Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: pine needles

(+8 insets!) "Normal" Pine Cones Are Females! Imagine my surprise when I learned that pine trees have two kinds of cones: female and male! Actually, just go look in the mirror…because I am sure you're equally surprised! But stop and think: have you ever seen the curious little things scattered around on the ground under a pine tree that defy explanation? Or weird clusters of odd growths on some pine trees that you couldn't identify? Those are the male cones which are responsible for releasing pollen. We don't usually see the male cones because they are often found at the tops of the trees. However, some trees have male cones lower down. In fact, some trees are entirely covered with either male or female cones. If you'd like to know more, Wiki's Conifer Cone page is full of useful information, and NW Conifers: Lodgepole Pine talks about this species specifically. Today's Picture I was creeping around LaPine State Park and found myself admiring one of the countless pine trees there. The park has many species, mostly Ponderosa and Douglas Fir, but there are many others too--grand fir, cedar, larch and juniper to name a few. My eye was drawn to something odd on a cluster of pine needles and upon recognizing what I was looking at, a smile spread across my face. It was a male pine cone which has incredulously skewered itself on the pine needles. Shaking my head in disbelief, I stared as I brought my camera up for pictures. How in the world does this happen? Naturally it's merely statistics and I'm looking at the lucky winner of Nature's contest, "Caught on the Way Down." It's a favorite of mine and I cannot resist taking pictures of these miraculous finds. I'm not surprised that people have asked me many times, "Did you stage that shot?" It's reasonable to doubt these sights--seeing them out on my strolls, I have a hard time processing their probability too! But occur they do, and I'd never, ever "set a stage" for a "better" picture. This is Nature at her gob-smacking finest! Today's Insets Insets 1 & 2: Here and there on the pine needle-carpeted floor of the forest, the remnants of coralroot orchids could be seen. Standing as high as 8-10 inches tall, the dried stalks bristle with sticky resin that likely tastes horrible to deter opportunistic munchers. These unusual orchids can bloom from April to September depending on conditions but I believe what I'm showing is merely a dead plant, a bloom that was frozen in time and dried to show the moment. Could I be wrong? The lovely little black and white wasp I found seemed to think so, busy with hopes of nectar inside. To be honest, I didn't touch this plant so I am speculating its dried state. As it is, I'm not positive on the species either--coralroots can be very different from one another and yet are still the same species. I have not seen flowers that look just like this so I may be wrong! Let me know if you have info to clarify! Insets 3 &4: The forest around LaPine State Park is almost entirely brown or conifer-green, so when another color shows itself, you notice! First you'll see what I believe is a pair of wild gooseberries and they grow on tough shrubby bushes, determined to thrive in this dry desert environment. I also found a berry which had dried up, fallen off the bush and landed on the twig of another bush. I liked the translucence, wrinkled texture and the interesting lines of the twig branching this way and that. Inset 5: Once in a while I noticed odd burl-like growths on the branches of pine trees. I have learned that this is actually a disease called western gall rust. It can kill trees but for homeowners, these trees can be successfully treated. Inset 6: Finally, I've got a b/w image of a group of "golf-tee" fruticose lichen I found dried on a stump, waiting silently for the rain of late fall to arrive and bring it back to life. Inset 7: I added this last picture to show male cones growing on a tree. These were on our property! :) Thank You! There are few things that make me happier than knowing that a picture I took has made another person happy. What a gift it is to share my love of photography with others! Your visits, comments and stars truly make my day. It's such fun to see what you've come up with to share with us too, so thank you very much for the opportunity! I hope that everyone has been having a great week so far! Please stay safe, dry and warm! Explored on 3/30/21; highest placement #1.

Today's the day! *bounces up and down in excitement* We're going RV camping again!! This will be our longest trip yet, a full 21 days of adventures! We'll be checking out a few of Oregon's central state parks this time around with locations on both rivers and lakes, in forest and high-desert settings. Our starting point will be in an area we're familiar with, though we haven't been at the exact location before. LaPine State Park is near both Sunriver and Bend, Oregon, nestled in deep forest and hugging the popular Deschutes River. We stayed at Sunriver for my birthday last September and had a fantastic time mountain bike riding and hiking while we were there. Criss-crossed with nearly countless multi-experience bike and hike trails, it would take many weeks to traverse them all (During winter the whole area is packed with ski-bunnies!). The LaPine/Sunriver/Bend area was the first place we thought of for our next trip, though it turned out that we couldn't stay as long as we'd hoped. Due to extreme popularity and proximity to the flourishing town of Bend, we had to be satisfied with only 3 nights here for this trip (with a single night's stop off at the end of our trip). In the future we'll make reservations well in advance so we can stay for a week next time! We're really happy that we get to spend several days here though, and can't wait to explore this area again! Since we won't be leaving until about 1pm today (check-in is at 4pm and it only takes a couple of hours to get to LaPine), I'm preparing as much of my post early because I have some time now.I'm betting that it will be very late when I post tonight so I'm taking advantage of this opportunity now. Another change for this trip is that we've got a friend of ours staying at our place while we're gone since it will be three weeks away and we'd like to make sure our frogs and snake are cared for. It will be a win-win because he'll get the chance to hang out at our rural home with access to great cycling (a favorite activity of his) and we'll have peace of mind! ------------- We're here!! And oh my goodness It's absolutely gorgeous in this pine fores!t Our site is marvelous and spacious too. We pulled into LaPine State Campground at about 4pm and got settled by around 6 or so. Dinner was melt-in-your-mouth ribeye steaks with our nommy faux-tato salad...soooo yummy!! Lots of birds all over the place and there are CHIPPERS here! An adorable chipmunk ran over to our site and Steve tossed a bbq-pork rind at him...a second later the little guy was racing away with his prize--SO CUTE! I hope I'll get pictures while we're here! I'm too rushed to write much more today except to say that we're delighted by this wonderful campground and can't wait to go for a bike ride tomorrow and check this stunning park out! I had enough time to step outside our RV and take some macros. This cluster of dead pine leaves caught my eye and turned out looking a little bit like a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree…or maybe a brown Tribble? :D No other pictures tonight, I'm out of time! Pam, I hope all is well with you, wish you were here! :) *BIG HUGS* Explored on 6/10/19; highest placement, #3.

(+5 insets!) As I type now it's 8:45am and SNOWING! When I first got up at 7am it was only wet out but no rain. As I got my day started I looked outside at about 7:15am and huge, soft, puffy flakes were drifting down from the sky. I could hardly wait to get out there to experience a heavy snowfall! Have you ever walked in falling snow? It is a delightful experience. Soft flakes come down and land on your clothes and in your hair. If you're lucky, you can stick your tongue out and catch a flake there too! Depending on the dryness of the snow, you can often wipe it off of you before it melts. This morning's snow was extremely fluffy and though I had my umbrella with me, the flakes drifted down and under it and I got snow all over me! The snow was falling so thickly that I couldn't wipe it off fast enough before I was covered with snow again. It landed on my umbrella with a steady fluffy patter of "plump-plump-plump" and piled up so that I could actually feel my umbrella getting heavy with the snow sitting on top! I walked up to the top of the hill where I take my panoramas and somehow managed to hook my umbrella into my clothes so it didn't fall to the ground while I held my phone and took pictures. I hoped the pictures would show the falling snow…and as you can see from the insets, I was successful! (The last inset I just took a few minutes ago--late afternoon--there is snow on the far hillsides and snow is coming down too!) Walking down the drive to our gate, I considered turning around and going back inside because I would be soaked in no time if the snow continued to fall heavily. But 30 seconds later the flakes became much smaller and no longer drifted under the protection of my umbrella. I loved walking along this way, looking out at the snow falling down across the property. There is a very special peace when you walk in the snow. You hear the squeak of snow as it compresses under your feet but other than that, it's silence, serenity and a sense of peace in this beautiful scene. I discovered a long time ago that if you want to truly experience a type of weather, you must be in it--not merely looking out at it. Every kind of weather has a different feeling. Walking in snowfall is the most special feeling to me because of the peace that comes over me. It's similar to walking under an umbrella in the rain but 10 times better. :) After returning to the house, I kept an eye on the snow which continued to fall for the next hour or so. Then it stopped, the sun came out and just like that the snow melted and disappeared. We are supposed to get more snow in the coming week and maybe it will finally begin to stick. I would love to be able to walk around in drifts of snow. A proper snow shoot would be super but I'm not holding my breath. It's not getting cold enough and not likely to. But I really enjoyed my adventure today and walking in the heavy, fluffy snow was magical! Today's main picture was one I discovered in my archives the other day. I really love the way the pine needles look like a porcupine! It's another one of those surprises that makes you wonder how it wasn't processed to begin with! In fact, the whole folder is full of snowy gems and hope to get at least some of them finished for show-and-tell. :) Pam, speaking of porcupines, have you ever seen any around your property? I haven't but I know they're out there. When Molly and her puppy found their way onto our property, we didn't immediately make them indoor dogs. We fed them and provided a very comfortably furnished Dogloo on the porch to sleep in. The pair would sometimes wander onto the BLM property nearby and one day the 8-month old pup came back with a bunch of porcupine quills on his nose and a few on a paw. Thankfully we were able to remove them ourselves. Until that day we didn't know there were porcupines in the area. It's amazing how many animals live around us that we aren't even aware of. Well, I sure do hope this is a pleasant Saturday for you my dear! *BIG HUGGGGGGS*!! :) Explored on 2/10/19, highest placement, #3.

Wow! How time flies! It's been three weeks since beginning this project for Pam and my life has changed so much for the better. Previously I had retreated into my shell to the point that I wasn't really communicating with anyone at all except my husband. I spent my free time playing a space game called Eve Online, where I became a "Capsuleer" and flew around a universe in my many different space ships. I mined asteroids for ore, I ferried goods across galaxies from station to station, I built ships and explored old relics, breaking codes to get precious cargo. But you see, Eve is a game where other players can actually attack and destroy your ship—and kill your character. I lived in fear when I went out on my adventures because I am not aggressive and just want to have a nice time. Unfortunately, this game is aimed at people who enjoy hunting and killing other players. A great many of them make it their mission to make non-aggressive people's lives miserable if they can. Though I stayed in an area that was generally safe, there are no guarantees, and I was always worried. Once I learned that Pam had come so close to losing her life, it shocked me back to reality. I looked at my life which had become so cold, grey and silent. My creative spirit was gone. The passion that once bubbled within me did not exist. I cared about nothing. I didn't even know who I was anymore, and it didn't matter. I wanted to show Pam that I cared about her, that I was thinking about her. As I mentioned in the first post of this project, I figured the best way to do this would be in the form of a picture along with something fun for her to read. When I realized that meant I'd actually have to pick up my camera, I was like, "NO! I'm not in the mood!" The idea of being creative felt like kryptonite to me. But I knew better and forced myself to do it. I took a picture and posted it, writing a journal entry to finish it off. The ipernity community, my old friends, acquaintances, so many people responded so warmly to welcome me back into the fold. I felt like I'd come home to a place I belonged. The suggestion to create a special Pictures for Pam group was perfect and brought everyone closer with a combined purpose to show Pam how much we care. The transformation back to my bubbly, effervescent self happened so fast that I sometimes question whether or not I'd actually sunk so low beforehand. There really is no question about it though. The important thing is that because of my desire to bring some joy to Pam, I found myself back on ipernity, and then all of you took over. You picked me up, held me high in the air and paraded me around, patting me with encouragement and showing me that I had value. That I was good for something...that I do have talent. I did not lose my ability to take nice pictures or to write well. Just as Pam has said to all of us, the care and genuine sincerity in your comments to me have left me overwhelmed with joy and gratitude. I am so thankful—but truly there isn't any way to properly express how much your caring has meant to me. Just know that my life has changed profoundly, and it has everything to do with all of you. *long, warm hugs to each of you* Today I share another leaf! To those of you who are tired of my leaves, I apologize but they are always singing to me and I cannot help but capture them for everyone to see! I found this lovely oak leaf on my walk the other day when I explored our lower forest to see what it looked like now. I'd been concentrating on where my feet were going, as I didn't want to step on anything special. At one point I looked up and BAM! Here's this leaf, cradled by pine needles and right in my face! I burst out with an excited "WOW!! WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT!" Part of me began to counter the idea since I am forever taking pictures of leaves, but I whacked the thought right out of my mind and wayyyyyy off into the bleachers. "NOOP! I'm taking this picture!" Pam, I hope that this has been a good week for you. I hope you can feel improvement from one week to the next. I hope your vision and energy is improving and I hope that you are comfortable and happy. We love you. Thank you for all that you have done for me...just by being you. Explored on 11/30/18, highest placement, #5.

1 picture above in a note! :) I've had my eye on the pine tree next to the house for weeks now. Every day I see frost on the needles and I am dazzled when I look closely. I've taken a few pictures but not too seriously because on each occasion, I already knew what picture I'd be using for my Picture of the Day, and I could tell that these pine needles would need "first billing" when the time was right. With my crazy schedule as of late, I really have to shake my tail when it comes time for my daily photo session. If possible, having an idea of what I'll be photographing is very helpful for speeding up the process when I'm too busy to just drift around, so today I got my camera and went right to the pine tree. Oh my. So much to see, so many interesting angles! There was frost on the pine needles and frozen droplets too, and I managed to get quite an assortment of neat images. I don't have time to share more than two of them tonight, but this one is my favorite! The second picture is a perfect pairing, showing one of these frozen droplets close up and from the side, where you can even see the trapped air bubbles inside! SO COOL and amazing to me that it's possible to show such tiny, beautiful scenes in a full-sized image to share with all of you! :) Ernst Haas (March 2, 1921 – September 12, 1986) was a photojournalist and a pioneering color photographer. During his 40-year career, the Austrian-born artist bridged the gap between photojournalism and the use of photography as a medium for expression and creativity. In addition to his prolific coverage of events around the globe after World War II, Haas was an early innovator in color photography. His images were widely disseminated by magazines like Life and Vogue and, in 1962, were the subject of the first single-artist exhibition of color photography at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. He served as president of the cooperative Magnum Photos, and his book The Creation (1971) was one of the most successful photography books ever, selling 350,000 copies. Wikipedia: Ernst Haas Explored on December 19, 2013. Highest placement, page 4.

Here is a side view of one of the lovely frozen droplets at the ends of the pine needles in the previous image. You can see the trapped air bubbles in the icy droplet, and you can also make out the interesting, "filament frost" on top. (I'll be sharing some crazy pictures of this filament frost in the future, I got some beauties!)

[best appreciated at full size against black] Looking for water droplets the other day, I remembered one of the pine trees that grows near the road, so off I went! I was initially disappointed because I couldn't find any droplets at the very end of any needles, but then I realized that a droplet doesn't need to be at the end to look interesting...what do you think?! :) I've uploaded two other pictures today and I hope you'll visit them too! Thanks to all of you who have visited and have left comments and favorites! I try to go to all of your pages within a day or two and is a highlight for me to see your beautiful photography! :) NOTE! I have finally updated my profile and I hope you'll take a look to find out a little more about me and how important all of you are to my experience here on Flickr! www.flickr.com/people/sfhipchick/ This image was taken in January, 2012.

[best appreciated at full size against black] If you've been visiting my photostream for a while, you'll know that one of my favorite things is taking pictures of leaves that get stuck on the way down as they fall from the tree. In this case, it's a pine needle, stuck at the top beween a manzanita's branches. I didn't show where it was stuck because for me, the really interesting part was the end of the pine needle. It's not what we usually notice, and I like how it seems to be trying very hard to get to the ground! This image was taken in February, 2012.