I am thankful to be able to dig in the dirt.
When the weather permits, I've been trying to uncover a couple of flower beds around my house. Both are covered with invasive weeds and this has been the first step in determining if the beds can be saved or need to be totally reworked. As I've been pulling and digging weeds, I have been enjoying some of nature's curiosities that I am finding. So for the chance to dig in the dirt and discover bits of nature, I am thankful.
Below are pictures of some of the things I found.
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| I was totally fascinated by this white thing that looked a like bean sprouting. I left it to see what was going to happen with it. |
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| Five days later, this is what I found. Then it dawned on me. It was a violet seed pod. It was ghostly white when I found it because it had been so covered with weeds and no exposure to the sun. All of these seeds from one pod helps to explain why there are violets everywhere. |
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| In the same bed, I found these marble-sized white balls with root-like ends. I was pretty sure they were some kind of fungus and an internet search confirmed that. They were immature fruit bodies of the stinkhorn fungus. |
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| If there was any doubt about the identification, it was validated a week later when I found these mature stinkhorn fungi growing in the same place. They were supposed to be really stinky, but I didn't notice anything. |
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| I first noticed some cicada skeletons on the underside of some leave that were trimmed. Then I started to notice them everywhere. Apparently we've had an unexpected emergence of cicadas here this year. |
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| In another bed, I found this sluggish woolly bear. Soon we should be seeing a lot more of them traveling to find a place to hibernate for the winter. |
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| A few minutes later, I found this virgin tiger moth which is what a woolly bear caterpillar grows into. I'm not sure if there's a relationship between the two I saw, but it was a pretty cool association. |
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| This little leaf hopper was hiding among the leaves. I uncovered it with my weeding. |
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| When I stood back to view my progress, I noticed this piece of bark that had wrapped itself around a branch. It had literally exploded off a nearby tree that was hit by lightning recently. |
Today I hope I get a chance to enjoy the nice weather and do a little more digging. Just hope my back holds out. :)
