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!

Curiosity overrides...

I listened to a doctor on the radio expressing his ideas regarding anxiety and depression in our world today. I sort of half assed listened as I was driving to go get my new glasses.

But a few points that he did talk about in the interview was how the curious mind beats down anxiety and depression. I thought Peeshaw...Pfft, he doesn't know what he is talking about. 

But then I thought about the general idea of Curiosity. Why in the middle of a Pandemic while living with my significant other did I constantly fight the blues? Sure I know it is the result of being a CareGiver. But some days the Blues were simply an unforgiving weight. Should I give in or fight it? 

Fight.

I needed a new purpose. 

I needed to do some wandering with a purpose. 

Like...what is this called? 

I know it is moss, but what about moss? What about Moss Life cycles?
I began a search and decided to order a book on moss and a book on lichen.

Suddenly, I found myself very Curious. I'd spent so much time in the woods hunting Fungi, wild plants, and insects, but never really paid any attention to things like Lichen. As far as I was concerned they were fungi. I was SO wrong!

Why did I get the feeling of calm and satisfaction while wandering the woodlands looking for interesting tiny things to photograph and go home to identify and take notes on? Why did using the skills of a Naturalist keep me sane?

[By the way, the new glasses are incredible! I can see things clearly for the first time in months in the distance again! Wow!]

Powdery Sunburst Lichen
Such a pretty name for such a tiny thing. This was found on the trunk of an oak tree.

Common Antler Lichen on top of 

Sinewy Bushy Lichen.

All found on a twig in the forest.

I laid the twig on a log of moss for the photo. 

Researchers don't know why we get such a high over learning. I do. My mind is taking a break from the problems I face every day at home. It is directing all of its energy into trying to figure out how to recognize different plants. 

It is true. My anxiety and blahs, disappear when hunting interesting things in the forest. 

I knew that by setting out to examine another aspect of the forest around me, it would lead to calm days and clear thinking. 

I think I knew this before and that is why I wander about so much in the forest. It gives my brain time to chill out and relax.

The scientists say that when the brain is engaged in curious learning the pleasure part of the brain is LIT up. 
Maybe that is why I am so reluctant to step through the door after being outside.

This is one of my favorite photos of moss. The white specs are grains of sand. I used the microscopic mode on my Tough TG6 camera to capture this.
I have no idea what these are called. From what I understand there are 12 thousand species of moss. Most moss ID depends on a microscope.

So I will be happy to continue to find beautiful mosses and lichen because I am curious and little things like this make me happy.

I may even figure out what kind or species of moss this is one day.

Let's stand up and applaud curiosity. 

New project?

I enjoyed creating the little stick 'fairy house' last weekend. I did some more reading about how to reuse common household items and turn them into more fairy type houses.

One style that I thought was interesting, was putting tiny rocks on a container. Okay. So how does one do that? I mean how can rocks stick to clay or plastic?
I watched some videos and gathered some information. Try double sided heavy duty stick tape to adhere rocks to the plastic. Then spread grout or something similar around it.
Think of tiling but on an object instead of a wall.

I decided to go for a walk yesterday because the weather was just so darned nice! It was 48 degrees. The mules were sleeping in the sun, Rich was napping, so it just seemed like a good idea to wander down to the creek. Charlie had to stay home, the coyotes are really running now during the day time.

And...because I like to do things differently, I took my Infrared Camera to see if I could actually get some interesting shots in the winter.

Yes, it was interesting, the oak leaves did reflect light back and so did the clouds.
I had a filter on that doesn't record color. So I was really going for strict black and white. I'm not sure I like or dislike it. It is just interesting.

When I got to the creek it was obvious that there was a melt going on but it wasn't a gushing gully washer. There would have to be another very warm and sunny day to create that.
It was very slippery so just wandered slowly around and peered at things. Like moss and rocks.

I found some interesting bark that was dry. I peeled it off the branch and dropped it into a plastic bag I always carry with me. I sat down and sorted through some tiny rocks bits too.

I wasn't sure of what exactly I was doing, but an idea was shaping up in my brain.

Later I sorted things out and ...
I wondered how I might attach the interesting bark to the sour cream container. A used pill bottle could be an oversized chimney?

And the rocks?

A tiny rock wall?
A walkway?

Should I make this little house on top of the lid? Then I could take the whole works out to the garden and set it on a planter or a stump.

And there is this styrofoam package that my tree statue came in. I'd seen someone used styrofoam to make 'fake' rocks.

So many possibilities.

The bark didn't work out very well so I used some Gorilla Brand two sided tape. I put the tape on the plastic carton.

The tape works very well and was almost easier than using hot glue. I filled in the cracks with some DAP Kwik Seal Silicon Adhesive Calk. So much for the plumber side of me!

I used some of the super tape on top of the plastic carton, then added the top of a laundry soap container. I'll add clay and acorns to it I think.
The caulk will need some touch ups with acrylic paint.


Now I have to wait for the caulk to dry before I go to the next step.

Sole Searching

Gotcha!

But I couldn't help think that when I found this sole from an old boot in the creek today.

We had flash flooding again this past week and I went down today to look around and well, ... just get a bit lost in nature after the hectic week I've had.

This 'sole' is familiar, I've seen it further up the creek in years past. So I thought it quite funny to find that it had moved with the flash flood to another area of the creek.  I think in all it has moved about 250 feet with this summer's floods.

Some things move great distances. Not this rubber sole.

I really went searching for cool fungi. Of course if you search for something, sometimes you cannot find it. So I quit looking and decided to just climb rocks in the big wash and enjoy the peace of the woods.

The little creek itself was pretty amazing. The water was so clear.

I'd seriously think about this as a wading spot to cool off if it gets hot again.

It just seems so inviting.

No, I did not bring Morris along on this little walk. We've had a pair of wolves sited near by. I'm not in fear for Morris, but if I am super distracted I don't keep track of him and ... well... I was afraid that I'd be distracted quite a bit on this little hike.

I guess I didn't want to worry about him. I'd been personally a bit stressed over a few things and wanted to do the 'chill out' thing.

That is exactly what I ended up doing. I followed the deer trail to the end of the property then decided to take the 'dry run' back down to the creek.
I took my time and didn't consult my watch.

Imagine my delight when I saw "NO Service" on my cell phone. I was happy then.

The coyotes are pretty active right now and I found quite a few of their tracks. I admire their stealth and cunning. Some farmers around here have had a lot of trouble with coyotes.
Our Dexter cattle don't seem to be intimidated by them. Especially the horned moms.
They will chase down a strange dog in their pasture and try to gore them.

[They are used to Morris...no worries there..] They are small but they are tough!

Valerie has some awesome horns, and she is not shy about using them.  That is a plus and a minus. But I'd rather her be aggressive with dogs than let them attack.

Anyway...

I went rock walking. Not really climbing, just rock walking.

The flash flooding cleaned out this section of the dry run very nicely. I spent quite a bit of time here just enjoying the sounds of the forest above me and the noise of the water still trickling down through the rocks from the ridge above me.

...Same rocks just a different camera angle.

I really liked it here and I think I spent a lot of time just sitting and daydreaming.

I eventually decided to climb the rest of the way down and head towards home.

Imagine my surprise when I found out that I'd been wandering...daydreaming...for over 3 hours.

I however did find a lot of slugs. And I found some orange colored lichen. I thought this was my prettiest find of the day.
It wasn't fungi. It was the Slug Fest.