Noel's Adventures

It is that time of year again and the trail riders are headed to Houston for the Houston Rodeo and Livestock Show. The Prarie View Trail Ride came on campus yesterday for the annual parade and chili cook off. As usual it rained but it has become a tradition for me to get a few pictures so I braved the rain.

I recently made a trip to Barbados and took the opportunity to do a short video at Heywoods Beach, St. Peter. I hope you enjoy it. Isn't the sound of that water relaxing?

This was the second butterfly that came out today.

From this one week ago to this today

I thought that this title is quite fitting for this photograph. We have seen several caterpillars on the same plant numerous times (as many as 11 caterpillars) but this past weekend was the first time in nearly two years that we have seen two caterpillars munching on the same leaf. We could literally see the leaf disappearing as their little heads went back and forth. Quite amazing!

The zinnias are really plentiful this year so I try to find as many photo opportunities as possible. I got a bonus when I saw this bug chilling on a zinnia.

So far this summer we've had about six monarch butterfly caterpillars. It appeared as though the predators were winning so we were excited when we woke up this morning to a butterfly. Here it is.