Yucca End-of-2017 Miscellany

This article caps off this year of my yucca writings as follows:

1. Yucca's Two Same-Year Stalk Bloom Cycles (contrasting a soft-leaf yucca's two stalks that bloomed within months of each other—one in July, and one in the fall)
2. Yuccas as Succulents
3. Relationship Among Yuccas, Agaves, and Asparagus

Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Soft-Leaf Yucca's Second Stalk (Recurvifolia)

This yucca originally sprouted a stalk that I took daily pictures of for 22 days ("22-Day Cycle of Soft-Leaf Yucca (Recurvifolia)", YouTube video). This article is about its second stalk. The blooming and decline cycle lasted about half as long as the first stalk's. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

22-Day Cycle of Soft-Leaf Yucca (Recurvifolia)

I took daily pictures of a neighborhood yucca that, coincidentally, totaled 22, same as "22-Day Cycle of Twist-Leaf Yucca (Rupicola)". The soft-leaf yucca has bell-shaped blooms and soft, flat leaves. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

22-Day Cycle of Twist-Leaf Yucca (Rupicola)

This yucca was the first one I'd been able to take daily pictures for its entire 22-day cycle, April 28 through May 19. All previous twist-leaf yuccas (rupicola) didn't survive. Deer chewed off stalks and blooms within four days of bloom beginnings. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Argiope Aurantia Spider--Part 2, Post-Friday 13th Observations

My previous article "Argiope Aurantia Spider--Part 1, Friday 13th Visitor" is an introduction to a spider that we spotted in our photinias around 4 PM on Friday 13th. It had alien-face features on its back, with its large orb web and zigzag design. Took pix at varying angles for capturing features and web.

The next day around the same time, the scenery changed. The orb web was gone, seemingly replaced by a bridge-like structure between two taller plants. The spider was nowhere in sight. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Argiope Aurantia Spider--Part 1, Friday 13th Visitor

On Friday the 13th, we got trees trimmed. While looking around mid-afternoon at the newer photinias from July last year, we spotted a yellow and black spider and its good-sized "orb" web. The design on the spider's back resembled a combination of alien faces and loving cup handles. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Wasp and Cicada Together

Earlier this month, a wasp and cicada caught our eyes. I might have whipped out my measuring stick and laid it near the duo, but decided to not disturb the wasp. As it turns out, several resources claim that the wasp is likely busy and not interested in a nearby human. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Wire Hanger Crowdedness? Use Cable Clamps As Separators

If you’ve tangled with wire hangers with clothes, it’s time to put space at those annoyances on your closet rod. (Works best if the rod is a simple dowel.) Use cable clamps to separate hangers from each other and keep them orderly. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Peewee Leggy Bugs--Water Striders

Jesus! A bug type that can walk on water!

A neighbor walking with us spotted a bug he considered a "leggy bug", like several I had written about the last few months. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Molting Cicada Visitor at My Doorstep

*** 8/27/2017 Accompanying video now available at YouTube—"Molting Cidada Visitor at My Doorstep"

Last month, on my way back from a morning walk around 8 AM, I spied a cicada partially emergent from its exoskeleton at my front door. It looked to be trapped and unable to have exited. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Leaf-footed Bug Visitor

*** 7/31/2017
Accompanying video now available at YouTube—"Leaf-footed Bug Visitor"

My bug visitor was unusually shaped, like a slender, upside-down bell, with muscular-looking, long, rear legs. It was nearly monochrome dark. From preliminary research and images, I settled on it being a leaf-footed bug. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Cicada Wasp N Cicada a Month Apart

The last few weeks while taking daily walks and pix, we've spotted some unusual buggy items that warranted closeups. (I’m getting better about carrying and whipping out a measuring stick so I can scale the objects.) My pixstrip with composites shows three related objects—cicada wasp (dead), cicada exoskeleton (aka "exuvia"), and cicada (dead), approximately scaled with my trusty 6” rule. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Leggy Bugs--Grasshoppers

These REALLLY leggy bugs are great jumpers. As if having spectacular jumping legs weren’t enough for grasshoppers for locomotion, they even have wings to fly with. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Leggy Bugs--Huntsman Spiders

Inspiration for a leggy bugs article about spiders came in when I spotted a news item about a very large spider found in a toddler's room (in Michigan). Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Leggy Bugs--Praying Mantises

This bug is a fascinating study in bug looks for more than just legginess (big 'uns). The proper spelling is "praying", not its homophone "preying". Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Leggy Bugs--Walking Sticks

These bugs look like twigs with daddy-longleggy legs and longish antennae. View a walking stick navigating plant life and leaves, mostly upside down, in "Walking Stick insect!". Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Leggy Bugs--Daddy Longlegs

Did you know that daddy longlegs can be three types of very long-legged bugs? Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Leggy Bugs--Crane Flies

In case you spot a leggy bug that looks like a huuuuuge mosquito (REALLY huge), chances are good that it’s a non-biting, non-stinging crane fly. A few weeks ago, I spotted a humongously long-legged bug on my back storm door.

I was able to take only one picture before it flew off! I estimated it to be at least 4 inches top to bottom, …. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Leggy Bugs--Inchworms

Inchworms are caterpillars in the Geometridae family of Lepidopteran larvae. They have front and back leggy sections and long middles—caterpillars' version of canines' dachshund. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Leggy Bugs—Caterpillars (Lepidopteran Larvae, which Become Butterflies and Moths)

Butterfly and moth caterpillars have fewer legs than the leggy bugs I wrote about last month (“Leggy Bugs--Centipedes and Millipedes”).

One nice image I found was helpful with identifiers. View a nicely captured example of movement at "Close-up Caterpillar Footage". Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Leggy Bugs--Centipedes and Millipedes

Leggy bugs can mean bugs that have lots of legs, or bugs that have long legs. Animal-kingdom bugs can mean insects (6 legs), arachnids (8 legs), or for me, creepy crawlies with way more legs than I care to count. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Familiar Music in Superbowl 2017 Product Ads

YouTube playlist for this article,
playlist compilation article

This article is similar to my previous article about songs in product ads "Familiar Music in Product Ads and Product Jingles that Became Hit Songs". This time, I focus on Sunday's 2017 Superbowl advertisements, skipping discussing jingles that might become song hits. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Familiar Music in Product Ads and Product Jingles that Became Hit Songs

YouTube playlist for this article,
playlist compilation article

Some products have used known songs, and some products' jingles have expanded into song hits. The first category has a lot more instances than the second one. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Cherry Pie, Episode 3--Using Frozen Cherries and Scratch Crust Ingredients

*** 1/24/2017
Accompanying video segments now available at YouTube—
"Cherry Pie—Section 1 of 3, Overview and Fruit Filling Preparation"
"Cherry Pie—Section 2 of 3, Pie Dough Preparation"
"Cherry Pie—Section 3 of 3, Pie Assembly and Baking"
Playlist: "Cherry Pie (Using Frozen Cherries and Scratch Crust Ingredients, All Three Sections"

The writeup is finally here! Read the entire article and comment there, please.