Poetry and art?

I had some sort of epiphany while studying a certain type of photography. I've done macro before. I love macro in every sense because it fits with the world around me.

But I wanted to take it to the next level. 

Maybe Macro is the wrong word because it isn't truly macro macro like itty bitty insects and microscopic items [although I really love tiny tiny things to photograph!]. 

I think 'Artistically' different may be what I want to say or

...try.

I even decided to try my hand at creatively writing a blurb -- in the poetic sense to describe what the feeling was when I took the shot.

This whole process uses more thinking skills than I've previously done.

Maybe it is just a phase or a distraction to keep my mind occupied during the 'brown' month of November. It is fun though.

I sway
whispering secrets
untold
with the 
zephyr's sighing song...

The sun golden light

illuminates 

the last fern.

Autumn whispers...

Miss Aurora introduced me to her fascination of grasses a couple of years ago. Since then, I've stopped and looked at grasses and tried to figure out the best way to make them something special when seen through my camera lens.

Catching the sunlight
the grasses sway
in the wind
waiting for
the seasons to

pass

In a sense, that is exactly what grasses do. The have beautiful seed heads that the winds spread over the ground. The seeds wait for spring to arrive and sprout up with new life.

So fall in a sense is just a way for nature and plants to take a break so they can resume their jobs come spring.

These photos were taken while Aurora and I explored the Old Settler's Trail. I enjoy walking with another visual artist that introduces me to new ways of looking at nature's beauty.

And of course, I could not resist taking along our Minifigs to represent us hiking together.

How to take a photo of Minifigures in the wild by Aurora:

...with Charlie's help of course!

Have a safe and wonderful weekend.

Meanwhile

I keep enjoying the weather. It is cold, and earlier this week it was wicked. The Winds were blowing hard and this light and beautiful snow was falling.

I decided to take an early morning walk with Charlie. We hadn't been out in the woods for over a week and my feet were getting 'itchy' to wander.

The winds were so brutal in the open areas that I wore a balaclava and a pair of over the glasses goggles to keep my eyes protected from the cold winds. We made it to the Creek and enjoyed our time just wandering about and enjoying the fresh air out of the fierce winds.

There we are in our safety vests. I'd made some adjustments to Charlie's vest and now it doesn't impede his running or jumping. He and I are ready for winter hiking.

I took some of my characters with me. Big Foot wanted to find a nice tree for the village so he took one of the Polar Bears along. It looks like they found one!

Hobby, the photographer went along too. Gosh, it looks like her hair is getting grey just like mine! She always has her camera. [I painted her hair...]

[Hubby says she is me. She always has a camera in hand and is searching for something little to take photos of.]

I'd promised to make chocolate chip cookies for us [ewwww...baking!] so after shooting snowflakes on moss sporophytes, I headed towards home.

When I started putting together the cookies, I decided to see if my Lego folks could help. I discovered that I'd left Hobby in the forest! 

I was sort of elated that it would give me a second chance to head back out.

I know. I am crazy.

It was amazing that I found her exactly where I left her.

It seems someone needs to keep an eye on the Lego Village....

Uh oh, no one is watching the 
bears!

Looks like everyone is

gathering candy cane

decorations.

Snow Warrior and

a snowperson watch

And so it goes. Hope you are all having a good weekend.

Fungi and Chocolate Slime Mold?

I'm slowly trying to catch up with things while at the same time limit my 'screen' time. My eyes seem to tire very easily. So I am doing a lot of things to keep the eye strain down to a dull roar.

Crab Spider waiting to pounce on a woolly aphid aka known as a Fairy Fly...

Club Fungi close up and then with an SD card next to it for getting an idea of how small this was! [If you click on the photo, you should be able to see it much larger.]

I'm pretty happy about finding the club fungi. This was the very first time I'd found it and actually knew to look for it.

Old slime mold that has dried up.

Slug on a rotting stump with tube slime mold.

Drum roll please...

Chocolate Tube Slime Mold.
It has other names but I thought this was the neatest.

I'll wrap up with just a pretty little fungi that reminded me of an umbrella. It had a blue tint to it and by the afternoon it had drooped and 'melted'. I imagine it belongs to the tiny ink cap family.

I need to get back out tomorrow morning before the heat and humidity get too intense and look around on the logs.

I did watch Fantastic Fungi on Netflix today and the photography and time lapse photography was quite beautiful.

It was pretty interesting and if you like fungi and mushrooms it might be worth your time.
It also had some interesting interviews regarding the use of the ingredients of the Psilocybin Mushroom and PTSD and depression.

There are rains and storms predicted for tomorrow night so I may be out hunting the strange world of slime molds and fungi again this weekend.

Light Hunting & Bugs

 

Charlie followed me on a morning walk but won't go down the road where the Naughty Dog lives. He is a smart guy and doesn't forget things easily. He is probably smarter than I am.

I have to pick him up to go any further down the road. I'd only come to the ridge to hunt down morning light, dew drops, and spider threads.

The oats offered a great place to shoot but to get the light I wanted...

...I needed to walk past the Naughty Dog House. I decided to just go back down into our valley. I'd look in the Winter Paddock. 

There are tons of interesting things to see. 

Charlie was relieved and he hurried ahead of me.

It was another dew filled morning and I wanted to find connections and threads glistening in the morning light.

I don't usually go to the winter pasture as it is a mess of weeds. I know...mow it. True enough. I need a bulldozer first to level it. At present, it is a pasture of weeds, gullies, and rocks. The Dexter Cattle used to keep it clean as a whistle. 
If I could convince my neighbors to add their goats to the pasture I would. I'd even put in extra hot wires and a goat gate.
Oh well.

This was another Long Lens experiment. I should not have been  surprised at how easily I adapted to it. My father only had a long lens on his camera. He let me frame photos with it and pretend to take pictures. He had fun asking me to figure out the exposure and fstop for different situations. One of his mantras was sunny sky--- f11 at 125. 

There I go off on a tangent again.

It took a great deal of work and maneuvering, but I finally got those gossamer threads!

It was still early so I decided to hunt around for more cool things. Our heavy wet dew fall had added just enough moisture to the ground to produce some fungi.

It turned into a great day for hunting insects.

I did this while weeding and dead heading my flowers near the house. I used the macro lens for these shots.

I have waged a little war on the Japanese Beetles. I smack them off my 4 o'clocks into soapy water and watch them drown.

I'm mean aren't I?

I wish the birds would eat these. 

Today it is raining and cooling off. What a delight. The grass will grow and the yard will need mowing.

Well, we needed the rain and the pastures needed to grow!

Charlie and I will be packing for our short adventure this weekend.

Dam Hike and Forest Wandering

The photo above is the very infamous Dam Tower. Bill was marveling at its construction and how out of place it looked. There is a lot of great history and some NOT so great history of how this reserve came to be.

Local historian Brad Steinmetz has written a book on it. He also updates his blog about LaFarge once in a while. I find it interesting because I know the area fairly intimately now that I've lived here for nearly 30 years. I married a local so that affords me 'local' person status.

The Dam that Never Was is pictured here in a photo around 1975 when the dam project was stopped.

There is no photo of what it looks like now. But the dam tower is where Bill was standing. We are so happy the reserve exists. And on the other hand we keep in mind the heartache of those who lost their homes and farms to eminent domain so many years ago. The dam tower stands as a reminder of this controversy that still exists today.

We looped around the ponds close to the visitor center. Bill had never hiked these trails yet. We were able to see some Sandhill Cranes.

Geese and Turtles

We really enjoyed the casual walk along the river bottom. It was warm yet because it is so dry here now, there were no bugs! Charlie had a tough time with the heat and the tall grass. He did ask for a 'lift' and I obliged. 

We took a rest at covered bridge #18 and ate apples which we both shared chunks with Charlie. He is foodie dog. He will eat whatever a human eats that includes lettuce and tomatoes!

We found blood roots and a variety of wildflowers growing in the shadier areas. 

When I got home Rich asked me if I'd go out and look for Morel mushrooms. There probably wouldn't be any, it is early and it is very dry. Dry enough to have a Red Flag Warning for Saturday.

However, who am I to turn down a chance to muck around in the forest? I put my macro lens on my camera and filled a water bottle. The best things in life are being able to wander about the creek and the land without any chore that needs doing. 

No watch...
and I left my cell phone at home. 

I really didn't want to be checking the time anyway.
Within ten feet on either side of the creek, things are bright green from the moisture in the air. Away from the creek the forest looks pretty dry and the dominant color is still brownish. 

Ferns are beginning to uncurl and seek sunlight using the moisture trapped under the heavy layers of dead leaves that cover the soil.

At least there is that.

On the ridges and fields dust devils are whirling about.

But on the rocks in the creek I found some moss preparing to spread its spores.

I found Bishop's Caps but no Morels. 

Near the top of the ridge the wild strawberries were blossoming.

In the summer pasture I found so many things going on with insects. I waited forever for this ant to pull up his/her head but it was so busy collecting pollen!

And then...

Hello Bee !
I took a lot of shots to get one I liked.

And a side view of this little creature.

I never paid much attention to insects until the last few years when I decided that it would be a fun challenge to photograph them. I have been inspired by some incredible work I've seen others do.

There it is.

Being curious again.

I liked wandering. I found nothing but neat little things.

 

Colorful Nature in March

I generally think of March and November as very dull months. I call them the brown months, months without color and excitement. Dull so darned dull.

Winter brown. This is the neighbor's road up on the ridge surrounded by cropland.

See?

A few weeks ago I was browsing some new books to read. A friend had recommended Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer. So I was just looking through the titles and came upon the moss and lichen books. A comment was made that even in the dead of winter, one can find moss and lichen.

That was a bit of an Ah-Hah! moment. Just as finding fungi are incredibly fun and interesting, I thought Why not Lichen and Moss? Boy was I in for it. Moss is so hard to ID without a microscope. However I am beginning to see the tiny differences in the plants and learn where different mosses do grow, as well as Lichen.

And best of all? I have found color in March!

Sunday morning Charlie and I went to the cropland on the ridge to watch the sun arrive. Bringing along coffee to sip on was a great idea!

The day was supposed to get very windy with wind gusts up to 40 mph. So after morning chores and breakfast, I set out to catch some morning light in the woods below the house.

I couldn't get over the beautiful colors highlighted by the morning sun.

Then there was the pretty blue-green colors of the Lichen I found...

I think I can safely say that I think I recognized a moss called ... Common name: American Tree Moss. Scientific name [generalized]: Climacium americanum.
Of course there are multiple kinds of this moss.

I find it easily this time of year because it is so brilliantly green when everything surrounding it is brown. I found a several patches of it above the spring on a north facing hillside. The morning sun lit up the green like a beacon.

And then I doubt myself of course when I find two similar but different mosses.

It sure looks like I need to really learn quite a bit more. No one said this was going to be easy. But it sure is fun.

For those who like Fungi, I was sent a fascinating video on Fungi by a fungi friend on Flickr --- say that 3 times fast!

Stephen Axford: How fungi changed my life

It is a 30 minute video with time lapse photography and some of Stephen's most incredible photos of fungi all over the tropical world. It was interesting enough that even my husband watched it with me.

Now on to mundane things. Chores and pasture cleaning for today.