🌸 A few pink poppies grow here every year. But it's rare that I spot one with all its petals. So beautiful and delicate! 😊

📸✨️ I avoid leaving the path for my photos. But if I do, I always check beforehand whether and how I can do it without trampling too much. My pictures are an expression of my love of nature and are therefore almost exclusively taken from the side of the path. Love is based on mutual respect and understanding, not possessiveness.

🐁🪰🚜🌾 The meadows and fields belong to both the farmers and nature. They serve as a basis for life for all of us. Leaving the path can have many negative consequences: dead, injured, displaced or disrupted animals; destruction of vegetation; soil compaction; copycats; financial damage to farmers and foresters; loss of biodiversity.

🪱 Please remember this and stay on the paths to preserve the beauty and health of our natural environment.

Warm air and colorful summer sunsets 🥰🌄

Cloud spectacle in the evening sky 🥰

🌄 In a few days, on June 20th, it will be the summer solstice. That will be the longest day of the year. The sun will rise at 5:15 a.m. and set at 9:39 p.m.

🌞 Here in Oberursel we have four summer months, June to September, with average temperatures of over 20° Celsius. May is already very warm with an average of 18° Celsius. In October the temperatures fall to 13° Celsius.

🌇 The five big cities with the longest summers in Germany are Offenbach, Karlsruhe, Mainz, Pforzheim and Frankfurt am Main.

😊 Three of these cities are nearby. So I can count myself lucky to have so much of my favorite season, which has only just begun.

💫 What's your favourite season?

These are the oldest handwritten notes from one of my ancestors. It was my great-great-great-grandfather who recorded the birth of my great-great-grandmother Margarete's eldest sister Magdalena in July 1815. The notes continued until 1882. In 1877, for example, the birth of my great-grandmother Katharina was recorded. It was written in a family Bible, and the writing is Kurrent script - an old form of German-language handwriting based on late medieval cursive writing. Thanks to artificial intelligence, I have now managed to decipher all of the notes and can add to my family tree.

Because it was a patriarchal system, the male heads of the family usually kept important records. I don't know his name, but it says "22. Julius was born our Magdalena. The newborn child is a female." (orig.: "22. Julius ist unsere Magdalena zur Welt geboren. Das neugeborene Kind ist eine Weibsperson.") so I know that the author was also a parent of my great-great-grandmother Margarete in 1830.

The Peace Linden in Bommersheim 🌳🕊

My name also has a connection to peace, because Frederic is of Germanic origin and means "peaceful ruler" or "peaceful king." It's derived from the elements "frid," meaning "peace," and "ric," meaning "ruler" or "king." 🫅🕊

My surname "Hilpert" is of German origin as well. It is derived from the Middle High German personal name "Hildebert," which combines the elements "hild," meaning "battle," and "berht," meaning "bright" or "famous." So, "Hilpert" likely originated as a patronymic surname, meaning "son of Hildebert." However, there are other possible explanations for the origin of my surname.

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Sacred Tree: In Germanic mythology, the linden tree was considered sacred and was often associated with Freya, the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility. It was believed to possess protective and healing properties.

Community and Justice: The linden tree often stood in the center of villages and towns in Germanic regions, serving as a meeting place for gatherings, judicial proceedings, and social events. The idea was that the linden tree symbolized community, peace, and fairness.

Protection and Love: It was also thought to offer protection against evil spirits and to bring good luck. In folklore, linden trees were associated with love and fidelity, with many stories and songs linking the tree to romantic themes.

Healing Properties: The linden tree was renowned for its medicinal properties. Its flowers, leaves, and wood were used in various remedies to treat ailments such as colds, headaches, and anxiety, emphasizing its role in nurturing and healing.

A beautiful solar storm at night. 🥰 The aurora borealis creates dreamlike colors, visible to the eye only for brief moments like a shimmer.✨️

Look at this sunset 🫠❤️‍🔥

The European paper wasp (Polistes dominula) has a much calmer temperament than the common wasp. It has a wide range of hunting habits, including different insects and spiders. The European paper wasp is a social insect and absolutely worth learning more about its interesting behaviour. Originally native to Eurasia and North Africa, it has now spread to all continents, replacing native species there.

In deadwood, it is common for fungi to decompose more organic material than they directly consume. This is because fungi engage in extracellular digestion, producing enzymes to break down the complex material of deadwood into simpler compounds. During this process, nutrients in the wood are released for the fungi and other organisms in the surrounding ecosystem.

The rich microbiome developing on deadwood can also contribute to decomposition and nutrient release. The diversity of microorganisms colonizing deadwood, including various fungal species and bacteria, enhances the efficiency of decomposition and nutrient release.

Deadwood decomposition plays a vital role in the ecosystem by recycling nutrients and making them available for the growth of new plants and organisms. While fungi utilize nutrients for their own growth, other organisms also benefit from the released nutrients, contributing to a rich and diverse ecosystem.

The ivy bees (Colletes hederae) are one of the 15 species of plasterer bees native to Germany.

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Their nests are lined with a cellophane-like plastic using secretions from two glands at the end of the abdomen and on the labium ("lower lip"). That's why they are also called polyester bees. In Germany we call them silk bees "Seidenbienen".

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They live solitary in colonies, in sunny locations with no or sparse vegetation, where they dig their holes. Each species of plasterer bees specializes in the pollen of a particular plant, as does the ivy bee.

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The distribution area of ​​the ivy bees in Germany is concentrated in the Upper Rhine Plain and the Middle Rhine (where these photos were taken) as well as the Moselle Valley. However, since 2006 there has been a major wave of spread. The bees have also developed a novel preference for kindergarten sandboxes.

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They are peaceful animals who were not disturbed at all by my presence. The females have a very weak stinger, which they only use in extreme danger. There are no known allergic reactions.

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