A multi-media account of my travels through life
There are many wonderful mushrooms here on Fawn Hill. This little guy, and I do mean little — about 1/4 of an inch, is nestled along the side of the driveway that leads up to the home of my friends Boni & Gail. It has found a comfortable spot among the moss and it appears to me that it is about to become dinner for these ants. ☙
I’ve been “off the grid” for a couple of days. For those who don’t know, I’ve been moving from Florida to North Carolina. On Friday the movers finally arrived with my things. I’m restoring/renovating a 25-year old, double-wide mobile home that has been abandoned for two years. It has been a chore. I knew that the more I did before the movers arrived the happier I would be and I was right.
So, what does any of this have to do with the image I have chosen for this post? Well, my sister is fond of saying that “all beginnings are hard.” And it’s true. I am embarking on a new beginning. So as I thought of what image to post tonight I suddenly flashed on this one. That’s me, in the foreground, arriving back from my first day at school. It is 1953 in Norton, Massachusetts. My sister is behind me. As the last of four children I can tell you that pictures of me are available but are no where near the quantity of the first three. Still, my mother was a very intelligent and cognitive woman. She captured moments of my life that are very dear and telling to me. This is an example. My first day of school and I am brimming over with confidence and things to tell her. It is written all over me. Beginnings ARE hard but there is something in them that I have always relished. And that is how I am feeling now. Relishing this new moment, this new beginning. I am 65 years old and I still know that little girl in the picture above. Remember, the only thing that can keep on growing is spirit. ☙
Image #41 was a grainy, iPhoto picture of a wonderful cluster of Indian Pipes. I returned the next day and was amazed to find the bloom intact. Even more wonderfully, there were small clusters just beginning to emerge from the forest floor. This photo is a close-up of the plant’s flower, so delicate and bell-like. Being able to photograph this flower is such a treat for me. Watch for more photos. ☙
After photographing the Indian Pipes last night I started home and caught sight of a majestic tree fungus/lichen. I snapped a couple of pictures with the iPhone which were adequate but we returned this morning and photographed both the Indian Pipes and fungus/lichen (pictured above) with the Nikon. It was a good session and I will post more in coming days.
This magnificent being is growing on the side of a tree and is stunning in its color against the dark backdrop of the forest. My field guides are still packed in a box, enroute on a moving truck so I can’t begin to tell you what this is but my imagination sees the Starship Enterprise. What about yours?☙
For years I have thumbed through field guides of flowers trying to identify various varieties from the pictures I take. I do this a lot because my facility to remember plant names is terrible. But along the way certain flowers have leapt out at me and among them is the Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora). I could never believe it was a flower because to me it looks like a mushroom and the habitat they prefer is not commonly available in South Central Florida so I never had the pleasure of actually seeing one. So I got very excited when my friend Boni said she had seen some on our adjoining properties. And sure enough, tonight on our twilight walk Tango and I found this stand emerging from the humus. They are about 3 inches in height, the flower petal is about an inch. They seem almost ghostly in their color and translucence. This shot was taken with the iPhone in dim light. I’ll return tomorrow with the “big” camera and hope to improve on the image. But just as things go bump in the night things also get eaten by nocturnal critters. Speaking for myself this beauty of a flower looks good enough to eat. ☙
Things are moving along at Fawn Hill. There are now two bird feeders up and the birds have definitely found them. They are grateful for a dry place to feed — as this blurry photo through a window shows. There is a wonderful variety of birds here, quite a treat for this Florida gal who is accustomed to cardinals, blue jays, the occasional wren and not much else at her Florida feeder. For years I have known that in Sarasota I was just a bit too far south for the variety of birds that flock to Florida in the winter. The more colorful ones — the finches, orioles, grosbeaks and buntings — stay in the Ocala area. Sarasota does have great water birds and Myakka River State Park always provided a smorgsboard of water fowl.
It has rained here for days. I’ve been told this is a rainforest and my brief — two week — experience would confirm that. When I stand on my front porch I can hear the nearby Potts Branch — a minor tributary of the Little Tennessee River — as it races down from the hills. It provides the name for the road that accesses my house on Fawn Hill. My friend Boni tells me that in times of drought you can use the creek bed as a hiking trail but that certainly is not the case this year. The rushing of the water is somehow soothing, even though I know it is wreaking havoc as it gains momentum and slams into the Little Tennessee. In downtown Franklin there is a 3-4 mile walkway along the Little Tennessee. Tango and I walked a bit of it yesterday and it is significantly higher than it was a week ago.
So much to learn in this new place.☙
A grainy iPhone photo of a beautiful sunset. Not the first that has occurred in Carolina since I arrived but the first I’ve noticed. Progress! ☙
Tango checks out the new neighbors in a nearby pasture. ☙
I wish I could claim credit for this incredible picture of fireflies in a North Carolina forest. The true photographer is Spencer Black and this photo was featured today on the http://www.Earthshots.org website. I borrowed it for two reasons: 1) to demonstrate the magic and wonder of fireflies, and 2) to publicize Earthshots.org. They feature a picture every day of this beautiful blue orb that we call home.
Fireflies dart about my new home every night. Sometimes the three of us — me, Tango Dog and Rainbow Cat — will stand on the porch together and watch the flickerings here, there, over there, right here…they seem everywhere. We collectively gape at the wonder of it all. Thank you Spencer Black for capturing the wonder.☙
Normally we think of mushrooms in soft, mossy forests. But fecundity rules — especially in the summer and these mushrooms are making a bold stand in a seemingly unforgiving landscape. Good luck to them! ☙
Alice's WanderLand 