(* A/K/A Cleanup)

[The booted fence on the west side of Highway 29 between Glenwood and Alex . . . ]

[After a beautiful weather trip, we were racing to get home before the storm . . . ]

[Population 13,000+, depending on which side of town you come in from . . . ]

[As we head up Broadway, with a threatening sky to the north, I am reminded in this photo that our insect friends often commit mass suicide at this time of year by hurtling themselves into onrushing windshields.  We had to make many gas station visits along the way, not for gas, but to sandblast bug detritus from our means of forward vision . . . ]

[When we drove up our driveway we thought our flower beds were teeming with Monarchs . . . ]

[But . . .  Conditions for the Painted Lady butterfly have been favorable this summer—so advantageous that they’ve proliferated on the northern prairies.  The Painted Lady, which the casual observer can mistake for a Monarch butterfly, is not native to the northern Plains, but migrates here from southern locations.  In an ordinary year, one generation of Painted Ladies flits from plant to plant during the butterfly’s short lifespan, lasting from two weeks to a month. But this year, conditions have been ideal and two generations of Painted Ladies have flourished.  “They’ve been able to build up their population exponentially,” said Alex Knudson, an entomologist at North Dakota State University.  “Population explosions” in Mexico, for instance, can produce migrations to the northern United States.  As caterpillars, Painted Ladies feed on plants including thistle or soybeans. As adults, they like to eat a variety of plants, including asters, sage and sunflowers.  “Most butterflies are kind of incidental pollinators,” Knudson said.  But because the Painted Lady isn’t acclimated to the northern Plains, it isn’t equipped for the chilly temperatures that arrive when summer yields to fall.  “They’re not native species so they can’t handle the winter here,” Knudson said, “so when the first frost comes, they’ll die off.” (www.inforum.com)]

[I’ve always thought that anyone, or thing, who can flit deserves bonus points . . . ]

[Definitely flitters . . . ]

[Again, the Super (not me) decided a Bump’s carrot cake slice would be a perfect birthday accompaniment to the caramel roll . . . ]

[OK, let’s delve into the birthday booty, from sources far and wide . . . ]

. . . and continuing the next day.

[Thanks to all!!]

[And to all who share – Locally: Shelly, Larry, and Ken; nationally: Anthony Weiner and Beyonce.]

I’ve noted my fingernails and eyebrows seem to be growing exponentially faster with age than when I was younger.  That tidbit has absolutely nothing to do with what follows here, but my U of M Alumni Fall 2017 magazine came today and this was in it.

Men grow old, pearls grow yellow, there is no cure for it.  ~  Chinese proverb

Up Next:  Regular programming, trying to collate events of the concurrent Grape Stomp and Homecoming next weekend!