partly sunny

[lizziebelle]

sunny break, originally uploaded by Lizzie~Belle.

It was a mostly grey day, but the sun came out a couple of times for a couple of minutes, and I managed to catch one or two of those moments. It wasn't all that cold, maybe 40 degrees, so of course everything was slushy and/or muddy.


This is what much of the trail was like, which is why I didn't go all that far in.



I found some day-glo, Tang-colored fungus on a tree near the river.



I crouched down to take a pic of some lichen, and saw a bug! A live bug! OK, bugs aren't usually very exciting, but in February they are.



And here's the lichen:



This looks like a pleasant place to live, doesn't it?



Oh look, more lichen. This is on one of the benches along the pond.



I saw more downed and broken branches, like this rhododendron, also by the pond.



I love how the geese rest on one foot.



Tired of slopping through the slush, I was happy to find a mostly clear stairway out of the park.



Aaaaaand Canada just won the hockey game. Good for them. For the US: a silver medal is nothing to be ashamed of. That's pretty amazing. I happened to tune in, to get the score, just as the US tied it up with 24 seconds to go. Way to prolong the excitement, guys! Good going. I'm not a hockey fan, but I understand that this is the climax of the games. It's all denouement from here. ;)

Comments

[sea-dark-wine.livejournal.com]

Funny thing about bugs in winter. There is a note on the Audubon almanac I get every few months, for mid February, saying to look for signs of snow fleas near the bases of trees. "They look like sprinklings of pepper on the snow." Have you ever seen such a thing? (I keep forgetting to look!)

[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

I've never noticed, or even heard of them! Now I'll have to look. ;)

[sea-dark-wine.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... y'know, it sounds like the makings of a hoax! Snow fleas, my elbow.

[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

Well, they do have a Wikipedia page!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_flea

[sea-dark-wine.livejournal.com]

Wow! That last paragraph about their antifreeze-like proteins was especially interesting.