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Lichen Covered Root Monster
As I hike, I let my imagination run wild. Actually it is running wild whether I’m hiking or folding clothes fresh from the line, or sitting at my desk trying to do my Spanish homework! But on my hikes, the various tree roots that I encounter are often the subject of my fantasies. Here’s one:…
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Blue Lettuce
So many plants called Lettuce. Tall and most often with little yellow flowers. I was very surprised a couple days ago to find something similar looking but without the usual lobed leaves and BLUE flowers! Yesterday I pulled down one of these tall plants, so that I could actually see the flower and was struck…
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Io Moth Caterpillar
No hike today, but still I was able to play with some critters! I found this guy on one of my many Redbuds. This is the caterpillar of an Io Moth (Automeris io). See those spines? They contain a poison that makes their sting as painful as running into Stinging Nettle, but it last longer.…
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Sun on Virginia Sweetspire
Dealing with summer weather, it is best to get out early to hike. I couldn’t do that this morning, so I was hoping for the afternoon, but of course the afternoon rain storm kept me from my playing. After all the rain, I spotted the sun shining through the leaves of Virginia Sweet Spire (Itea…
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Eyed Brown
I’ve been seeing a few of these, just a few. They tend to hang out in the same place day after day, so I know where to find them but they are not happy to sit still long to have a portrait done. I appreciate that this Eyed Brown (Satyrodes eurydice) stayed in one place…
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The Comeback of American Chestnuts?
Stories From Long Ago You might be fortunate enough to have family accounts from the older generation of gathering chestnuts, or of your granddad building a fence from chestnut trees on his farm. I don’t have those stories in my family traditions, but still I fell in love with the American chestnut tree when I…