This solo sunflower in a neighbour’s front yard reminded me of a song my mother used to sing when we were little, “I’m a Lonely Little Petunia (In An Onion Patch).” Mrs Google tells me it was first released by Dick “Two Ton” Baker and His Music Makers in 1947.
We offered a beginner’s class at Nature Journal Club today, and thirty people came! After spending an hour learning the basics, everyone wandered off to journal their curiosity. Having just done a training on identifying invasive borer beetles, I was interested to record some data about insect activity on a fallen oak log. Boring? Nope, fascinating!
It’s not the first time Bodie’s seen a pig, but this is the closest she’s ever been. Both animals seemed curious for a minute, and then satisfied to walk away.
Semi-blind continuous line.
Sketched from a lovely book called Egg & Nest.
Picture-perfect western panther mushroom rising from the oak woodland floor. The genus Amanita comprises roughly 600 described species, ranging from some of the most poisonous mushrooms known worldwide to a few highly prized edible ones. Notably, Amanita species account for an estimated 95% of deaths caused by mushroom poisoning.
Cuscuta—commonly called dodder or amarbel—is a genus of more than 200 species of parasitic plants, typically yellow, orange, or red (and only rarely green). It occurs across temperate and tropical regions worldwide. The plant grows as long, thin, twining stems that coil around host plants, drawing nutrients by inserting tiny, straw-like structures into the host’s phloem. Dodder is able to locate suitable hosts by sensing airborne volatile organic compounds, which may explain why we saw it growing mostly on black sage during today’s hike.
Its many folk names include strangle tare, strangleweed, scaldweed, beggarweed, lady’s laces, fireweed, wizard’s net, devil’s guts, devil’s hair, devil’s ringlet, goldthread, hailweed, hairweed, hellbine, love vine, pull-down, angel hair, and witch’s hair—curiously linking it to angels and devils, ladies and beggars, fire and hail, love and hell.
I joined a slow read of this tome on Substack, one chapter a day for the entire year (chapters are only 3 or 4 pages each.) Four down, 357 to go.
One of the things I really miss about our old place is having a view of the sunrise and sunset. Here, we are tucked down in a hollow surrounded by big trees. But a few evenings ago I stood in the middle of the road and caught a narrow view of the sunlit clouds at dusk, with the moon peeking out behind.
hashiworks 