the small things

Success in life is founded upon attention to the small things rather than to the large things; to the every day things nearest to us rather than to the things that are remote and uncommon. 
--Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) American educator and reformer.

look closely

What we see depends mainly on what we look for.
--John Lubbock (1834-1913) English banker, statesman, and naturalist

Ephemeral mushrooms in my recently laid mulch. They appear overnight by the hundreds, last for a couple of hours and then whither away with the day's heat. They're very small, maybe an inch or two tall - and have a translucent quality to them.

Seeing

The question is not what you look at, but what you see.
--Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

surrounded by mystery

I would rather live in a world where my life is surrounded by mystery than live in a world so small that my mind could comprehend it.
--Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969) American clergyman

It's okay, don't be afraid. These creepy tenticles can't reach through your screen to get you. And no, it's not some alien pod or sci-fiction monster. This is Cedar Apple Rust, a golfball-sized fungi that attacks apple, crabapple and juniper trees. If you feel you must, click here to learn more about these strange and mysterious things. Click the photos above to get a close up view of this strange thing.

Okay, so my question for you today is this...Who looks most like this mysterious mutant fungi? (Just be glad your name isn't listed here!) ...

UPDATE: The poll is now closed...And the winner is...(drum roll)...

Chuckie from the Rugrats cartoon!

Second place is Carrottop
Third place goes to Tina Turner
Fourth Place is a tie between...Sideshow Bob, Phyllis Diller and Rod Stewart!

Thanks for voting!

Neon Shroom

If you're singing a Brooks and Dunn song right now, then I'm happy. If you've read the title of this post and still don't know what I'm talking about, just move on. :)

One helpful bit of advice I read is to always be on the look out for color, preferably bright, vivid color. And when you see it STOP. Whether it's a bright red, neon mushroom in the dark forest or a child's bright yellow rain jacket on a gray day or a golden-orange reflection in a mountain stream as the sun sets --when you see vivid color stop and capture it. The trick is to train your eyes to see color. Which sounds crazy. But the truth is that we pass by bright colors everyday without even noticing them. If you really want to wow someone with your photos, nine-times-out-of-ten it will be with a photo that has color that pops.

As far as I can tell, these are "vermilion hygrophorus" mushrooms. There are lots of guidebooks out there for identifying birds, bugs, trees, plants, and insects. The one that has proven the most helpful to me is the Reader's Digest guide to North American Wildlife. While there's no way that a single volume can cover every species of plant and animal, I have found it helpful in narrowing down the choices and getting me started. It's logically organized and beautifully illustrated. I have the 1982 edition (which is the exact same as the "updated" edition) which can be bought used via Amazon for 1 cent!

Fungus Amungus

Behold the mysterious morel mushroom! People in these parts go wild for these. For many it has become a rite each spring to venture into the woods in search of these edible delectables. Not surprisingly, 'Fan Pages' exist out there, dedicated to this most glorious of shrooms.