’s not only lovely, it’s a reminder that maps are descriptive rather than prescriptive.
shoreacres
June 26, 2024 at 6:44 AM
I remember that riddle, too, from childhood—meaning the original version. I wonder if it still circulates among children. And now I’m also wondering if the riddle’s creator was an adult or a child. There’s probably no way we can ever know.
I hadn’t expected to see two familiar (from Austin) wildflowers at Palo Duro, both of them shown in this post. Not really the firewheel, whose range I knew extended into the Great Plains, but I hadn’t checked the map for larkspur. From what you say, the map needs at least one update.
And speaking of maps, when I’d checked to see how far south the designation “Panhandle” is taken to apply, I found it includes only the top five rows of counties, thereby excluding Lubbock.
Steve Schwartzman
June 26, 2024 at 9:11 AM
That’s a gorgeous Butterfly, Steve!
circadianreflections
June 26, 2024 at 8:07 AM
Swallowtails are, though their almost constant fluttering makes picture taking hard.
Steve Schwartzman
June 26, 2024 at 9:12 AM