I’ve been trying to take a good picture of these interesting little beetles that like to eat the blackberries this time of year. They move pretty slowly but don’t always hold still enough or are in the right place to get a good picture.
There is a lot of good macro photography of insects on Steemit and sometimes it feels like my efforts aren’t coming out as well a I would like. Grabbing a blackberry branch I cheat a little by holding the branch in one hand and turning it around so that I can get a better angle on the bug. It kind of works but the pictures turn out blurred a bit from my hands shaking. It is hard enough just holding the camera but when you factor in the wind and bug movement it can be difficult to get good results.
A beetle on the blackberries, taken on 9/17/2018 – click for viewing full screen
I like bugs and beetles and all the wonderful green plants that grow in my backyard. It is a nice place to live and very different from the desert areas to the Southeast in the central part of the country.
I’ve always liked the desert areas too and like to go on vacation there for a change but the hot air always reminds me of how nice it is back home. So much of the planet now is getting hot and dry, most glaciers are receding and forests of trees are turning to grass land from being burning down by fires.
I saw a very interesting video about how efforts are have been made in China to reclaim land from the desert sand dunes and turn it into productive areas for agriculture. To me this is such a good idea. Good agricultural practices lock up carbon dioxide from the air and return it into food to feed people.
I hope that in my country we can do such things as well. Proper land management can help build a lasting abundance for everyone.
Solar panels in the Desert
If we put solar panels out in the desert areas we could use these panels to generate electricity to use in creating water. There is always some moisture in the air and systems could be made to provide shade and increased moisture in places just for growing plants and increasing habit for insects. Rainwater could be collected in cisterns and gradually used to water plants or other methods like collecting water from condensation on cooler surfaces might be used.
A beetle upside down on the blackberries, taken on 9/17/2018 – click for viewing full screen
People would need to leave the panels alone and not steal them though. Many people might feel like it would be a waste of taxpayer money. If there were too much rainwater and evaporative water collection from the panels there might be a problem with too many insects. People might start spraying poisons all over the place in that case. I think we need to start talking about all these different things and really do some soul searching about what is most important for us in the world right now.
Reclaiming land from the desert might not lead to immediate profit and benefits but it very quickly could pay off by providing work for people once the soil gets to the point where commercial crops could be grown on it.
I think there are always solutions to any problem out there but sometimes we ignore the problems and don’t always go to our scientists to find solutions. Additionally, our politicians aren’t always up to the task of providing good guidance or even identifying the needs of the population imho.
"Trees cause more pollution than automobiles do." U.S. President Ronald Reagan
Well, okay something seems fundamentally off about the above statement, lol.
Some people can be great leaders and have many talents in different areas but be not so good in thinking critically and logically. We all have different ways of being and life experiences that can be wonderful contributions and things can change very quickly if they need to with everyones combined efforts and understanding.
The Space Beetle
I looked at Google Photos latest attempt at making my photos artistic looking. Wow, nice – that doesn’t even look like plant Earth, I thought to myself.
The upside down beetle clung to the withered odd colored fruit like some type of space creature.
The space beetle by Google Photos, taken on 9/17/2018 – click for viewing full screen
Somehow I liked the picture. This fall everything looks like it is wasting away with the winter coming up and food becoming scarce. It is kind of the way of things. In the spring things will look differently and the blackberry flowers will come out feeding a host of hummingbirds and bees.
Our wonderful new technologies could be used to enhance the processes of nature or make things look much differently. I think it is up to us to find out how we want the future Earth to look.
Thanks for reading! I always value your support and comments. The pictures were taken by me with my Galaxy S9+.