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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Friday, August 21, 2015

A Night Visitor



Last night I went out to the back porch to enjoy the evening air, heavy with the fragrance of brugmansia and saw this ghostly white moth hanging out on a curtain.

She politely stayed in place long enough to run inside and get my camera but not long enough for the return trip with the macro lens.  Oh well.  There are some great identification tools and color plates of PNW moths here but I couldn't decide which one she was.  


 Let's just call her Henrietta  and thank her for the nice visit.

Isled in the midnight air,
 Musked with the dark's faint bloom,
 Out into glooming and secret haunts
 The flame cries, 'Come!'  

Lovely in dye and fan,
 A-tremble in shimmering grace
, A moth from her winter swoon
 Uplifts her face:

  Stares from her glamorous eyes;
 Wafts her on plumes like mist;
 In ecstasy swirls and sways
 To her strange tryst. 

- Walter de la Mare


Have a great weekend everyone!

21 comments:

  1. "Henrietta" :)
    What striking photography! The contrast x are compelling!
    Light/darkness. Living/inanimate. Large/small. Frilly/staid.

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    1. Thanks Rebecca! I didn't think of those contrasts.

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  2. Love that poem!

    When did you get the macro lens? Exciting!

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    1. Walter de la Mare has written some great poetry.

      Sitll the filters that screw on the end of a regular lens but when I looked at the manual to see what they were called, it said macro lenses so that's what I called them.

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  3. Lovely poem, subject, and photo! Have a great weekend ahead!

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  4. Hope you have a great weekend too, Peter! Lovely shots of the moth on the cloth.

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  5. Lovely! Happy weekend to you, too. We have a garden club event on Saturday.

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    1. Hope you had a great garden event and look forward to reading about it on your blog!

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  6. Great capture, terrific post. We probably should never go outside without a camera. Not many of them agree to wait while we go back inside and find camera, disk and batteries.

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    1. Getting wildlife to pose is quite difficult. No, Mr. Hummingbird tilt your head to your right a bit. They never cooperate!

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  7. I had a similar experience with a dragonfly yesterday. It waited for me to return, but didn't allow me to get close enough for a great photo (still no fancy camera with a macro lens here...). Happy weekend!

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    1. How cool. Darned dragonflies stick around forever when you don't have a camera but when you do, bye bye dragonflies!

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  8. Henrietta must have known you'd give her her due if she hung around - how many other moths get publicity shots accompanied by poetry?

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  9. I love moths. They seem so mysterious, too, since they usually go about their life while we sleep.

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  10. Henrietta is very pretty. Nice poem too! Have a great weekend.

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  11. A nice thought for a weekend. Hope yours is a good one.

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  12. Henrietta has that ghostly beauty thing down.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.