Monday, November 22, 2010

This 'n' That

We got a lovely storm over the weekend, but evidently I have not gotten over my city girl driving outlook.  I had plans to head into Fresno yesterday to visit with some friends, but ended up canceling because I wasn't altogether comfy with driving up over Deadwood or even taking various alternate routes. I felt not so much like a total wimp about when I found out that the other two ladies that live in my area who were going to go to the get together also refused to drive over the pass.


(By the way, you've heard that no woman should marry a man who wants to take her somewhere with the words bad, death or hell in its name right? I have definitely done all - Anza Borrego badlands, Death Valley and Hellhole Canyon, the latter a truly beautiful hike as long as one heads down canyon. We saw a wild sheep skull there but I digress.)

We did have enough of a break in the rainstorm yesterday to get out for a nice walk, not a strenuous one although we were out for a couple of hours. We headed down to the river which is always fun to see all the water in it after a good rain. Dino had tempted me out of the house with a promise of seeing the Dipper, but unfortunately said bird decided not to cooperate. We did see a large group of horses (17) on our Northwest Territory and spent some time doing scratches and conversation. Our place is at a low enough elevation that we did not get snow, but the hills just above us did, which made for a postcard pretty view. Incredibly enough, the rain triggered a zillion or so fungi to pop up, including a couple of varieties that I haven't photo-d before (heh heh).

Including this one, the Jack-o-Lantern mushroom, Omphalotus olivascens, which is bioluminescent, i.e. it glows in the dark. Cool! Also evidently if it is eaten, it makes you sick (ugly gastrointestinal upset) but doesn't seem to kill you and, according to this mushroom web site, is hallucinogenic which supposedly is a plus for some, although with possible eruptions from both ends, I dunno. Being well past my experimental early college years, I'll just take their word for it.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

1 comment:

Tom Hurley said...

As usual, a terrific photo. Do you have a saturation-enhancing lens, or do you just lay it on heavy in Photoshop, or do you actually run across things in nature that jump out and yell “WOW!”

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