Late afternoon light, Schenley Park, 23 Nov 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

29 November 2025

This week I’ve spent a lot of time in the car for family Thanksgiving visits so I don’t have a lot of photos to show. Mostly pictures of the sky.

Sunset in Pittsburgh, 23 Nov 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Sunset in Pittsburgh, 23 Nov 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

We spent some time in Virginia Beach where there has not been a killing frost so flowers like this henbit deadnettle (Lamium amplexicaule) were still blooming.

Henbit deadnettle, Virginia Beach, 27 Nov 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

On the bay shore boardwalk at First Landing State Park I found a lot of fallen acorns.

Acorn from a sand live oak, First Landing State Park, Virginia Beach, 27 Nov 2025 (photo by Kate St.John)

They are similar to southern live oaks but are very likely the sand live oak (Quercus geminata) that grows in sand and is commonly cultivated. It’s a good bet the trees were planted on the dunes. The leaves look like this.

Leaves of sand live oak (photo from Wikimedia Commons)