National "Take a Walk" Day

This snail and I share similar views about how to enjoy a walk.

My Google home page told me today was National "Take a Walk" Day (or something like that).  They even gave instructions on exactly how to take a leisurely walk.  Imagine!  But yeah, I've been with folks who didn't know how to take a walk without hurrying toward some goal, folks who scurried right past cool stuff and never even saw it.  Nor smelled it.  Nor heard it.  Nor stopped a while to watch it do its thing.  Like that spider nabbing that wasp a few posts back.  Or this snail I saw today making its leisurely way around a tree trunk.

As you can imagine, I don't need the urging of a national "day" to send me out on a walk.  Today I went back to Mud Pond at Moreau Lake State Park, since my adventures there yesterday got me no further than 50 yards or so along the shore.  TWO HOURS to go 50 yards!  That snail could almost outrace me at that rate.  I picked up the pace a bit today and managed to get all around the pond in about an hour,  yet still saw some pretty cool stuff.

I did find one Frostweed flower in bloom.  My friend Sue told me they'd bloomed profusely three weeks ago, so I missed the full flush and felt lucky to happen upon this one.

And here's a photo of Frostweed I took last November, following a hard frost.  See how the frozen sap has seeped from the stem in curling sheets and plumes?  That's how this flower got its common name.  One of them.  It's also called Rockrose.  Its scientific name is Helianthemum canadense.

Once again, the critters took center stage today, including this pretty Spring Azure butterfly (Celastrina argiolus) feeding on blooms of New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus).  Those blossoms look a bit like miniature fireworks, the kind that explode with shooting stars.

I thought I was photographing Raspberry Slime Mold (Tubifera ferruginosa) when this Narceus americanus millipede showed up to steal the spotlight.  They both like to work at decomposing rotten logs.  And they're both kind of beautiful.  They kind of color-coordinate.

Now, I hope some computer watchdog agency doesn't come after me for posting all these photos of insect sex.  It's just that everywhere I look these days, they're doin' it, doin' it, doin' it.  Like this Lady Bug and her Gentleman Bug pairing up in their hazelnut boudoir.

This pair of back-to-back white butterflies really knew how to get it on together.  Totally!  Several times they flew away as I moved in to take their photo (well, jeez, Jackie!), and they flew away together, still attached.  How did they do that?  You'd think some kind of push me/pull you thing would happen, but no, they fluttered about in tandem as easily as if each was solo.  I'll call them Fred and Ginger.  Anybody know which is which?  Anybody know their Latin name?