Summer Daze and part of the weekend.

 Hot and mug-gley are the words for the weekend. Our friend did come. Jason has been a good guest and has enjoyed keeping Rich company with his stories and discussions.

Our upstairs doesn't have A/C so Jason made a DIY unit out of ice/cooler/rechargeable fan, and foam board. 
It works. It sort of looks like this and uses ice and a fan that can run on a battery or plug in if you prefer. 

What can I say? 
Ingenious.
His looks a bit different. He used foam for a lid and pulled or left the original lid open so he could still use it as a cooler.

I think he used a 10lb bag of ice and set things up.

I did get out and watch some more of those amazing fireflies. I was hoping the sky would clear off so I could also see the Milky Way again. No such luck.

Early Saturday morning while it was still cool, we went for a hike down the new logging trail next door and scoped out two spots Jason thought there should be more underground caves. 30 some years ago there was a 'hole' or entrance in one of the fields at the edge of the woods near a long dry run.

I was pretty sure that it had been filled in with a bulldozer by Mike around 29 years ago when the loggers had last visited and the landowner decided it was a hazard to his cattle.

The way out was a long and slow hike as Jason is still recovering from his surgery last month. He hasn't been able to get out and hike much due to some restrictions. I have photos from out adventure. Some in Infrared and some from my little red Oly TG6 [tough] camera. I keep forgetting what a great little camera it is for getting both landscape and macro shots.

Once again, under the forest canopy was the place to be. There was a very slight breeze and the ground under the trees was much cooler than that in the sunny field. Of course ... I found cool fungi. What else?

Coral Slime Mold and Coral Fungi...

The white 'coral slime mold' is as tall as the width of a nickel for size reference.

That is...small!

Jason has issues with heat and humidity doesn't help.

We took a short on the way back home and decided to take an old snowmobile trail. However. In June the trail is very narrow, the grasses and weeds are as tall as I am. 

AND...it was full of Parsnip that was flowering. Just this, the hiking challenge in the heat and humidity got a bit trickier.

After I dropped Jason off back at the house I went out for a while in the woods to have some serious quiet time. 
No conversations, no one else. Just me, the oppressive heat and old logs with amazing things growing from them and in other places ... interesting things growing up from the ground or wood chunks and roots under the dirt.

The fungi growing above is seeming to grow out of the dirt, but they could be growing out of roots or sticks. I don't know exactly what they are. They look like coral fungi, but when I look at the one below that is growing on a log, they look pretty different.

Another shot of some of the coolest and strangest looking fungi. Deadman's fingers. I found an old oak log that had been around for years. Deadman's Fungi was growing along each side of the log for the length of it. 

I've never seen that before. I couldn't get a shot of it without clearing most of the plants alongside each side of the log.

When I got back I changed into dry work clothes and started to mow the yard. I didn't finish, but finally quit and decided to cool off and eat supper.

When darkness fell, the guys went to bed and I laid down for a bit. At midnight I woke up and decided to visit with the fireflies.

The shot above was shooting east from the driveway into the neighbor's meadow. I just loved the designs the Fireflies made in the darkness. I sat on the driveway and just admired the night. The owls were busy talking and echoing through the forest.

The clouds had moved in so the stars were rather faint and I was disappointed that I could see the Milky Way.

I thought I'd try a shot up our driveway. It took two shots with two exposures and then blending them together to be able to see the driveway on the ground.

It's faint but one can see it. I did get some stars too to the south. Clouds were moving across the sky making for places that the stars were blotted out.
The result of a slightly over exposed shot and a regular LiveComp shot resulted in this shot below.
Not perfect or stellar. But I am working slowly at a way to do better.

Oddly enough, I wasn't tired and I was very relaxed while enjoying the night. It was just me, the snorting deer, in the forests, and the silent fireflies.
What more can one ask for.

Good morning Friday...oh and Saturday too.

I'm giving up on the weed fight. The neighbor's on the other side of the fence don't cut the huge meadow [we used to cut it a long time ago for them and we pastured our mares on it].

The invasive species that keeps drifting onto our land is maddening. This particular area, I would love to have as a 'yard' or picnic area. Right now the mules keep the grasses down and this spring I twice weed whacked the invasive plants. It is too hot to go after them right now with the dew point and temps being the same...along with 80-90% humidity. 

It is like breathing through a wet washcloth pressed to your face.

I may have it professionally brush hogged next year a couple of times and eventually try to reseed this area into a yard. 

Ok. 
I can dream, right?

That swing is one I made last year and I still use it. 

In the afternoon I went out to assess the storm damage from the last few days. One huge old oak came down in one of the sections of the forest without damaging anything. 

I found the mules in the darkest part of the forest where it felt much cooler than anywhere else. It was tolerable.

Some of the downed logs from many years ago were sprouting slime molds and beautiful coral fungi.

I went further into another section that is above the creek and found the 'ridge trail' completely blocked by an old cherry tree that came down. The tree took several smaller trees with it.

Come this fall when the weather is more conducive to working outdoors, I'll take my saw and just make a re-route around the fallen tree through the brambles. I'm not going to pay someone to come back out with a bulldozer and redo the ridge road. I'll let the next folks who own this place do what they wish. 

I can get by with deer trails for my adventures.

The moth below is called a Blessing Moth [common name]. They are pretty beautiful and I don't see them very often.

Our friend Jason, the Geologist is coming for a weekend visit. Both Rich and I are really looking forward to it. Jason can cook a fantastic meatless meal and his company is always interesting.

We had a busy busy Friday but things look quieter for the weekend. Jason is not one we have to entertain. We can just hang out and enjoy.

Have a nice quiet weekend.

Any day is a good day...

....to try fishing....

 

It was hot and humid but the guys hung out for a long time on the dock they were at. Finally we decided to go get something eat where we could sit down ... and get a wheelchair into. Oddly enough, one doesn't realize how hard a wheelchair is get in and out of places.

I thought I knew it...but until we experienced the difficulties, it wasn't obvious.

I spotted his stuffed fish and purchased it when I paid for the meal. I couldn't resist giving it to Rich to tell him that he could NOW say he caught a keeper.

The ol' coots just howled with laughter...

...and then hubby decided to wear it in his pocket for the rest of the day.

Steve took us the scenic route back home and I enjoyed just sitting in the back seat and watching out the window at the scenery and the clouds.

Storms were developing by the time we got home and Steve took off.

I hurried around the place and got the chores done and rearranged the porch so that nothing would blow around in the predicted winds.

Then I set up the cell phone on a tripod and thought I'd try a time lapse of the incoming storm.

I knew it was going to be bad storm by the way the mules reacted [which you can't see in the video]. They ran bucking to a corner of the pasture and huddled with their butts to the winds.

And that was the end of our very warm, muggy, and eventful day.

Looking back through my files and years of photos, I have more photos of my husband fishing than I have of him doing anything else.

Where does your imagination come from?

I've always made up stories. As a kid it wasn't making up stories for attention, but we'd play we'd pretend. There was the time my sister and I got permission to wander into  Uncle Stanley's forest...

...but were told to keep an eye out for Uncle's Bull. Apparently the bull was not privy to humans. We crossed the barbed wire fence and picked berries. While we were eating, my sister and I kept a sharp eye out for the Bull. I don't think he was in the same area as we were. I really think if Uncle had a bull he'd have been be kept with the cows which were in a different section of land. I think my mom and grandmother were pulling our legs.

But as young kids, we didn't know any of that.

So my sister and I scouted out a tree or two that we could climb in case the Mad Bull [as we called him] showed up. We timed each other from the tree through the barbed wire fence to see how fast we could run it. We practiced climbing the tree quickly.

And then we sat in the tree on sticky summer days eating what berries we could find and told stories of encounters with the Mad Bull. My stories would get more elaborate with each visit to that pasture. In one story, I had the Mad Bull breathe fire and chomp down the tree we had escaped to. That ended our forays into Uncle Stanley's woods for the rest of that summer.

We built Troll Houses out of sticks stuck in the ground. Anyone recall the original trolls that were all the rage in 1960's? We had one troll each. Eventually we had a few more. But our first trolls had black hair. We loved them and I rubbed my little guy with soot from grandmother's wood stove to make him look more wild.

We played all summer with those trolls. Everywhere we went, they went with us. I'd narrate what my troll was experiencing. We preferred them naked or if we could find a piece of scrap material, we'd make them loin cloths.

The point is, even on a car drive, I'd look out the window on family car trips and imagine a story to go along with the travel. In my mind's eye I could see a unicorn, Pegasus, or dragon alongside the car racing up and down the hills and through the trees. It was a way to stay quiet and busy on long car journeys. 

As a kid in school I often got in trouble for day dreaming. I'd look out the window of the classroom and be transported to another place [much nicer! ... not doing math, history, or spelling!]

Sometime around 6th grade I started to pay more attention to school. My parents were happy and my grades went to straight A's mostly. I still played but stopped the day dreaming in classes. Doing well in school was more important than my 'daydreaming' world was.

Summers at the cottage started in June and went to Labor Day weekend. We stayed in a 2 room cottage with cold running water, no TV, and an old radio. No phone. Imagine that? My grandparents had a phone across the way at their house. 

We worked the 'truck' garden with my grandparents and mom. We visited our cousins. We read books and we learned to entertain ourselves with just a few toys [like the trolls]. We truly were 'disconnected' from the world in the summers.

My father was a huge influence in my life. I didn't think so at the time. But I recall during the school year when he'd take me to his office on school breaks, I'd get to see how HE worked. He wrote ads for television for Leo Burnett in Chicago. He wrote the fun ones. I recall one time when I was in his office after lunch. Dad said he needed a new idea for a commercial.

He shut his office door and laid out on the floor and shut his eyes. I had a drawing pad, so I just kept quiet and drew some things. [I was not much of an artist]

After about 15 minutes he opened his eyes and got up, he made some quick notes on a pad of paper and said he found his new story or idea for another 30 second spot. His method was quirky. He didn't think of anything and then suddenly some idea would pop into his head. 

When doing photography, he was very detailed with the light meter, film speed, f stop, and framing. I think that was his way of relaxing and letting his brain go on chill mode. Often he'd let me do the metering for him and I'd guess at the f stop. I didn't realize what I was learning at the time.

What I learned was that dad was spontaneous in his creativity and imagination.

On a visit to Virginia in 2000, we stopped at a pull out along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Dad pointed to a rock and we both started laughing with the same idea. Dad walked over to a huge rock and said, "Make it look like I am pushing this boulder."

I did. I shot the photo and he walked back to me brushing his hands on his pants. "Well, it was good we stopped here so I could straighten that rock out!" 

We laughed. He was a fun partner for my spontaneous adventures.

In 2001 on our final trip together, I had him ham it up for me more than once. He didn't feel silly sitting on a bench and engaging in a conversation with a statue. 

Dad said they had a very nice conversation.

Of course you did Dad!

I still find myself daydreaming. I'll be doing something important like doing chores and I'll turn my head and see something ~~ an idea pops into my head and I'll get an idea.

That's just how my brain works. 

Rocks and sticks can be fun...especially on very hot days or very cold days.

I suppose some people arrange flowers...

I arrange ... fantasy and imagination...

Maybe it is just my way of dealing with caring for my husband.

Hot Hot!

Things to do when it is unbearable outside. Bring some outside into the house. Since I was having fun with the candle holders, I thought I'd expand to sticks and bark. Using glue, moss, and some funky crafty items, I got busy.

and then of course I had to imagine what would take place on this piece of bark.

and I took it a step further. 
Since my 'photo table' had to be moved out, I haven't had a good place to do indoor dioramas are creations. However I muddled through and had to avoid the concentrator and avoid stepping on the 02 lines...
but I made it work.

I ended up putting the items on a box and using a cutting board that was made from an Italian Olive Tree for the backdrop.

I kept messing around and finding more interesting ways of using my decorated sticks and roots.

I went out after the sun went down and decided to watch Fireflies. On the forest edge, they were abundant in the tall grasses.

You may have to click on the photo to see
the driveway...4 minute Livecomp
exposure.

...and on to the week of somewhat cooler temps but a lot of predicted rain....

Another Exciting ... Day!

 Of course there has to be fungi, slime molds, alligators, rocks, fishies, rain, picnic, and fishing involved.

I went out early to find my fungi friends and admire slime molds. Yeah, I am strange but I love the beautiful world of the odd things in the forest.

Chocolate Tube Slime mold ... with mold on top of it!

Coral Slime Mold...finger for perspective.

With all the wet and humid weather I have found lots of Deadman's Fingers growing near many of the old oak tree logs. These logs have been on the ground for nearly 20 years. You won't find these on newly downed logs.

This is a curiosity.

It is called Shotgun Fungi/ Shotgun Slime Mold/ Artillery Fungus/ Hat Throwing Fungus... this particular kind grows on Equine Manure.

 I know, gross, but kind of cool. 

The spores can be ejected up to 18 feet.

What it looks like from a distance. What can I say?...

It is so cool and weird at the same time.

This rainy humid weather is awful for so many things. However, it delights me to scrounge around the forest and look for bizarre things.

Not so bizarre is finding Oyster Mushrooms and bringing them home for a side dish.

Wednesday was fishing day.

 Getting Rich to the table was an extra human effort since he can barely walk. But Steve and I got him there. Rich did catch a Bullfish.

Ewww, he tossed it back. Here he is wearing a clear poncho as there was a light rain. He son took it off because it wasn't bothersome.

While the guys fished and Steve baited for Rich and assisted him, I walked around to enjoy the views.

I did spot Cormorants, but they were far way. I've never seen them before so it was fun to watch them fish. I did grab this shot of the Blue Heron that saw me. Mostly, I just walked around and enjoyed watching the guys fish.

The skies looked threatening but only gave us a light drizzle on and off.

Of course, I had to get my Lego folks out.

This is the ME minifig and Charlie....

You never know what to expect at the river!

Be Careful!

Steve is now used to my Lego Antics. When we got Rich to another spot, we really had to struggle to get him through some loose rocks.

This was a good spot and they had a lot of fun watching the turtles try to take the worms. 

Rich did catch a fish!

There was a lot of laughter for that.

Here was my Lego scenario for the trek through the loose rocks.

Life in Hospice can be interesting and bittersweet.

One knows that time is probably short. However it is also a time to shine with friends and family.

I don't know how to explain it. But this time has been more joyful. Pain is managed, and our main goal is comfort and doing things for the patient. Rich looks forward to the times Steve shows up and things happen.

Our Grand daughter Ariel will come for the holiday weekend and stay over. She wants to cook another supper for us and just hang out. 

I wonder what we may do next week? Rich was really tired out from this fishing trip and it took him a full day of naps to recover. However, he is looking forward to the next adventure.