Just thought I would use this image to remind you that soon all of the flowers will be gone and I’ll be reduced to photographing leaves, but at least that also means that it will be getting cooler.  We just have to hang-in-there until the cooler weather arrives.

They tend to flit around and it is harder to capture them since they don’t stay still  for long.  If you disturb them they fly away in a straight line and are gone.

When I moved here back in 2011, I disposed of most of my tools thinking that I wouldn’t be needing them anymore, and I was right, I haven’t.  I have the opposite problem.  I still brought stuff that I haven’t needed.  I’m now in the process of slowly, a little at a time, going through everything I own and trying to dispose of everything I haven’t used or needed in the past eight years.  I figure that is a good indicator that I also won’t need them in the future.

It is a painful process, in letting go, renewing old memories forgotten, and finding ways for disposing the unneeded stuff.  Most of my fellow residents don’t understand why I want to get rid of stuff since I have plenty of room for it.  I guess that they feel that maybe it will be of use, or that family will want it, and that the family can dispose of the rest someday.  I disagree.  I think it is better to find a home for the stuff that is more likely to be used now, but not in the future, and that disposing of my junk shouldn’t be someone else’s problem.   

Some of my more useful tools, etc. have been accepted by the maintenance staff.  Some goes to thrift stores, and some goes to trash.  Books are an example of things no one seems to want.  Most people who read these days use electronic books of one brand or another.  We have a library here, but they have strict rules as to what they will accept for their shelves.  Even our recycling bins are closed to hard back books, though the township recycling center will take them if you deliver them.  Some of the thrift stores still accept them, but I don’t know what they do with them since there isn’t much of a market for most books.

As I have gotten older, I realize now that most people consume way too much, buy stuff that they really don’t need, waste too much money on it, and then fill up the trash heaps with all of that unneeded stuff.  Where will the future generations put all of this stuff after the trash centers are full and overflowing?  Recycling isn’t working.  The only solution is to not buy it in the first place. 

The Monarchs really love all varies of the Milkweed family.  They must use smell to find this one since it is up against the back of our Villa hidden behind other plants and a fence panel and they keep coming.  Marcia said this particular one was called Butterfly Weed according to the label, but if you look Milkweed up you will find many varieties and bloom colors. 

One nice advantage of the X-Pro2 is having two card slots.  I collect raw files on one and Acros jpegs on the other.  I would really like to just use the Acros jpegs straight out of the camera for convenience, etc., but I’m often not sure until after I have made the photos, so I normally just use the raw files and convert them to Acros if warranted.  The above images are straight out of the camera Acros jpegs.

Seems to me that we have too many leaves coming down for the middle of August.  I saw these on my walk this morning.