First butterfly

I think this is a female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (females have the blue spots according to Wikipedia).  She sat calmly while I took her picture.  She is the first one I've seen this spring.

Pollen season!

The air is yellow with pollen these days.  Driving between rows of pines, it looks like a foggy day.   The sidewalks are dusty yellow.  The birches are also getting in the game.  Brushing under the branches makes you gritty and yellow. It makes you long for a rainy day when the pollen is washed out of the air.

Mordecai House

The Mordecai House is the oldest house in Raleigh still on it's original foundation.  Other houses have been moved to make room for growth, but since 1785 this house has stood in the same place. It was the home of a very wealthy plantation owner.  A large part of what is now Raleigh was part of the plantation land.   It is now a City of Raleigh historic park.  The right side of the house in this picture (the back end) was the original and was added onto as the Morticai family grew in size and wealth.

I wanted this side view of the house because of the blooming redbud and dogwood trees. 

It was painted yellow because color denoted wealth.  It cost more to paint your house a color instead of white.

Jim meets the Alien

We visited the NC Museum of Art again, and this time went inside.  Jim looks like he was bowing to a superior Alien master, but he was just trying to read and find out what it was.

Yet another red house

Bird houses at the Walnut Creek Wetlands park.  They look like they might have been student projects.  

First Robot Competition

The high school gym was packed with cheering teens, sponsors and parents as 33 teams competed in the FIRST Robotics competition. 

The students had to build the entire robot from scratch, no kits allowed.  

Then they had to program it to perform specific tasks.  Each ball it picked up and delivered, each gear it delivered was worth a few points.  Then it had to raise itself up to the platform for the most points of all.

To see the enthusiasm, committment and pride these kids showed was incredible.  Finally the "smart kids" get their day in the sun!

Another red house

I know this one isn't Jimi Hendrix's place.  It's a bird feeder in the neighbor's yard.  Maybe the birds are singing the blues...?