This week’s friday foto finder theme is “balloon.” I have quite a few photos of balloons in my photo library, but I decided not to share any of them. Instead, I will share these 3 photos that do not show any actual balloons. Because I am contrary like that. (Also because I think the photos are fun in their implied balloon-ness.)
To see what bunches of balloons others have to offer, pop over to the fff blog!
Step right up and behold this wondrous array of freakish specimens of the fungal world!
First up, be amazed by these amazing balls of mushroom! Amazeballs!
And what, pray tell, is this large object? A hat? A chair? A satellite dish? It’s a mushroom, I say!
What’s that strange gray flower, you say? That’s no flower!
These petals are all fungus, my friends!
Gray too dull for you? Need more color in your fungal bouquet? How about a bit of green to brighten you fungal arrangement?
And what’s this emerging from the mulch? Is that a yellow balloon, being inflated from below? Decorations for the mole’s birthday party? Why, no! It’s a mushroom!
What’s up in that tree? Has someone adorned the trunk with a festive flouncing of ruffles? Why no! These lovelies have planted themselves!
And this strange thing poking up through the garden mulch reminds me of something…I can’t quite place it…
And what’s that disk hovering low to the ground, practically glowing in the twilight? Is that a tiny UFO, bringing tiny aliens to earth?
Well, no! Would you believe it’s merely a mushroom?
Watch your head as you exit the gallery, and don’t forget to pay a visit to the gift shop on your way out.
This evening’s presentation was brought to you by the Fans of Fungal Fabulousness, a completely fictitious group of mushroom maniacs. It was also brought to you by an excess of tiredness and a bit too much caffeine late in the day.
While poking around in my photo library for something to post today, I came across this pair of photos. Noting that they were taken 2 years ago to the day, I figured it was a sign. (Perhaps a sign that I am compulsive for even noticing such things…) Anyhow, I often find myself standing outside at the top of my driveway twice a day: waiting for the school bus to come collect my children in the morning, and then again in the afternoon for the same bus to deliver my children back to me. (It is really quite a marvellous phenomenon.) Some mornings are quite hectic, and involve us scrambling to get ourselves together, and rushing out with me feel too frazzled and tired to notice much of the world around me. Happily, other mornings I can enjoy the bits of nature that line our street and driveway. One such morning, I admired these little groups of mushrooms catching rays of the bright morning sun.
Come that same afternoon, I was back out on the driveway, and remembered to check in on the little mushrooms. I thought it would be fun to photograph them again, this time under the different light conditions.
I like how the two pictures are recognizably of the same mushrooms, but with subtle differences of color and texture. I actually quite like both of them.
This also reminds me that I should check to see if there is a new crop of mushrooms growing in that spot this year. Perhaps in the morning, if the morning isn’t too hectic…
Today is the autumnal equinox here in the Northern Hemisphere, and the official first day of fall. I am going to use this as an excuse to post more photos of leaves. (Though, actually, it’s just multiple photos of the same leaf. But still…)
I was quite taken by the range of colors and patterns that could be seen on the surface of the same leaf.
It had quite a range of textures, too.
And it glowed beautifully when held up to the light.
This was a maple leaf that I found in my mother-in-law’s yard last September. Coincidentally, this was actually September 22nd of last year, which turns out was the autumnal equinox last year.
Among the categories of things that regularly catch my eye are the patterns formed by weathered and cracked paint. (Like on, for example, dumpsters. Or subway walls. Or the lines painted in parking lots.) I especially enjoy seeing when the layers of paint reveal something of the varied history of the painted surface. (Or at least the varied trends of colors of decades past.) The varied railings and turnstiles at an old amusement park, for example, offer an especially fun array of multi-colored layers. Here are an assortment of shots I took of chipped and weathered paint from around Canobie Lake Park in New Hampshire during my visit there in August..
I imagine that many people don’t much notice the nitty-gritty details of places they frequent. I probably don’t much notice many of them myself. But I do have to say that I was rather amused to have noticed that a dumpster that sits next to a parking lot I frequent was swapped out for another dumpster. You see, I had previously admired the patterns made by the rust breaking through the bright blue paint on this particular dumpster. One pattern on the side reminded me of enameled jewelry. (Over a year ago, I posted a collection of photos I had accumulated of details of the patterns made by rust and weathered paint on the sides of dumpsters. The dumpster in question is featured in the top photo of that post.)
Upon realizing that there was a new (at least, new to the location, but certainly not newly fabricated) dumpster, I was happy to observe that the new arrival had its own pretty patterns of rust and striking abstract compositions.
The shapes of this bit remind me of a map, and the colors of earthenware pottery glazes.
The layers of various bright colors remind me again of enamelwork.
And this was just a pleasing abstract composition featuring the letter V. (Or maybe it’s a Y. I think it’s open to interpretation.)
Okay, this really isn’t about me. I just wanted to use that line for a title to go along with this photo of this cute little alligator baby.
Though things have been quite hectic the last few weeks, and I seem to have been able to mostly keep my head above water. (My kids, though, have actually been taking swimming lessons, so they have been learning to keep their heads below water.) (Really that doesn’t have much to do with anything, aside from being one more thing in our only super-packed schedule, at a time when there are big things going on in our lives. Thus making it harder for me to keep my own head above water. Metaphorically speaking. Happily, the swimming lessons don’t involve dunking me. Wait, did I saw that this wasn’t about me? It totally is.)
But I also do really like this photo of this cute little alligator baby.
During my trip to Dublin in May, I went on a little excursion to the seaside town of Howth with a friend. (A few other photos are posted here and here.) The town was beautiful, and the weather was perfect for a casual stroll. After we walked along the harbor, we decided to head up into one of the townhouse-lined roads that cut into the hillside. We could see glimpses of a ruin here and there between the rooftops.
It was quite striking looking, but there wasn’t any obvious way to get up there. (At least not obvious from the street. Probably people with maps and/or guidebooks could find the way obvious. But it was more of an adventure to explore without these things.)
Soon enough, we came across this intriguing little stairway that climbed through a narrow canyon-like space between some stone walls. There were no signs that said where they led. On the other hand, there were also no signs that told us not to go that way.
The stairs led up to another road, or perhaps another bend of the same winding road, up higher on the hill. And a quick walk led to an overlook and entrance to the ruins and cemetery.
It was quite a beautiful and dramatic place to wander and photograph.
The moral of the story: Climb any intriguing stairways that are not marked with signs telling you not to.
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This week’s friday foto finder theme is “ruin,” which gave me a nice opening to share these photos. To see what other ruins have been discovered, pay a visit to the fff blog!
After yesterday’s dried out and rather monochromatic leaf images, I figured I’d branch out to some more colorful and much less dry leaves.
Periwinkle leaves (and flowers).
English ivy.
Leaves of a blueberry bush.
Hydrangea leaves.
Fallen oak leaves.
Have I mentioned before that I’m a sucker for water drops? Oh, right. Yup.
collecting tokens 