Arbour Adventures: COSI With Grandpa

Grandpa Glenn, aka "Bah" visited Worthington this weekend. We had a blast at COSI, central Ohio's famous science museum that draws families from across Ohio. Enjoy! -Tom

Natural Play Area - Highbanks Metropark

We had fun!  Thank you Columbus Metroparks for creating fun and free places for families to explore.

-Tom

A Flower for our Moms

Happy mother's day Mom! And happy mother's day to all the moms out there. My mom of 29 years, Carol, is in Munroe Falls Ohio today, while Megan's mom of almost 29 years, Kate is in Otisfield Maine. We are both lucky to have such great mothers. And our grandmothers are awesome as well! Shout outs to my Grandma Arbour in Akron, and Megan's Granmda Jean in Manhattan and Grandma Jerry in Orangeburg, South Carolina.

So here is a flower for you special ladies on this mother's day. This is actually a native Ohio plant, and I shot this photograph last evening just at the end of our drive, just back into the woods. What a wonderful fun tool (or should I say toy?) my new Vivitar 285HV flash has been. Although I'm partial to more natural shots, using a flash can really create endless creative possibilities.

Here I put the camera on a tripod pointing straight down at this flower, set up my ten second timer, held the flash in my right hand and an eight inch white reflector in the other, and pointed the flash right at the flower. The reflector bounces the flash back onto the other side of the flower, filling in the light so that there are no harsh shadows. Once I looked at the image, I wasn't quite happy with it, so I rotated the image 180 degrees. And that is why the main light is coming from the top left, even though I was holding the flash in my right hand. If you do not have an external flash for your digital SLR camera, I know that I have really enjoyed mine and it has allowed me to capture images that I never thought were possible.

The question of the day:

What is the scientific name of this native Ohio vascular plant species?

Tom

A Quick Visit to Munroe Falls Metro Park

Acid, acid, and more acid! The soils around Munroe Falls are so much more acidic that where I live now in Columbus, the area is host to a suite of plants that I don't see much in Columbus, or not at all. First up is the bigtooth aspen, or Populus grandidentata. I've never seen this tree as much larger than this- typically they grow in old upland farm fields or in other waste area. Check out the leaf, quite a good name, don't you think?



There's nothing like a nature walk with the family. My dad suggested this park for Saturday's walk, it it was an excellent idea. My mom and brother sure had fun.




The main trail at the park is named after this spring that flows right from the hillside, trickling down into a stream below. Skunk cabbage relishes these spring fed rivulets of water.




Some of the upland open areas look they have been allowed to revert-this field is full of last year's growth of broomsedge, Andropogon virginicus, which is a grass (Poaceae) and not really a sedge (Cyperaceae) at all.



And in the young forest, the ground is carpeted with a really interesting colony of moss. This isn't tiny stuff- it probably gets 2-3 inches tall and each individual plant is as big around as a pencil.



And finally, the last little bit of interest was this little pond, created by damming a small ephemeral stream. What was most interesting was the wooded edges of the pond, which were downright bog-like. Highbush blueberry shrubs grew here, and the ground was carpeted with a dense spongy carpet of Sphagnum species. In N.E. Ohio, you don't typically see Sphagnum in disturbed or successional situations, but here it was, growing on the edge of a disturbed pond. Give the moss 10,000 years, and who knows, maybe the pond will be a full blown peat bog. Ok, probably not, but I can wish!



Hope you enjoyed our quick trip to Munroe Falls Metro Park!

Tom

James William Arbour, Sr. 1920-2008

James W. Arbour Sr., 87, of Akron passed away on April 4, 2008.He was a lifetime resident of Akron and graduate of South High School. He was the owner of Merit Cleaners and had a wonderful rapport with his customers. He served in the Army Air Corps in the CBI theatre during World War II. He received the Distinguished Unit Badge and the Good Conduct Medal for his efforts.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Darrell and Addie Arbour. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Dorothy; sons, James (Sandy) Arbour, Dennis (Carol) Arbour; grandchildren, James III, Josh, Dan, Tom (Megan), and Tim Arbour; sisters, Delores Tomasch and Marilyn Trepanier; brother-in-law, David Gordon; sisters-in-law, Joan Ward and Faith (Bernie) King; nephew, Jack (Delma) Griffin; niece, Jill McNeeley, and other nieces and nephews.

The family would like to give thanks to special caregiver, Karie Hayn and everyone at Summit Villa Nursing Home. Graveside services will be held at Western Reserve National Cemetery. (ADAMS-MASON, 330-535-9186)

For those of you that catch my twitter updates, the original plan of heading south this weekend didn't happen. Megan and I got the call that my ailing grandfather, in failing health for several years, had passed away early Friday morning. We headed up to Munroe Falls on Friday to be with family. We had an excellent visit with my parents, and yesterday, we all had lunch with my uncle and aunt at Azteca, a great little Mexican place in Akron. We then went over to my grandmother's house, and we stayed with her for several hours until departing again for Columbus. I am quite fortunate- I knew all my grandparents well, saw them frequently, and spent 27 years on the planet with all four of them in good health. What did I learn from my Grandpa? Don't be afraid to tell a joke once in a while! He was quite the comedian, always telling me after band concerts and other things that " I was outstanding in my field" and he would always tell me to play one particular song, "far, far away". Those were his jokes, his way of telling us that he really enjoyed what we were doing.

Tom