Sunday

The early bird gets the sunrise as the days grow longer. The colors are so amazing in the sky as they change so quickly.

In truth, this past week has felt more like mid March or the beginning of April than the last week of February. A year ago we were recovering from a major ice/snowstorm. This year? It is warm and pleasant.
In the morning I need coveralls to do chores. By midday, I can work outside in a sweatshirt.

I started this job:

Believe me, it will be a long long job to do. But since I can't plant a garden yet, raking, picking up sticks and stones will be a good job for me. It is good mindless work that can be done while listening to the birds and the forest noises.

I took a couple of breaks to go out and search for color in the woods. It is hard this time of the year as everything seems to be dull and lifeless.
Except when you look for Lichen and mosses. Then things get colorful.

During our morning walk Charlie and I found snow and ice on the mosses!

...and by a little after lunch time....

The Lichen was quite beautiful. But one has to pick up sticks or crouch down on a look to find the colors.

On a stick:

Lichen and moss on a log. It was so colorful!

Late Sunday afternoon, I took time to just sit on the porch with Charlie and enjoy the warm sunshine.

Charlie enjoyed it immensely.

It seems as though the ducks are starting to try and behave themselves.

Hmmm. There is one in every crowd.

Colors in December & Winter's Solstice

I do love the fact that the month of December gives me an opportunity to enjoy tons of beautiful lights indoors and so many things to practice Still Life with.

The felted snowman and the little ceramic tree were items I used to decorate my MIL's room when she was in the Nursing Home.

Gnomes. Well, since I live in a Nordic part of Wisconsin, we all love Gnomes. You can't go anywhere without seeing Gnomes and Trolls in gift stores.

I am searching for a gnarly looking troll to add to my collection.

I did get out for some hiking this week. I went out with one thing in mind. To find some December Colors.

Along Old Hwy 131 at the Kickapoo Valley Reserve --> Highbush Cranberry!

Along a deer trail at home on a gloomy day ----> Multiflora Rose 

When I got down to the creek bed I sat on rocks and looked for some teenie tiny things. This log lays across the rocks and the place where the creek flows in wetter years.

So I got up close and personal with the moss. 

Powderhorn Lichen. Those tips should turn bright red and 'flower' in February!

This grey lichen was found on an old oak log. The tree had been blown down late in the year in 2018. It is near the Powderhorn lichen I photographed above but a different log.

A common name is Rosette Lichen. I think. Since I am no expert, this is a pretty good guess.

Mosses and Lichens are pretty easy to spot in the winter since there are no leaves to hide them!

Happy Winter's Solstice!

It was too overcast to enjoy a beautiful sunrise, so I will give you this one from a few years ago!

November beauties

I'm still trying to make sure that November will not be that bleh month. I'm working hard at it by spending time outdoors and searching for things that are beautiful.

Usually by now we have a first snowfall and the ice is forming on the grasses in the creek bottom. Not so this year.  The mornings are frosty and the days are tolerable.

On our last very gloomy and overcast day, I decided to go out and look for something. Anything.

These trees I think are Hop Hornbeam trees which are also known as Ironwood.

Every tree speaks to me
fluttering from an Autumn Tree
~~Emily Bronte

I saw it as a plain old tree with startling leaves in the understory of the woods. Some of these trees are low enough that the winds don't take away all of their leaves in the winter. 

From there I started to hunt for little things. You know, that stuff you step over when you go for a walk.

The mossy log that shines with a brilliant green now that summer has passed into recent memory. 

The lichen with moss on dead wood.

The browned leaves of ferns that glow orange in the late afternoon sun.

I came home after that hike and felt I'd given November a pretty good effort but found it a bit wanting.

I came home and thought about this season again. I checked my email and had an update from OM Systems [formerly Olympus Cameras]. Since I am an OM user, I get emails for different events and 'how to' videos that explain how to get more use out of your camera.

The email was titled 'it's in our Nature'.
Specifically it addressed Kacho Fugetsu which is an old Japanese philosophy that translates loosely into Flower, Moon, Wind, and Bird. 

OM's philosophy is to go out and do continuous self discovery through nature.

Of course I know it is advertising and promotion of their products. Discover yourself through photography.

They had four little videos to watch. I was rather inspired by the words of the video. They stirred something in me that made me want to go out and find something intensely wonderful with my camera.

From the video... a few sentences 

I am everywhere...

above you in the canopy
and nestled right at 
your 
feet...

For you 
I drape the world 
in splendor
embellishing every valley
and forest
with marvels hoping that you
upon your arrival

capture my essence...

Link: Flower

I ended up with some motivation to go find something unique.

This is not my normal work, but it is a place I am  at the moment to trying something different out to see how it feels.

It combines a longer lens used in the sense of a macro lens and creating a depth of field that gives the viewer one thing to look at. That item can be mundane in a way, but unusual in how it was photographed. The best days for this kind of photography are heavily overcast days.

Tiny Fungi:

Spent Golden Rod through brush:

A dead fleabane flower in the pasture:

Rain droplets on Powderhorn Lichen:

There is so much to see out there before the snowfall will cover it up and then I'll have to change up my focus again.

That's okay, it is the best way to stay fresh and explore.

Spring Surprises

Symplocarpus foetidus

aka Skunk Cabbage!

I had never heard of Skunk Cabbage until I moved to this area. I'm sure they can be found in forests near damp places around the state. Now I search for them every year to see how early the present themselves.

The earliest I've found them has been March 18th. The latest I found them just coming up was around April 15th.

The Common Powderhorn Lichen seemed revived with the moisture from the rain and melting snow.

Everything is mostly brownish and muddy right now so the lichen and moss are the colorful items in the woods.

I just love the name of this. Snakeskin Liverwort. It looks like dragon skin but grows mixed in with mosses. It is hard to spot too.

And then there was another surprise in my mailbox. I opened the box and found a mass of bubble wrap and I thought that as pretty funny. Perhaps someone thought I needed more for a suit of armor.

I unwrapped the bubble wrap and found a small figure that came with a card describing it.

Into the Woods
with BIG FOOT

Keep calm, stay wild
and squatch on.
Get lost in the woods
and have some fun!

Enjoy your journey,
one step at a time.
Believe in yourself,
everything will be fine.

I have a new pal to journey with. I showed it to hubby who just shook his head and laughed when I explained it.

Then I told him I was going 'Squatching'. 

I think that is a perfect made up word for what I love to do, explore the forest.

Get Lost

 

Get lost

in the world of tiny things...in the rain....

I mean look at this beautiful scenery!
See? Brown Season!

Hubby thought I was nuts.

I decided to do a bit of wandering under the oaks and maples in the meadow before heading down to explore.

Who am I kidding? I was randomly following the dog who was randomly following his nose.

I should say that I was practicing DayDream Walking. You know, a way to get into that Zen World of Photography. Be aware of things but be nowhere in your head unless a pattern catches your eye.

I guess I was doing that in a way. Just slowly walking between multiflora rose thorns, blackberry thorns, and small trees mixed in with the detritus of the forest floor.

I stopped and watched the woods for a while. I saw a doe far off leap up the opposite bank of the creek and head into the prickly ash area. I thought she picked a good place to disappear.

We stopped at a favorite log of mine on the forest floor. It has three different mosses on it and some Common Powderhorn Lichen. 

All summer I worried as the moss and Lichen dried out and looked as if it was dying. However with the fall moisture from drastic day/night temperature changes, and the rains, it has come back strong and beautiful.

I am in love with the bright cheery colors, it looks as though the mosses are decorating with Christmas colors of red and green.

Here is a close up of the Lichen with raindrops balanced on the edges. The second is a crop so you can see the forest above reflected in the drop.

30mm macro lens
f 3.5
800 ISO

The macro world is so full of surprises. I sat on the log as Charlie sniffed around near me. That is, until the dampness seeped through my coveralls. 

I couldn't believe my luck when I got to the creek.

Droplets of water were everywhere. The log below ....

gave me this!

I walked down the creek a bit further looking for some more Lichen.

I got lost in a maze of logs with amazing droplets perching on the capsules. Well, I used to call them Moss Flowers but that isn't technically correct.

It wasn't until the rain started up again that I seemed to come out the spell of Enchantment the moss had on me.

So much to see! I was enthralled by the way the droplets hung on the moss capsules. I didn't want to leave at all. 

I wanted to stay lost in logs and mosses and see if the Forest Fairy I'd disturbed would come back and eat his/her fungi!