Loudoun on Earth

I had planted successful milkweed from seeds, which apparently is not the easiest gardening feat to pull off.  I was quite pleased to have attracted monarchs to my habitat and had two monarch capitals like the one pictured above.  Monarch caterpillars at this time of year become butterflies in (Sept/Oct) that fly south and maintain the species until next spring.  The caterpillars feast on milkweed, they really tear through the plant, they eat it frontside, backside (I liked watching the caterpillar upside down on a leaf, munching away).  Then, I noticed one caterpillar was gone...ugh.  The milkweed has all sorts of toxins and usually birds cannot eat the caterpillars because they will obtain food poisoning.  But, there are some birds that can tolerate the level of toxins transferred from the milkweed to the caterpillar's gut and those birds found not just one of the caterpillars on my milkweed, but eventually both.  Pretty much a bummer. Goi...

I have always been astonished with the destruction wrought by the eruption of Mt St Helens.  I visited that area in the mid-90s and it is captivating in two main ways-the awesome power of nature & the ability of ecosystems to reconstruct.  When Mt St Helens exploded its blast traveled at more than 300 miles per hour and throttled 230 square miles of forest .  The devastation quashed human life, animal life, and plant life.  It is easier, from human perspective, to focus on the point of destruction, the aftermath of an explosion.  We can circle a date, pinpoint of time, stand in awe of the video and pictures of the ultimate power of the volcano. Somewhat equally intriguing, but nonetheless inherently abstract is the capacity of the vegetation and animal life to revive in the aftermath of the eruption.  Small plants and trees survived the blast, protected by soil under snow.  Amazingly, within about three weeks, spiders and beetles returned to...