It began innocently enough: I wanted to capture the leaf I wrote about for today’s Morning Porch update:

From what nearby October has it come, this already-red red maple leaf plastered face-down on the red porch floor and beaded with rain?

— Dave Bonta (@morningporch) June 29, 2012

But once I had the camera out, as so often happens, everything else got set aside.

(Yes, I am working my way through Red Pine’s translation of the Taoteching. It is awesome.)

How about a close-up on that leaf?

The most visually interesting plants in the yard these days are the wild garlic heads, which are just uncurling and beginning to look around,

while in the section of my herb garden closest to the porch, it’s another allium — walking onion — that most captured my fancy this morning.

Various lepidoptera flitted around the porch and yard. This silver-spotted skipper seemed to have a strong territorial instinct, periodically driving off others of its species and returning to survey the yard from its perch on the dead cherry tree.

The skipper’s interest in the yard might have been piqued by a patch of blossoming dogbane. At any rate, this Virginia Ctenucha moth was certainly interested in it.

As the morning advanced and the temperature began to climb into the 80s, a very ragged red admiral appeared and seemed to seek out the shade. I imagine it must be one of the migratory generation that arrived in late April.

I kept hoping for another visit from yesterday’s pearl crescent, but instead this meadow fritillary showed up and spent close to 15 minutes gleaning lord knows what from the straps on my sandals.

I spent more than an hour absorbed in stalking photographic subjects, all without leaving my front porch. I suppose I should make a habit of this — but if I did, when would I get any reading done? (See the complete set of photos here.)