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The Winter Of SNOW!
This was just the beginning. My very VERY favorite winter of all time. This image is from December 5, 2009, and like I said, it was just the beginning. From just the beginning of meteorological winter, not even the beginning of astronomical winter, to the end of winter, that winter of 2009 – 2010, 72…
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My Choice For Christmas Tree
Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens). The perfect Christmas tree. An elegant beauty. Purchase a small live tree. Plant it in the yard after it serves its first showing as the grand tree. Wait a few years for it to grow, cut it, bring it in, and let it have its second grand tree event. While…
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Christmas Fern Revisited
Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) is a perennial, evergreen plant that gets its name from either being green through the Christmas holidays, or from the resemblance of individual leaflets to Christmas stockings. There isn’t snow up here right now but I thought this an appropriate photo to illustrate that the plant is evergreen. Like most ferns,…
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Ramble Slowly
Take your time as you walk through the woods. There’s no rush and there’s so much to see. If I had been in a rush on this day, I may have missed the sight of mushrooms growing out of a hole way up in the tree. Something I would not have expected to see. Take…
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Winter Woodpecker
The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) is a woodpecker that is only in my woods during the winter. Showing off a speckled look, rather than the striking black, white and red that I usually see on woodpeckers. They leave marks on tree trunks that look to be a cryptic messages to some other part of the…
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Nitrous Bonnet Mushroom
It always surprises me when I discover a mushroom growing in late autumn, but as you can see by my photos, it does happen. This one is Nitrous Bonnet (Mycena leptocephala). A fungus with a conical cap that can get to be just a bit over an inch in diameter. That cap has a raised…
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This Morning A Hermit Thrush
A faithful winter resident. This morning a Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) appeared at my birdbath reminding me that soon I’ll need a water warmer out there to keep the water from freezing. These photos, above, are my visitor the Hermit Thrush this morning. Perhaps you’ll remember that just a week ago I thought my first…
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Thankful For The Magic Of Nature
Thankful for the Blue Ridge Mountains along with the magical world of Mother Nature that is in these mountains. AND that I get to live up here witnessing that magic every day. Wishing you a lovely Thanksgiving.
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Thankful For Friends Over The Decades
So many dear friends over the decades. Each one special in their own way. This is next door neighbor Bonnie on the left and me on the right. Best of buddies. And even now still making friends. Collecting friends like there’s no tomorrow. So thankful for each and every one of you.