More fungi

This time it was my son and I (and no dog), at Lindenwood Nature Preserve. Once in the dense woods, the traffic noises were far away, so even though the park is within the city, it was very quiet. Almost all the flowering plants were asters of one sort or another. Otherwise, it was fungus, fungus, fungus. Again, my phone camera was not quite up to the task, but the fuzzy pix we will describe as "arty".

After visiting a friend who owns a (mostly) English lab, I am leaning toward getting a dog, a puppy even. All my dogs up to this point have been mutts, mostly hound mixes, of limited intelligence. It might be nice to have a smart dog for a change. I've been waiting for the urge to go away, but so far, it has not. S/he would not be able to accompany me to Lindenwood, though, as no pets are allowed.

Fall = fungi

My daughter, her dog Kingsley, and I took a walk at Kokiwanee Nature Preserve this morning, the first relatively cool day of this endless season. I had forgotten how great fall is for fungus spotting. Unfortunately, I had only my phone camera, which ordinarily takes halfway decent photos. Not so this time, maybe because the white of most of the fungi contrasted sharply with the surrounding detritus and it was an overcast day. A few pics came out okay, though.

I don't know much about mushrooms or fungus other than I can recognize the puffball. I'm too lazy to look up the rest. Or not interested enough, at least not right this minute.

I know a little bit about wild flowers. Above, we have goldenrod, below a (presumably native) hydrangea. There were also asters of various sizes and colors, jewelweed, boneset, lobelia.

Walking in the woods is definitely preferably to hoofing it around the addition or across a golf course. With more moderate temperatures, I will have to get out more. The great outdoors will be even better once the bugs are gone.