upskirting the shrooms, lost in reflections, the tenacity of birch

We've been back in Vermont for what, eight months and change now? And not til today did my friend G. and I get out into the woods together. 

Shelf mushrooms on a downed log, looking first the one way...

...and then t'other.

I'd left the Mighty Lumix in Kevin's car...or at least I hope that's where it is, since I can't find it... so I had only the phone with me and lo, it gets stubborn and refuses to focus on what I think is important.

THE FIRST OPENING BEECH LEAF OF THE SEASON! 

...or, as the phone observes, G's derriere as she forges ahead on the trail.

Likewise, it was hopeless to get a shot of the underside of these spring ephemerals...

...though I had fun trying. Heaven help me, I didn't even get enough info to key this out later. It might be a hepatica. Dunno. 

More shrooms on a log...

 

...and the undersides...

These are some woods, apparently formerly farmed as evidenced by stone walls hither and yon, that G's neighbors own. They are kind enough to maintain a network of trails, which we sometimes kept to and sometimes didn't.

G. found us a vernal pool. We got lost in the reflections for a while.

Last but not least, a downed yellow birch, gigantic root ball exposed, but it sent up shoots all along its length that appear to be flourishing.

Tis raining. My sweet boy is in London on a bidness trip and the hour of FaceTime approacheth. Hurry home, angel... hurry home. Spring awakens all around us.

on showing up. (also, drunk chorus girl mushrooms.)

IT SNOWED!!!

please to note the green angel hovering in the space above the garage door. why wouldn’t angels take the form of optic glare and whatnot inside a camera? may as well show up somewhere, right?

ahhhh, the fog is burning off. nice.

thank god for goldenrod.


mmmmmm, MMMMM! oh hey: two more angels, one white, one amber. (yes, that was my brain you just heard, realizing that in the 3D, that orb of amber light must be between the leaves and the lens.)


gentian. you’ve seen gentian here before. I know this isn’t pretty, but hey: it’s a friend, and the process of turning all this stuff back into Basic Matrix Substance has to happen somehow, right? here it is.


the snow was melting this whole time – it was sunny, but sounded like it was raining.
I went back inside briefly.

some people know what it’s all about.


and back out we go. wish I knew what this guy is. grrrr.


same species. just not as tall.


could you be any more beautiful?
and now for a closer look at the flower stalks when there are more layers of them:


after this, I tried a series of head-on shots into the individual flowers. there was not enough light – I gave up, and went with a side portrait:

what do you think? pretty, no?


onwards to the intricacies of leaf decay.


happy moss, just after the winter solstice. so much green poking up.


jaunty little buggers.


moss, moss, everywhere.


I believe this is a fallen bird’s nest.
still with me? and now for an obsessive series about a shelf mushroom.



speaking of jaunty.


awww, a heart! these are all the same type of mushroom, I’m pretty sure, growing on a downed branch, that can’t make up their mind between standing up straight, as shown above…

…or sprawling flat like a lichen. This one’s doing both. “Bartender! Another beer!”


this one looks like it’s waking up from a nap.


others happily dangle upside down. there was a whole chorus line of this sort:

(I don’t know about you, but I keep hearing “New York, New York”.)


others engaged in competitive napping.


this makes me so happy.

While playing with these mushrooms, I came across a convocation of moss reproductive spores.

like so.
these guys are super-elusive to photograph close-up.

this is the best I could do. I’m not sure why: they’re tiny, to be sure, but a lot of stuff I photograph is tiny. I think part of it is the camera tends to be in love with all the texture that’s available in a perspective like this, and it wants to focus somewhere else.

like so: enticingly sparkly water on a rock.
but honestly, I think it’s the little beings themselves. they are willfully elusive. every time I see them I feel like I’ve stumbled across a convocation of forest fairies. (and as above, why wouldn’t fairies take the form of moss fruiting bodies? gotta show up somewhere, right?)
this is why I like spending time outside like this: the woods are a place where a lot of other beings are busy leading their lives, completely out of the awareness of most humans. Yes, you can travel to remote wilderness to experience nature’s majesty. or, you can also go out in your back yard.
it makes me start jonesing for more serious macro lens capability.

fourth time around

Hello world. Yes, it has been days, I know. Question: what do you get when you cross a blackberry and a cigarette?

One of these things. I vaguely remember learning what this is a few years ago. But I forget. For some reason the name “horsetail” comes to mind. This is a couple of feet tall. They grow in segments, with prominent joints every so often:

For the most part, these are single stalks with just the one terminal flower cluster, but there was this enterprising soul:

I have just visited The Google, and I have learned all sorts of fascinating things about horsetail (Equisetum arvens). Yep, that’s what this is. In the summer, each of those joints has a gazillion threadlike leaves sticking out of it.  And? Apparently it synthesizes nicotine, under polluted conditions. So my twisted mind isn’t that far off-base after all, is it.
We also have a bunch of awesomely huge shelf mushrooms to show off today:

That big one on the top is fannnnntastic. Check this out:

Damn.
Say, don’t you find yourself wondering how to tell the difference between this year’s crop of sensitive fern spore stalks and last year’s? I know I do.

New at left, old at right. Oh hey, you can see the shelf mushrooms in the background.

New: still bunched up tight.

Old: each little…bud? it’s not technically a bud, but it sure looks like a bud – has opened up already.
And now for the color commentary.

Rosebud. You thought it was a sled. Think again.

Rosehips.


Willows have a different color strategy.


Since I’m on a primary color kick, here’s some sky, with bonus moon.
Last but not least,  I’ve gone and registered for my fourth half marathon! Woot woot!

Yes, California is a long way from Vermont, but I’ll be running this with my Fabulous Sister-in-Law, who got me through my first half marathon a year and a half ago. Last year, for this same weekend, I did the the Pittsburgh, which was great and all, but this one will be even better because there is a wine festival immediately afterward.