Sad time for trees

The devastation wrought by the various conifer beetles around here has gotten really, really bad.

The view above was taken from the top of the Monarch Pass gondola. It looks like that entire hillside is going to be treeless before too long. (I've written about this scourge before; here's a collection of my blog posts containing the word "beetle.")

Here's another shot, in which you can see some of the ski runs at Monarch. They've had to thin out trees up there, for safety. It's made some of the runs more fun (easier tree-skiing) but I'm worried that eventually the scenery I love so much to take in while skiing will be very different in years to come.

I know some areas of the state are harder-hit than our valley. I was appalled at the views like this one, taken from my car on a short road trip further south...

I'm sure life will eventually adapt, and these hillsides will eventually have some sort of trees on them. But for the rest of my life, anyway, it's going to be dead trees wherever you go.

Fluttering by

On a recent trip to the really big city we took in a new (to us) museum experience, among other fun activities (including granddaughter babysitting!).

The Houston Museum of Natural Science's Butterfly Center is a really amazing place, one that was not in existence the last time I visited the Museum (since that was a long time ago). The educational exhibits inside are very interesting and informative, and they even have a whole wall of chrysalises in various stages of metamorphosis—some of our group even got to see a new butterfly emerging!

But the big draw is the multi-story butterfly garden where hundreds (possibly more?) of the lovely creatures flutter about in their multicolored and delicate beauty. On the right you can see a more-or-less panoramic shot of the garden, to give some idea of its scale.

Such a wonderful array of butterflies! And many posing so perfectly for the cameras...

No, I can't identify any of these guys for you. But lack of knowledge didn't diminish my enjoyment in the least. Various practical questions did arise during our tour of the facility, though, including how they're sure the lovelies get enough food...

feeding stations are scattered around the garden

...and what do they do about population control! We saw several instances of new life getting started, by the way of mating behaviors...

...but we're not sure how they keep the population from outgrowing the space. Someone suggested that overnight they bring in some snakes from elsewhere in the Museum or from the zoo! Glad that wasn't on display during our visit.