Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: tears

(+9 insets!) On the Hunt for Fungus! You probably know that one of my favorite finds are mushrooms, and it's always something I'm looking for whenever I go on a macro stroll. It took a while to find any while we were at Tugman but eventually I hit pay dirt! Slowing down to a creep, I discovered mushrooms peeping out from beds of moss, attached to logs and even peering down at me from lofty heights on tree trunks. I even found an American yellow fly agaric , the blond version of my bucket list mushroom, the Amanita muscaria . It was easy enough to find various species of shelf fungus, and at one point I discovered a huge one right next to the trail that was bristling with droplets. Eying the beads of moisture closely, I couldn't help but ponder…those aren't dew drops, so what are they? Those Droplets are called Guttation and They Occur in Plant Species Too! This moisture oozes out of many types of fungus at times of rapid growth with proper temperature and humidity. They can be clear or tinted with colors from yellow to blood red. Some mushrooms use this guttation to create a protective slime that makes them glossy in appearance (I iincluded a picture of a Cowboy Mushroom found on our property, and it's a clickable link with many insets) In plant species, guttation happens at night when the pressure of excess water in roots forces moisture out of the leaves. This will ring a bell to you when you think about leaves that have beads of water perfectly arranged around the edge of a leaf! I always wondered how dew could have formed so perfectly that way…and now I know that it wasn't dew at all! This article is brimming with awesome photography and a lot more information about guttation, which I encourage you to read and enjoy! Read it and Weep: Fungal Guttation Immortalized Before Being Mutilated The two pictures of this lovely bracket fungus turned out to be very fortunate timing. Located along the longer Eel Lake trail, Steve and I had admired this prominently positioned fungus each time we passed and when I came back with my macro lens I got the pictures I'm sharing today. A couple of days later we made our successful hike to the end of the trail and back, and admired the eye-level bracket fungus on the way in. On the way back we encountered a very noisy group of kids headed our way, led by an obnoxious young adult. Disturbing the peace of the forest, they yelled back and forth and none of which were observing safe distancing. We noticed that the leader had a knife and was looking around and cutting things off trees. A while after we passed by, I noticed a bracket fungus with a huge section sliced off its bottom. Wait. THAT WAS THE BEAUTIFUL SHELF BRACKET I'D PHOTOGRAPHED! Suddenly it hit me--that jerk was mutilating everything he found of interest along the trail! That explained the branches, bits of mushroom and fungus we kept finding littered along the path as we made our way back. What a shame. What a jerk. But I did get these pictures for all of us to enjoy! Fungus Insets Galore! I'm including images of the wonderful mushrooms I've processed from our trip to William Tugman State Park and I hope you enjoy the show (I also added the few I put on earlier trip posts too) I hope all of you are doing well, keeping safe, dry and warm! Explored on 2/26/21; highest placement #4.

I found this lovely madrone leaf a few days ago and had to get my camera because it was such a special sight. It reflects the way things are for me right now too...I'm not in a good place and sometimes it's hard to find the will to do anything at all. I hope things will get better... My Two Insets One of the things that makes me happy is finding mushrooms and right now the micro mushrooms peek out at me when I stare nose-close at the lichen and moss-covered oak trees which these darling, miniscule mushrooms call their home. When I say tiny, they are only about 1/16-1/8" in diameter when full grown! So cute! Finally, it hasn't been snowing lately but the forecast suggests some snowy days in the next week. We'll see, but in the meantime, the inset pano is from a month back when we had a very cold weather pattern roll through. Such a pretty sight! I am very worried about our ipernity friend George ( Tiabunny ), whose home was threatened once again, by the horrific fires in Australia. I hope he is ok. Pam, you are in my thoughts as well, and I'm so happy about your upcoming surgery, though I am worried too because it's some serious business. Hoping that the outcome places you on the path for a much happier lifestyle with improvements in your vision and ability to create as you did before. Thank you all for visiting me when I have not been by for so long. It's so touching. I am sorry I don't have the energy to share with all of you...my life is sucking me dry right now. I feel terrible about neglecting all of my friends. :( Explored on 1/05/20; highest placement #1.

My head is bowed in this tribute to Vivian Brown , who passed away yesterday at age 85. The inseparable identical twin of Marion Brown, these two spent their lives as San Francisco icons, and I saw them many times, walking around downtown, greeting visitors and being the perfect pair of ambassadors to my home town. They were always dressed immaculately, with exuberant, cheery dispositions and full of bubbly charm. Vivian will be sorely missed but never forgotten. I went out this morning to find a pair of twins, or just a single perfect representation for the loss of Vivian Brown. It's the coldest day this year with a temperature of just 27 degrees (it was 24 last night!), and so dry there was very little frost, but I got lucky with these beautiful frozen droplets! About the Brown Twins: Marian (born January 25, 1927) and Vivian Brown (January 25, 1927 – January 9, 2013) are American identical twins and icons of San Francisco, known for the appearance in media with their signature identical bright snappy outfits with hats atop their meticulously coiffed hair. Wikipedia: Marian & Vivian Brown Lord Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement. He is regarded as one of the greatest British poets and remains widely read and influential. Wikipedia: Lord Byron