5 more pictures in notes above!

There is a tiny pink flower that's blooming in our large meadow now, and I went out today with hopes of getting some nice pictures to share. However, as it often happens, I saw this feather sticking to a drying Tarweed plant, and could not pass up the opportunity! That little pink flower will just have to wait! :D

Did you know that new evidence has surfaced which calls into question the long-standing belief that feathers evolved from scales? In fact, new information suggests that the emergence of feathers occurred before dinosaurs and reptiles split into two groups! A study in 2006 confirmed that alligators have the information to produce feathers in their genes but these instructions are suppressed during embryologic development so that the hatchling expresses scales, not feathers!! Isn't that fascinating?!!! If you'd like to know more about feathers, wiki has a fine page here: Wikipedia: Feather

John Randolph (June 2, 1773 – May 24, 1833), known as John Randolph of Roanoke, was a planter, and a Congressman from Virginia, serving in the House of Representatives at various times between 1799 and 1833, the Senate (1825–1827), and also as Minister to Russia (1830). After serving as President Thomas Jefferson's spokesman in the House, he broke with Jefferson in 1803 and became the leader of the "Old Republican" or "Quids", an extreme states' rights vanguard of the Democratic-Republican Party[2] who wanted to restrict the role of the federal government. Specifically, Randolph promoted the Principles of '98, which said that individual states could judge the constitutionality of central government laws and decrees, and could refuse to enforce laws deemed unconstitutional. Wikipedia: John Randolph

Explored on August 5, 2013. Highest placement, page 3 (#60).