Wild Columbine Seed Pod
This was my first try, and it’s a little breezy outside, so it’s not as sharp as it could be. All you do is invert the lens. The only hard part is manually holding it in place. Because it’s an older lens, it’s heavy, and my hands got a little tired and unsteady after awhile.
This was a few shots later, and I think it turned out better. Both were taken with a Tamron SP 28-80mm 1:3.5-4.2 lens.
Ivy Roots on Brick Wall
My aunt Dottie asked if there were any Revolutionary War soldiers in the Lord line of our family tree. Possibly (they were certainly in the right place at the right time). So I did some digging and found that my 7th great grandfather, Thomas Hamilton, was indeed a Revolutionary War soldier.
I only stumbled across that last night, which is odd, because I only just found Dottie’s email in my spam folder this afternoon. I haven’t a clue why it ended up there, as there’s not anything remotely spammy about it.
Anyway!
The Thomas Hamilton in question is buried in the White Settlement Cemetery in Tomkins County, New York. His (modern) headstone identifies him as a private in the 10th Pennsylvania Regiment. That seems to be incorrect, though. There was an interesting a discussion on one of the Hamilton surname listserves that details why the Thomas Hamilton who was a private in the 10th PA can’t be “our” Thomas. And, as well, a good reason to think that our Thomas was actually in the Northampton County Militia.
What we do know about our Thomas is that he was a surveyor. He married a woman named Sarah Westfall. They had five children. In 1875 the family, along with Joseph Brearley and his wife, Lydia Colborn, moved to Muncy, Pennsylvania. While crossing Sweet Arrow Creek, their wagon was overcome with water and Sarah and Joseph both drowned. Thomas later married Joseph’s wife, Lydia. (Since it ends in a wedding, I guess that makes it a comedy, right?)
I didn’t think I’d get any flowers this year from the plants I got from Ms. Lea, since they were moved so late in the season. This one has a few bud clusters on it, though.
red paper boat 
