Erin Golsen

@erininkentucky

Back in Kentucky after many years away. I love to read and you can find me on Litsy as @decalino and Storygraph as @encgolsen. I mostly post about my dogs, my cat, books, flowers and the creek. All photos are my own, unfiltered, unless otherwise noted.

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Erin Golsen@erininkentucky· Jul 22

I spotted a turtle hanging out in the creek and was able to watch him for a while before I moved and spooked him. I think it was a Ouachita map turtle based on the spots behind its eyes and a few minutes of local turtle research on the internet. #Turtles #Reptiles #WaterWednesday

A turtle, possibly a Ouachita map turtle, paddles along the surface of the water in a creek.

The same turtle below the surface of the water on the creek bed; the two bright spots on the back of its head look like freaky eyes.

Erin Golsen@erininkentucky· Jul 21

A storm's on the way but it has been a lovely morning in the garden. The first zinnia bloomed and butterflies were everywhere. I really needed a little beauty this morning! Feeling much better, if also sweatier. #Bloomscrolling #Butterflies #Dogs

A white zinnia with streaks of hot pink on its somewhat scraggly petals.

A small fritillary butterfly with orange and black patterned wings rests atop some mulch.

A large yellow swallowtail butterfly visits the prickly orange center of a pink-petaled coneflower.

Iris, a medium-sized light brown dog with white markings, lies on a wooden deck holding a well-gnawed bone in her front paws. She doesn't know why I'm chasing butterflies around the yard, but she's glad I'm having fun.

Erin Golsen@erininkentucky· Jul 20

Beetle visitor. #Invertebrates #Insects

A large stag beetle with a shiny reddish-brown carapace perches on the edge of a window screen.

Erin Golsen@erininkentucky· Jul 19

Spotted another Monarch this afternoon! They really seem to love the blazing star flowers. #Butterflies #Invertebrates

Erin Golsen@erininkentucky· Jul 19

The first scarlet bee balm is beginning to bloom! #Bloomscrolling #FlowerReport

A scarlet bee balm flower beginning to turn red and form its characteristic tendrils.

Tiny purple and white florets blooming on a thumb-sized green self-heal flower.

Three wingstem flowers, their spiky yellow centers ringed by a downward-tilting skirt of yellow petals.

A delicate trumpet-shaped jewelweed flower, speckled in shades of orange.

Erin Golsen@erininkentucky· Jul 17

A little park by the Ohio River in Ashland, Kentucky. #Kentucky

A statue of a bearded man with a hammer and a six-pack, with a railroad crossing visible in the background.

A statue of a woman holding out a tree with dangling roots.

A light blue bridge over the Ohio River, with a grassy slope on one side and a wooded hillside on the other.

A light blue bridge over the Ohio River, reflected in the rippling water below.

Erin Golsen@erininkentucky· Jul 15

Saw this little guy at the park today! Beaver or otter? I'm not sure, but it was a very cool surprise! And Iris was completely oblivious. 🙂🐶 #WaterWednesday

Erin Golsen@erininkentucky· Jul 14

Monarch sighting! #Invertebrates #Butterflies

A Monarch butterfly with nearly outstretched wings visiting a purple blazing star flower.

Erin Golsen@erininkentucky· Jul 14

Good morning! #Trees #Sunshine

Morning light illuminates a stretch of grass with golden light, framed by trees including a small willow tree, beneath a blue sky.

Erin Golsen@erininkentucky· Jul 12

Good morning, Womble! I just finished Accumulation by Aimee Pokwatka and really loved it. Currently reading The Secret War Against Hate: American Resistance to Antisemitism and White Supremacy by Steven J. Ross.

The book Accumulation by Aimee Pokwatka.

Erin Golsen@erininkentucky· Jul 11

Iris is not a fan of thunderstorms, but snuggling helps. #Dogs

Iris, a light brown dog with white markings, lies on a tan couch, a distressed expression in her big brown eyes.

Erin Golsen@erininkentucky· Jul 10

It's a mostly rainy day but there's one bright spot: a new sunflower just bloomed! #Bloomscrolling #FlowerReport

A pale yellow sunflower with an intricately patterned brown center. A small ant is perched at the tapered tip of one petal.

Erin Golsen@erininkentucky· Jul 8

I noticed a bee wasn't moving while I was dead-heading some coneflowers--it appears to be dead and attached to the flower? Does anyone know what this is? I snipped the flower and put it in the compost bin. #Invertebrates #Bees

A dead bee with a black body and tattered wings lies on the prickly center of a yellow coneflower, with what appears to be a thin filament attaching it to the flower.

The bee seen from above, with a clear view of the weird filament.

Erin Golsen@erininkentucky· Jul 7

It's very colorful in the garden at the moment! #Bloomscrolling #FlowerReport #Invertebrates

Tiny yellow star-shaped flowers on a spotted St. John's wort plant.

A bee visits a floret of tiny pale pink oregano flowers. This oregano has taken over several pots in the container garden and would probably attempt world domination if given the chance.

Several salvia plants with bright purple tubular flowers. These were sad little crispy plants when I bought them; the guy at the hardware store agreed to give them to me for half off, but they're thriving now!

Rosy-pink five-petaled verbena flowers blooming in clusters. This was another hardware store rescue--so far so good!

Erin Golsen@erininkentucky· Jul 4

Lovely sunrise this 4th of July. Iris was very patient while I took pictures. #Sunrise #Sky #Dogs

Orange light striped with yellow illuminates the gray clouds along the horizon behind a stand of trees.

Iris, a medium-sized light brown dog with white markings, sits in the grass looking back as if to say, "can we get moving already? I have smells to sniff."

The orange glow of sunrise tints the vast expanse of clouds in the sky with shades of pink and silver above the green grass and dark silhouettes of trees in the park.

Bright silvery bits of cloud fill the blue sky, above darker clouds smudging the horizon.

Erin Golsen@erininkentucky· Jul 1

All my library holds came in at once! I have no choice but to spend all weekend reading. #Booksky

Three library books: Homebound by Portia Elan, Accumulation by Aimee Pokwatka and The Secret War Against Hate: American Resistance to Antisemitism and White Supremacy by Steven J. Ross. Which one to read first? 🤔

Erin Golsen@erininkentucky· Jul 1

Today Zero is very happy to be an indoor cat. #WhiskersWednesday #cats

Zero, handsome tuxedo cat, tilts his head pensively while relaxing on the floor beneath an unseen window.

Erin Golsen@erininkentucky· Jul 1

I'm finding it hard to concentrate on TV lately but somehow managed to read even more than usual in June, including a few lighter reads in an effort to not *only* read books about authoritarianism. 🙃 Finally read Circe--loved it! And Strange People on the Hill was excellent, and very sad. #BookSky

A Storygraph graphic labeled "June 2026 reads" featuring a collage of book covers including: American Fantasy by Emma Straub; Bloodfire, Baby by Eirinie Carson; Usurpation by Sue Burke; The Book of Koli by M.R. Carey; Circe by Madeline Miller; Funny Story by Emily Henry; Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett; American Reich: a Murder in Orange County, Neo-Nazis, and a New Age of Hate by Eric Lichtblau; The Husbands by Holly Gramazio; Last One Out by Jane Harper; Detour by Rob Hart and Jeff Rake; Strange People on the Hill: How Extremism Tore Apart a Small American Town by Michael Edison Hayden; and Paradox by Douglas Preston and Aletheia Preston.

Erin Golsen@erininkentucky· Jun 30

Interesting quiz! Certainly accurate in my case.

Your AI compass: you are The Skeptic, patron saint Ed Zitron. It's oversold, it's losing staggering amounts of money, and the harms are arriving faster than the value. You've done the math on the unit economics and it doesn't close. You are loud about this, prolific about this, and you suspect history will vindicate you.

Erin Golsen@erininkentucky· Jun 29

There's a heat advisory today so Iris and I took an extra early walk. It was already warm and muggy, and foggy too, although that cleared quickly. #Bloomscrolling #Sunrise #Nature

Pink and orange light tints the clouds as the sun rises behind a stand of trees overlooking a misty field below a grassy green slope.

An elaborate spiderweb hangs over the creek, while a smaller, more compact web higher in the shrubbery gleams with morning dew.

A clump of purple coneflowers and anise hyssop growing along a grassy mowed path through the park, as the morning sun shines from behind a stand of trees along the horizon.

Erin Golsen@erininkentucky· Jun 28

Hi Womble! I just finished Paradox by Douglas Preston and Aletheia Preston, and really enjoyed it. Just starting The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz--very excited about this one!

The cover of the book The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz, showing a tall tree dividing a natural landscape on one side from a high tech urban scene on the other.

Erin Golsen@erininkentucky· Jun 27

Zero hopes you have a restful and relaxing #Caturday. #cats

Zero, handsome tuxedo cat, lies on the edge of the bed looking sleepy.

Erin Golsen@erininkentucky· Jun 25

The gray-headed coneflower is blooming for the first time! It got off to a slow start but has really taken off this year. #Bloomscrolling #FlowerReport

A rough-headed coneflower with six slender petals and a yellow-ish green center fringed with short triangular leaves, next to a bud that hasn't fully developed petals yet.

A bumpy greenish cluster of Joe Pye buds, just starting to think about turning pink.

Several tiny orange-red buds on a small butterfly weed plant.

A sunflower with bright yellow overlapping petals, and a tiny bug visitor.

Erin Golsen@erininkentucky· Jun 23

More garden visitors, and the purple bee balm is blooming! #Bloomscrolling #FlowerReport #Invertebrates

A pale yellow cloudless sulphur butterfly visits the bristly orange center of a bright yellow coneflower. To the right, lacy fronds of yarrow frame pale green buds preparing to bloom.

A small butterfly with brown and white patterned wings clings to a yellow coreopsis bud hanging over the serrated petals of a flower.

A pale purple bee balm flower blooms below a delicate green bud.

A fuzzy yellow bee clings to the spiky reddish center of a vivid red orange coneflower.

Erin Golsen@erininkentucky· Jun 22

Iris and I made it out for a quick walk during the break between thunderstorms and pouring rain. The creek was higher than it's been in a while and the plants seemed happy! #Bloomscrolling #Trees