Starting to Use Phone Apps to Study Nature Around Me

Being someone accustomed since I was seven to look up at the clear night sky and readily identify all the constellations and brighter stars, I noticed that there are smartphone apps that do the same thing for users.  Well, I'm challenged in a completely different area: plant identification...they all look pretty much the same to me.  But I've discovered that there are also free phone apps (usually with a premium option) in which I can take a photo of a plant and they'll come up with the identification...or at least a list of the most likely matches.  I downloaded one such app and it identified one of the weedy bushes in my yard.  Maybe I'll become a plant enthusiast the way I like to look at the stars...since they're all around me it seems like it might be fun to become an expert on identifying them.  Also, since insects are all around as well why not get one of those bug-identifying apps and expand my foray into nature study...after all, we're about to enter "beetle" season in Florida.  Oh, and I see that there's an app that identifies birds from their songs...my "birding" experience was strong as a kid in South Florida some fifty years ago, but there are some different species up here in Gainesville where I now live.  And I do regularly hear strange songs without being able to see who's producing them.  Plants, insects, birds...well, that's a starter...

Some Places We Visited in Washington, D.C. in October

The other night I was watching C-Span as they replayed the laying in state of the body of President George H.W. Bush in the Capitol Rotunda.  Having just visited there for the first time six weeks ago, it was interesting seeing all these famous public figures gathered in the same room I was just standing in. As a matter of fact, whenever I now see on TV anything concerning Washington D.C. I try to discern exactly what it is they're depicting...this is especially true for the news networks like CNN as they often present a live background of some part of the city, usually around the Capitol building or the White House.  Our brief visit there just wasn't enough to explore the many sights and attractions...aside from the Capitol, we did take that nighttime open-air bus tour and, on the last full day, explored two museums and a garden along Independence Avenue west of the Capitol.  At the close of our earlier Capitol visit late in the afternoon, Melissa noticed there was a tunnel linking it to the Library of Congress across the street...but the workers there were closing the doors for the day.  We rushed over and just got in, quickly walking down the tunnel while the "closer" kept ushering us and other lagging tourists onward.  I'm glad we got in: the Library of Congress is not only is a famous repository of books, but it is also a great historical museum...we strolled the exhibits, many of which displayed original copies of centuries-old literature describing the exploration and settlement of the New World.  That's a place I'd like to revisit to explore further...unfortunately, at the time I was experiencing a horrific toothache that interfered with my enjoyment of the library but not my appreciation of it.  I got that toothache taken care of the next morning with a root canal at a dentist only a short walking distance from our hotel...I was somehow able to dissociate the chronic pain from our touring, a talent that I had believed only Mister Spock of Star Trek fame possessed...

We naturally missed most of the many Smithsonian museums in town, but did manage to tour through the two nearest ones to our hotel, lying adjacent to one another on Independence Avenue: the National Museum of the American Indian and the National Air and Space Museum.  Both were interesting, although I was surprised to be more drawn to the one about the American Indian...that's another place that merits a return visit.  One funny experience was at lunchtime at their cafeteria, with different stations offering native cuisine from different areas in the Western Hemisphere.  The longest line of customers by far was at the Plains counter, where they were gung ho on serving beef: plate after plate I saw featured cheeseburgers and fries!  The Air and Space Museum had a series of terrific exhibits about the history of aviation, in particular the planes used by both sides in World War I & II, with some of them on display within this gigantic building.  I thought the "space" part of the museum well-exhibited, too, although it saddened me that there was very, very, little to see of what we've been doing lately in space...hopefully with the projects to send people to Mars in the near future, this will all change...

Before visiting those two Smithsonian museums on Friday, Melissa and I strolled through the United States Botanic Garden, which featured plants from all over the world, many of them responsible for producing the food and drink we consume.  I'm sadly a near-complete ignoramus when it comes to botany, but I was intrigued by what I saw there...I especially liked all of those weird types of cacti.  The photo I inserted at the beginning is of a section in this garden...

No doubt about it: I liked Washington, D.C., even if all the politicians I might have recognized were out of town at the time of our visit.  I also liked their terrific underground transit system, the Metro, and noticed that they also have a very good 24/7 bus system...a most pedestrian-friendly city!  I think the next time I visit I'd like to try out some areas north of the Mall, including some of this city's recommended eating places...oh, and I think I'd like to jog the perimeter of the Mall as well...