May | 2026 | Dunngone's Photos and Blog

Kay continues being busy in retirement, playing pickleball and golf several times a week, and now playing bridge several times a month. Church and philanthropic organizations also keep her busy.

We hosted the monthly Hand and Foot night on Wednesday, May 20, and wouldn’t you know it, Bev Graham and I came in last place, while Kay and her partner won $2 for 3rd place. We also attend the weekly Taco Tuesday when schedules allow, joining our “Palm Creek” friends at the Granada Grill, a Mexican restaurant just a couple minutes from the house (thanks Donald Baggett for taking care of the details).

Family highlights of this reporting period were a day visit by Karyn, Ridge, and Aker (beach time at Balboa and pickleball) and a dance recital in Memphis for Sutton and Harper (we did enjoy a short visit beforehand with Jenny, Linc, and Sutton).

Being unable to play pickleball and golf because of this freak groin strain/tear has provided time to piddle around the house, doing limited yard and garden work, and spending some time in the shop, mainly organizing—or reorganizing—and constantly blowing away dust and sawdust. I did build a prototype patio side table, using mostly scrap lumber, and it turned out better than expected.

The pollinator garden continues to attract pollinators, and we continue planting pollinating flowers.

Two years ago Kay and I embarked on a quest to build a pollinator garden (actually intend an evergreen bed) to attract butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds. Thus, this is the third growing season for the garden. It has been a huge success as its first season attracted 44 species of butterflies. The season of 2025 yielded a cursory count of 27 species, though we were traveling most of June and half of July. Numbers for the 2026 season thus far (as of May 31, 2026) include 13 species.

Of course, there’s always time for photo shoots in the garden and lake side. On Saturday, May 16, only an American Lady butterfly and Calico Pennant dragonfly were photographed.

And then on Tuesday, May 19, I hit the photo jackpot with a visit to nearby Middle Fork Barrens Natural Area. A number of beautiful wildflower blooms were photographed.

Also, a few butterflies were flitting about, including male Diana Fritillaries, a target species for the visit.

And a solitary dragonfly landed long enough to be photographed.

On Wednesday, May 20, a Great Spangled Fritillary and Northern Brokendash honored us with their presence.

Not to be outdone, a Calico Pennant and Eastern Amberwing, respectively, landed for photographs.

On the following day, a Monarch caterpillar was spotted munching on a butterfly weed leaf—it was our first Monarch caterpillar. And then, a Gray Hairstreak and an adult Monarch showed up.

And then to end the month of photos, a Northern Cloudywing and a male Diana Fritillary were observed nectaring on Tuesday, May 26.

Kay continues her pursuit of pickleball and golf several times a week in addition to all the social/club activities in which she participates. On the other hand, and not to be a Debbie “downer”, I was overcome by an upper respiratory virus that continues to hang on, some several weeks later, in addition to sports injuries still ongoing,

We continue to add flowering plants to the various beds, and work sporadically to maintain the yard. Otherwise, nothing big or unusual happened this reporting period. Consequently, this blog entry will feature photographs from nine days of shooting, mostly in our backyard.

Photographs were made on May 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, and 15. New wildflowers are blooming, and first of season butterflies and dragonflies and damselflies are being observed. One of the highlights of this period’s photography was capturing the blooming of Indian Pink, on of my favorites, on May 1.

Another was the appearance of an Orange Bluet damselfly on May 3. This one was a “lifer”, meaning it was the first one of the species I had ever seen.

Next among the highlights was the annual arrival of Baltimore Orioles. The few that came by stayed almost a week. The photo below was made on Thursday, May 7, 2026.