Blue Poison Dart Frog

Breaking with form again, and posting this month's entry a day early!  Taking one from the archives this February, this gorgeous frog is found in Suriname and parts of extreme northern Brazil.  Its skin excretes a substance that makes it horrible-tasting (and potentially dangerous) for predators to eat.  As the name implies, the substance can be concentrated and used to poison the tip of small arrows and darts to disable small animals.  Interestingly, the patterns of spots on these frogs can be used much like human fingerprints to identify individual specimens, as no two are ever identical.  Truly blue animals are quite rare, and these frogs are some of the most strikingly beautiful examples.

Snow. Clouds.

There hasn't been a lot in the way of snow around here this year...yet...so I thought I would pull one out of the archives to ring in the new year.

It has been busy around here since the relocation plans were scrapped.  Lots of improvements to the place have been made, new roof, some new windows, and we gutted the main bathroom.  Plumbing and all.  It is much nicer now.

This photo is from 2012.  It isn't all that interesting a photo at first glance, but I always enjoy the way the snow echoes the clouds.  Whenever I look at that it invariably draws me in deeper.

Happy New Year, from all of us!