Friday, 21 August 2020
I think I’ve done this before in this “space”: my hypothesized taxonomy, this time for fungi.
The first would be “wet” fungi, and this would be “dry” fungi. Although it looks like there are a few “wet” fungi encroaching on the decorative, “dry” fungi.
Okay, hypothesis is muddy, and therefore: nope.
Wednesday, 19 August 2020
Fortified: by a fort.
Invigorated: by socially distant socializing with a long-time friend over cocktails.
Enriched: by a wide expanse of beauty.
Tuesday, 18 August 2020
How many times have I walked past this arrangement on the neighbors’ deck (where we have distance-socialized all summer), and only today I noticed it? My excuse: the light was perfect right then. Truth: I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings.
Look at how this flower cluster captured the now-dry grass-tops. Flowers are maybe two feet above the ground surface. Musta happened when they were both green and growing.
Monday, 17 August 2020
First sweet pea pods I’ve seen in 2020….
Apples coming down, and smelling like yellow jacket heaven. Or cider, depending on your point of view.
Wednesday, 12 August 2020
We took a drive up on the plains to throw off a building affliction of cabin-fever (hahaha). The plants have filled in so much since I began visiting decades (cough cough) ago.
We encountered pretty full campgrounds by Lake Superior, including many tenters, and goodly crowds at all parking lots we went by with foot access to the beach. That’s far more people than we saw in the early summer when the same campgrounds were almost empty; granted: some were closed at that time.
We checked out blueberry plants by the Fox River (Hemingway was here, or dreamed he was here), and, as we’ve been told: lotsa no-berries. And here: no berries. Consistency in the wild crop.
On our return, we took the wildlife drive at Seney Refuge…pretty quiet as far as other human visitors…in contrast to up by the Lake. We did spot several swans, all dirty headed/necked from the tannic waters of the refuge impoundments. Also a few Canada geese. A pair of Sandhills. Assorted ducks. A large tern with a gaudy orange beak (Caspian?). A loon we were photographing and binocularizing called as we watched; nice touch, buddy!
Tuesday, 11 August 2020
First ground-flock of Canada geese I’ve spotted…preparing to fly south?
My hypothesis: the geese find the giant hay bales nurturing.
A fine shot of Queen Anne’s lace aka wild carrot, an invasive species from Europe and southwest Asia, to honor Joe’s VP pick: Kamala Devi Harris (October baby!, b. 1964), US Senator and former AG of CA.
Also in the news: Big Ten, Pac 12, more cancel fall football (that is: American football).
Wednesday, 5 August 2020
Tonight we ate veggies from the neighbors’ garden: mini-cucumbers, leaf lettuce, broccoli…all super-yum. We ate basil from our garden*…snipped atop a pasta-tomato sauce mixture [okay, I admit: the ingredients for that were from various groc stores].
I kinda think the basil made the main dish phenomenal!
* Our garden consists of basil…and a pair of barely rooted spearmint stems. So we pretty much harvested all we had! [Not enough of a garden to get through the winter….]
Monday, 3 August 2020
I’ve got two interesting pictures today, I thought, embarking on this post. This one has immediate punch. Color. Drama. Visual clout. Floral!
Yet, this one of the growth end of a cucumber plant is in many ways far more interesting. Look at that unfurling foliage drama! So much mystery unfurling pending. Flowers are lovely, but cucumber plants have flower AND produce food.
No honest way to compare the pair.
Saturday, 1 August 2020
I’ve been trying to snap this cluster of white birch trunks for a few days, and every time I bring them into focus they have a beige/brown cast on the screen that I don’t see in reality. I know I can remove that in post, but I kept trying to find a situation where the camera wasn’t “confused” by the color. Finally, this oblique angle (both me and the sun) produced relatively true color.
And this is a close-up (duh) of a mullein (Verbascum thapsus) leaf (top surface). The fuzziness appears like another world’s surface.
