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posted: April 30th, 2011 |
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This page begins and ends with April 29th. On that day we went out on our bicycles to Nogawa Park, Musashino Park and Sengen-yama Park. There are also some alternative covers for an upcoming book which I will publish - I would really like to get your feedback on the best color. Click on any thumbnail to begin.
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| Begin April 29th |
WOW! In most years we go to Nogawa Park several times in the early spring to check on the flowers, but for some reason we have not been here this year since March 13th. We were in for a surprise. Usually we see the first soft greens of spring here. This year - it is already late spring. As shown in this row - the Primrose (Primula sieboldii) is already in full bloom and in the first photo you'll note that the trees are fully leafed out.
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 Apr29_NogawaPk _Primrose_001RC |
 Apr29_NogawaPk _Primrose_003RC |
 April29th_004 _NogawaPRC |
Here is something we've never seen at its peak. It is Amsonia ellipitica and the blue flowers are amazing.
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 April29th_007 _NogawaPRC |
 Apr29_NogawaPk_ Amsonia_elliptica_017RC |
 Apr29_NogawaPk_ Amsonia_elliptica_013RC |
We were shocked to find the Calanthea discolor (Orchid) looking like this already. It is obviously at its peak. We have seen it like this - MAYBE - only one time before, several years ago.
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 Apr29_NogawaPk_ Calanthea_discolor_021RC |
 Apr29_NogawaPk_ Calanthea_discolor_033RC |
 Apr29_NogawaPk_ Calanthea_discolor_055RC |
Here are 3 more shots of the Calanthea discolor (Orchid) which show some color variation.
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 April29th_020 _NogawaPRC |
 Apr29_NogawaPk_ Calanthea_discolor_059RC |
 Apr29_NogawaPk_ Calanthea_discolor_062RC |
In this row are 3 shots of Lithospermum zollingeri. We search for this every year and we usually find it, but we have never seen it quite as beautiful as it is this spring. It is so very difficult to find a flower of this plant which does not have some wind or insect damage - but this year we had no problem finding perfect flowers.
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 Apr29_NogawaPk_ Lithospermum_zollingeri_035RC |
 Apr29_NogawaPk_ Lithospermum_zollingeri_037RC |
 Apr29_NogawaPk_ Lithospermum_zollingeri_043RC |
Here is a final Calanthea discolor (Orchid) - the whole plant, followed by a single shot of Chelidonium japonicum. The 3rd shot in this row is a Lamium album var. barbatum. This plant was much more abundant this year than it usually is too. Overall, we came to the conclusion that this must be a very good for spring flowers.
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 Apr29_NogawaPk_ Calanthea_discolor_063RC |
 Apr29_NogawaPk_ Chelidonium_japonicum_050RC |
 Apr29_NogawaPk_Lamium _album_var_barbatum_026RC |
As we were bicycling towards a different park and passing through Musashino Park we found this most amazing Pink Dogwood (Benthamidia florida). Pink Dogwood is not rare, but to find one of this size and of this beauty IS rare!
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 Apr29_NogawaPk_ PinkDogwood_088RC |
 April29th_034 _MusashinoPRC |
 Apr29_NogawaPk_ PinkDogwood_101RC |
We bicycled to Sengen-yama Park - which is famous for its Cephalanthera falcata (Golden Orchid). We found several Cephalanthera falcata (Golden Orchid) in Nogawa Park, so we wanted to come to this park and see just how abundant it is this spring. The first shot in this row was actually taken in Nogawa Park, but I wanted to keep all of the photos of this plant together. As you can see, it was very abundant here.
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 Apr29_NogawaPk_ Cephalanthera_falcata_071RC |
 Apr29_SenGenYamaPk _Cephalanthera_falcata_102RC |
 Apr29_SenGenYamaPk _Cephalanthera_falcata_104RC |
Here are 3 more shots of Cephalanthera falcata (Golden Orchid) in Sengen-yama Park.
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 Apr29_SenGenYamaPk_ Cephalanthera_falcata_107RC |
 Apr29_SenGenYamaPk_ Cephalanthera_falcata_115RC |
 Apr29_SenGenYamaPk_ Cephalanthera_falcata_117RC |
This day lily - Hemerocallis middendorffii var. musashiensis - is supposedly found in the wild ONLY in this park. This particular day lily blooms quite a bit earlier than any other day lily. It is very beautiful.
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 Apr29_SenGenYamaPk_Hemerocallis_ middendorffii_var_musashiensis_121RC |
 April29th_072_ SengenyamaRC |
We were hoping to find several Cephalanthera erecta (Silver Orchid) in this park too, but we found only 1 plant. As you can see, this is basically the same as the Golden Orchid, but it is white in color, therefore giving it the name "Silver Orchid".
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 Apr29_SenGenYamaPk_ Cephalanthera_erecta_125RC |
 April29th_075_ SengenyamaRC |
| End April 29th, Begin Book Cover Alternatives |
As the text at the top of the page says, here are some alternative covers for an upcoming book which I will publish. It has been approved and I am now waiting on the first proof, which is in the mail. After I review the first proof I need to make a final decision on the cover color and resubmit it - I would really like to get your feedback on your opinion of the best color. The contrast ratio of the background color and the text color is shown below each image. In this row you can see that covers #1 and #3 have the best contrast ratios. There is an 64 page SAMPLE PDF file of the book available HERE (new window). Note that it is 5.4 MB in size!! I suggest that you right click on the word "HERE" and select "Save Link As". Then after it's downloaded to your Hard Drive in a place where you can find it again, open it in Adobe Reader - version 9 or later (very important - it most likely will not
open in a version earlier than 9). The best way to use Acrobat Reader to see what it really looks like is to choose "View", "Page Display", "Two-Up Continuous" and also "Show Cover Page During Two-Up" and that way you'll see it exactly as the book will appear in print (odd numbered pages on the right and even numbered pages on the left). |
 Book Cover #1 Contrast Ratio = 11.8:1 |
 Book Cover #2 Contrast Ratio = 8.3:1 |
 Book Cover #3 Contrast Ratio = 21.0:1 |
In this row cover #5 has the best contrast ratio. Please vote by cover number and e-mail my home address or else use the e-mail link at the bottom of this page.
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 Book Cover #4 Contrast Ratio = 8.4:1 |
 Book Cover #5 Contrast Ratio = 12.1:1 |
 Book Cover #6 Contrast Ratio = 8.0:1 |
Here is a collage of all 6 alternate book covers for quick and easy comparison of the colors. There is also a PDF file of this available. Click HERE (new window) to access this file. By using the PDF for comparison you can fill your particular size monitor with the image.
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 BookCoversR |
| End Book Cover Alternatives, End Page 4, End April 2011's Photos |
Here are links to separate web pages - all of them will open in a new window (or new tab). The first link shows some photos of our DVD Collection, an AVI Movie of our Home Theater System and 9 photos of our Sharp Aquos TV. The 2nd link shows our entire DVD collection in DVD Profiler (if you're asking yourself what might be good to rent for the weekend). The DVD's will be sorted by date purchased. You can click on the "Title" Column to sort that way if you desire. The 3rd link shows our entire DVD collection in php DVD Profiler, which is much more sophisticated than the plain vanilla DVD Profiler just above it. The 4th link takes you to a set of pages which show you the FRONT cover-art of our entire DVD collection.
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 February 22, 2009 - DVD Collection & Home Theater System   
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 Please check it out by clicking on the above button. (Click on the "Studies of Plants and Wildlife" link in the new window.) |
| Thanks so much for taking the time to look at the website this month. We hope that you found something which you enjoyed. You can use the e-mail link below to respond with any feedback you might have. |
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