One Last Hurrah

It has been in the 70's and 80's around here, which is highly unusual for this time of year. There are still some blooms hanging on around the neighborhood, though it has been unusually dry, as well, so some are a little ragged. The bees and other pollinators are working frantically to gather as much as they can!

A Walk in the Woods

The natural world in spring is a different experience than in summer. It is a quieter beauty, more subtle. You have to look closer and pay a little more attention.

The lush greenery of summer is soft, rounded; the bright flowers' blooms zinging with life. In spring, I admire the spare geometric lines of the bare tree branches against blue sky. In spring, wildflowers poke their heads up tentatively through the leafy mulch; is it time yet? Is it okay to come out? I admire their delicacy....and their resilience! They shrug off a light dusting of snow or a little freezing weather. The first leaf buds on the trees, the first bunny sighting, the first butterfly of spring...I think I love them more than a hundred perfect summer blooms.

Mushrooms

It has been raining like crazy lately. That means that mushrooms are popping up all over. I think they're fascinating - alien-looking, those perfect soft frills on the underside that I am compelled to smoosh, rounded caps and sturdy little stems. And they fade away as quickly as they seem to pop up! Perfect one day and black or brown squishy or dried out piles the next.

Now I am no mycologist (mushroom expert), but I basically separate them into several different categories: smurf houses, tutus or inside-out umbrellas, cafe dining umbrellas (like the big white one below, that is an unopened cafe umbrella, see?), sea barnacle/coral types, puffballs (not pictured but you know what I mean), lilypads, and Crazy (which has many subcategories).

I don't eat mushrooms for the same reason I don't like patchouli - they smell/taste like dirt. The bright side is that I will never be poisoned by a questionable wild mushroom, right?

Goodbye, Weekend (I hardly knew ye)

I had to work most of the weekend so had hardly any time to do anything fun. Here's another photo essay - this time scenes from our walk around Minnehaha Park. We're going to be moving out of neighborhood soon so we want to make sure to visit all of our favorite places while we can.