The Freakiest Fungus I've Ever Met

I took a short afternoon walk in my usual haunts, the forest of the Baird Creek Parkway, with no particular goal in mind but to enjoy a beautiful early autumn afternoon. I brought the camera along knowing I'd regret it if I didn't but was not intent on using it.
It almost goes without saying that I didn't get far down the trail and across the creek before I came to my first good reason to have brought the camera...interesting texture in the end of a broken limb on an an old log. I set up my camera and got a few shots. My eye was drawn next, 15 paces ahead, to a very green leaf resting on the rotten red trunk of an oak lying nearby. Amazing color contrast. I set up there. Another interesting shot.
My intention had been to take a short walk as other responsibilities tugged at me so with time running short, I regretfully packed up my gear, preparing to head back in the direction I'd come. As I turned to leave, my eye was once again drawn to something...but this time it was no leaf or log! There on a tree's trunk was a massive fungus that had been out of my view from the direction I had approached. Had I not followed my eyes to my other two subjects, I'd never have discovered it there.
It's at times like this that I almost feel as though I'm being led...very strange.

The fungus, known as Chicken Of The Woods, is an edible type that is said to taste very much like poultry. As a vegetarian I'd be interested to find out for myself but even had I known when I came across it, it was really too beautiful to have destroyed. The amazing photos are certainly just as delicious.
And those aforementioned responsibilities?
Well, a photographer must have his priorities...

A Street So Very Hard To Find

I've finally made it to Easy Street. Who knew it was just on the other side of my very own city?

Photo by me.
Lyrics by Dave Pirner.

Soul Asylum - Easy Street
Did you hear the one about the friend of a friend who tried to end it all?
At the last moment he picked up the phone and gave you a call
You thought about letting it ring, but you answered after all

And there you were, put on the spot at the end of the other line

For questions that you never thought you'd ever have to answer to
Who do you turn to when the ones you always turn to go and turn on you
It leaves you in the dark, feeling for a switch to turn it on again

There are no easy answers, the questions remain tough
There's no shortcuts to easy street, no corners you can cut
Can you cut this diamond in the rough

And it's good to see you alive
Sign your will to survive
A look into your heart before it sees its final hour
(Lived?) each day like there is no tomorrow

Beyond this mess ahead there is a street so very hard to find
Though I have thought to lay my head down at this dead end so many times
And if we ever get to easy street, you can say with a smile

I came just for the ride

Minnesota's Hidden Treasures

Hello from Duluth. Wish you were here...

On my second day in Duluth, MN, I explored Skyline Drive high above the city...

Last Light, Dark Water

Hello...

Dusk over the bay. Wish you were here.

A massive, lone thunderhead I spotted drifting over the city half an hour before sunset led me sort of spur-of-the-moment to the bay shore where I had hoped to capture it bathed in late evening colors as the sun went down. Unfortunately, it had passed too far to the east by the time I arrived yet it seemed a shame to leave the water before the sun was out of sight so I pulled up a big rock and got comfortable.
As I sat I no longer planned to bother with the camera but just after the sun had disappeared I noticed the water. It had the strangest texture...almost a thickness to it. It was difficult to tell in the darkness but most likely the typical algae buildup for which this "green" bay was named had begun.
Whatever the case, I decided it couldn't hurt to try a few shots and a few minutes later I'd captured some of my favorite images of the year.

I'll see you again somewhere down the road...

Florida!

Hello from the Gulf of Mexico...wish you were here. The timing of my first visit to these shores could not have been better timed or more bittersweet considering the peril this place may soon be facing as the catastrophic oil leak unleashed on the gulf spreads further by the day. As of yet, not a trace of the oil has been seen on this beach but as I gazed out over the white sand and the breathtaking sea, knowing what has already happened elsewhere, it was sad to think this too could soon be spoiled.

This beach teems with life. Gulls and terns patrol the air looking for their next meal. Black Skimmers fly just above the water, beaks skimming the surface for some tasty morsel. A young White Egret wades with long legs through gently frothing waves, hunting along the water's edge. And the stately Brown Pelicans, scattered in small groups all along the beach, preside over it all as if they are the kings of this domain.

My visit was relatively short but I could have spent hours here, absorbing every detail, with all else forgotten, utterly lost in the experience.

I'm thankful to have had the chance to see this beautiful place in person but it was indeed bittersweet, for the tragedy unfolding on not so distant shores now seems all the more real and heartbreaking. Should a similar fate befall this coast and it's wild inhabitants, there is no doubt I will feel a sense of loss as deeply personal as if it was happening on the shore of my own Great Lakes.

Wabasso Lake; Northern Wisconsin

Hello From Wabasso Lake in the far north of Wisconsin. Wish you were here...

What a place this was. A relatively unmolested, wild lake with no development but the boat launch and a few campsites at the end of the road that leads to the water's edge. Nothing but water and trees all around.

Of course no wild lake is complete without the haunting, echoing cry of the Common Loon which I heard within minutes of arriving.

The loon's call out of the gloom, smaller birds twittering in the forest and and the wind in the trees were the only sounds.

It was sort of an AUDIBLE silence. And a very nice escape for a while.

I'll see you again somewhere down the road...

Lunchtime for Toad

Hello from the northwoods of Wisconsin where the Black Bear, Timber Wolves and, according to recent reports, Mountain Lions play. I saw none of those (which I'm sure you'll say was really for the best!) but did come across this young American Toad who, after it became clear that its temporary detainment on my hand also included a lunch buffet, didn't seem to mind posing for a few pictures.

So, the encounter was mutually beneficial. Toad got a meal and I got the photo while being bitten by mosquitoes a few times less.

Besides this shot and a few others, the trip as a whole was not particularly great for photos. The weather was rather dreary all weekend but in a way, I enjoy being in the forest even more under those conditions. Such low light may make photography a bit more challenging but it also adds to the mystique.

I'll see you again somewhere down the road...