Goodies for YOU, Patient Reader, and a new year for us all

So, a few low-resolution resolutions floating around in my head, including:

Share more of the wonders of the world with you, here.

More frequently. Starting now. =)

Today's feature: earthstar fungus (shot in November).

I actually think I saw it last year,
but it was kind of like a celebrity sighting:

 "It CAN'T be something as exciting as that earthstar fungus.

It MUST be just some sort of exploded acorn, right?!?"

They do look a lot like exploded acorns.

I actually searched for "germinating acorn" images to be sure.

Nope, not germinating acorns.

Freakin' cool fungus.

Maybe the hygroscopic earthstar, Astraeus hygrometricus.

Measuring up (shot in December):

Hygroscopic refers to how their form changes with the humidity.
Their little rays curl back up when it gets dry,
some all the way into a dark, tough ball that can roll around.

Went back to the site today (January), and they looked like this:

I found another that was an even tidier little brown ball
(no leaf had gotten tangled up in it, like the lower one).

So, that's one of the coolest things I discovered & learned about in 2014.


WICKED COOL COINCIDENCE

Oh, and while I was JUST on the east coast,
gazing at Nauset Lighthouse on Cape Cod, MA,

What did I see at my feet, right about there?
Earthstars!

The 4 in a row are really easy to see in the photo, but there's more than that in this frame.
They were significantly smaller than ours,
but, HOW COOL IS THAT?!?

I was pumped.

'Course back home, now, I can't expect to hear any of those amazing accents,
eat spectacular clam chowder,
or wander about in a frozen swamp (future post).

But, we do get to be with our kitties & hen, again.
And my beloved garden.

'Course I had to WATER a few things in my garden AGAIN today.
It basically didn't rain the 2 weeks we were gone;
and winter is our rainy season.

We really need more rain to counter this drought.

Plus, more rain --> more fungus, woo-hoo!! =)

xoxoxobb

800th post potpourri

classic bb photo of yore: taken whilst upside down & mega happy

at Mt. Rainier NP, hiking w/ marvelous friends.

So, not that I think numbers like this really matter, but

800 posts?!?

Apparently "biobabbler" was apt.

FUN combo of teddy bear sunflowers & pole beans I planted.

Frozen whimsey. Heaven.

I'd been thinking about what this one might be,

like a potpourri of random bio-dorky things

I've been doing & seeing & thinking lately.

'Cause that's what this blog is, really.

freakishly HUGE hole in our heads,

a.k.a. the sinus cavity. FREAKS me OUT.

But, then I randomly clicked on "insert image" in blogger,

and it brought up ALL the photos from this blog.

Trip down memory lane.

Amazing post-storm sunset after cruising Yosemite.

So, I'll share my recent things later.

For today, a random smattering of previous postage.

wetland outside New Orleans, weirdo lighting heaven.

Hi! 

Western toad at our house. Note wee size via clover comparison. *sigh*

& the 4 letter code for it is (was) WETO so we biodorks call it "wee-toe". It is wee.

bb training volunteers in rocky intertidal monitoring by doing a demo plot.

At Cabrillo NM years ago. Upgraded water wear since then. =) & now I am a volunteer.

Bambi in the yard! teeter, teeter....

Point Reyes National Seashore. Heart. Majorly.

beloved coworkers' tootsies. Good shoes for Rattlesnake Land.

Note snake gaiters on lower right. Smart. But, HOT.

Freaky things lakes do when they freeze. Had no idea. Tenaya Lake, Yosemite.

k.

Thank you all for checking in and commenting, etc., over the years.

You are are the BEST!

800 hugs.

bb

jeepers, bb = Nature Center Magazine blog of the week?!?

 

Woah!

Just when you think you're blogging to an audience of four, a FIFTH person, rifling through the thick forest that is the Interenet, reaches out...

Contact!

woo-hoo! =) Thanks to Emma who spotted my babblings and liked them enough to share.

She wrote a great overview on the Nature Center Magazine site, linking to a diverse set of stories & pictures, some that go WAY back (you know, relative to the biobabbler timeline). I'd forgotten about that wacky wildfire in So. Cal. that brought about some cool pics. And my Spokesbuck. And that our bobcat's name is Max.

My aunt encouraged me to start this blog, tho' I'd been "blogging to nowhere" (a file on my mac) for a while. She suggested getting snowed in, having deer as lawn art, hosting MANY wild predator species (bobcats, foxes, coyotes, bears and mountain lions interested in my chickens), adventures in Yosemite, and wrangling rattlesnakes are not things everyone experiences.

So, okay, maybe I'll put this stuff out there... any minute now...

Getting brave... looks a little scary...

Then LAUNCH!

whee!

Oh, yeah. Wild and scary is also frequently beautiful...

It's always worth it.

'Cause, whether you're headed out on a solo trek,

or cruising around with friends,

as long as you're rooting around in nature,

You're never alone.

=) Thanks SO much Emma, I'll definitely be checking y'all out!

And thank YOU, all you very kind blog readers and commenters.

I'm having a ball, have loved finding your blogs and learning from you.

It's an awesome adventure!

Kinda, you know, like life.

=)

xobb

grrr...........

 
uploaded 5 photos and was watermarking them all.

then my computer freaked out and the internet/my computer ATE them all.

I do not have time to re-do it now.

errrrrrg.

k. here's the one that worked.

not a scenic one... not even super sharp, but I loved that green strip.

anyhow, going to garden now.

Once again, I am wearing a cute outfit today, then by the time my husband arrives home, I will be in grubbies and covered in dirt.

=)

ah, life married to a biodork.

xoxobb