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Will you pass through Dayton? If so, I only live a mile from one of the many rail-trails that connect the area, and I might be able to ride along for a mile or so as you pass through.
6 years agoWild grapes are good, but seedy. When I was a little kid back in the 50s,, one fall almost everyone in the family got to go pick them so my mom could make jelly... except me with the mumps. Oh! How a taste of them made my salivary glands ache!
6 years agoDayton was originally scheduled as one of our first stops on this trip because we wanted to visit the air Force museum. Unfortunately the Memphis Belle B17 was going on display that weekend and no hotels were available, so we rerouted a bit north to the Neil Armstrong museum.
6 years agoYeah, Iowa with its field is a ways from Ohio with its bridge... I'm in Dayton, about as far southwest of Columbus as the bridge is northeast.
My leading comment has wanted to be spewed forth for quite a while, and the picture gave me the moment...
Maybe not. Everyone knows the field of dreams is next to a cornfield. Surprisingly, this bridge was one of the few spots in Ohio that was not next to a cornfield.
6 years agoThanks as always for the ID. Maybe I should gather some up and mail them to the Grumbys - Undaunted Courage is full of references to Lewis and Clark eating choke cherries.
6 years agoDoes it lead to the field of dreams?
6 years agoYup, bark, leaves and berries all say black chokecherry. You can eat the black ones, but spit out the hard pits! Not only are the pits hard on the teeth, their seeds contain toxic cyanins. There's not much to eat though, and they are a bit puckery, which might be a good thing to help clear phlegm.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prunus_serotina
But even in their natural habitat, they're sporting their winter colors!
6 years agoThe choke cherry description sounds pretty close to what we saw, except that it says the trunk is 2 - 6 inches in diameter. I'm pretty sure some of the poptrees we saw had larger trunks. I'll try asking locals to identify the tree.
6 years agoWhat an treat to catch Dave and Marilyn in their "natural habitat"! We only get to see them in "the dead of winter" while they're on a tandem migration to the south!
6 years agoFrom what I can find, it looks like maybe both bears are Virginia tiger moth caterpillars. Colors are extremely variable from nearly white to nearly solid black.
http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?guide=Caterpillars
https://bugguide.net/node/view/10244
Maybe chokecherry?
http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/weedguide/single_weed.php?id=26
Agreed. Looks like a juvenile.
https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/red-tailed-hawk
Today was our last day for this trip, we started and ended in Columbus.
6 years agoI love the Ohio rail trail system, so perhaps on a future trip I'll be near Dayton. I've enjoyed all your comments and would enjoy meeting you someday.