Random Thoughts of 9-16-08

Just a short entry today -- my back is killing me. It even hurts to walk, and that usually helps my back. Oy vey.

Anyway ...

• Michael Kuo, one of the major contributors to MushroomExpert.com, is co-authoring a book titled 100 Cool Mushrooms.
  

• Check out this awesome solar system quilt from 1876. Via the Craft Magazine blog.

• Wesley Fleming's Glass Sculpture. Insects, birds, sea creatures, etc. Via the Craft Magazine blog.

Ta ta for now,
Sylvie

Stinkhorns, what else?

Here is my friend's 9-5-08 photo of a stinkhorn in her yard. It is her best photo yet!

I had to shrink it because I don't have much space on my blog, so just know that the original photo is much better -- you can really see the mushroom glistening. Scandalous!I really hope that she submits her photo to the Stinkhorn Hall of Fame. She and her husband agreed that the smell is like dirty socks/dog poop/rotting flesh.

My husband and I stopped by the aforementioned friend's yard after work today. We knew that any stinkhorn we saw this late in the day would be shriveled, but we just had to give it a try. We saw a couple of them that had shriveled and fallen over, but it was still nice to see them, and to see that the flies were still interested in them. Even though they are fairly small, I spotted one from the car. My friend wasn't at home, but she had marked the location with a stick and had drawn a map of her yard indicating the blessed location. She said that we could try pouring water on the mushroom to try to reconstitute it. We tried that. It didn't work, but I'll bet her neighbors were wondering about the strangers standing in her yard, staring intently at the mulch, and pouring water on it.

After that, we went out for crepes and returned home. Well, I'm going to bed early. I have a bad headache, and neither prescription decongestant, nor Advil, nor nasal moistening gel are having an effect on it. Oy vey. The weather is changing (it was cool and windy today), and I've found that changes in barometric pressure really mess with my sinuses, inner ear, etc.

Good night,
Sylvie

Random Thoughts

Article from Psychology Today on a study about broccoli's health benefits. A dietitian quoted in the article used the term "broccoli and its vegetable friends." Hee, hee!

Cool: Not Martha found a sugar and shea butter scrub that didn't leave her tub dangerously slippery. Why do they sell so many oil-based products to use in the tub and shower? I tried one once, slipped, and scared myself to death. Speaking of scrubs, what is with the obsession with exfoliation? I mean, apart from your feet (and maybe your elbows?), do you really need to be sand-blasting your poor body?

Speaking of poor bodies, my poor husband has a case of poison oak, and I'm finally able to hug him again (very gently) without setting off some serious itching.

Well, I'm off to get a smackerel of something to eat and then settle down for tonight's Giants game.

Ta ta for now,
Sylvie

Stinkhorn ID

My friend thinks that her stinkhorn fungi could be Lysurus mokusin. See also, the "Other Descriptions and Photos" heading at the bottom of that site. My rough estimate is that, as of yesterday, they've had 11.5 of them (she and her husband are not in agreement about whether they've had 11 or 12).

Her husband found this cool time-lapse video of mold and mushrooms. Check out the stinkhorn with the lacy veil-like skirt.

My other stinkhorn entries are

• here

• here, and

• here.

My husband and I are on stinkhorn standby alert -- up until this point, we've only seen photos, but to see one "in person" would be awesome. My friend's husband checks every morning to see if any stinkhorns have popped up. They only last a day, and look better in the morning, so I told my friend to call us as early as she would like this weekend if anything new pops up. Fingers crossed!

Drat!

MLB just used instant replay for the first time -- Tampa Bay was contesting an A-Rod home run. Wouldn't it have been sweet if the first use of instant replay had been to deny the Yankees? Unfortunately, whatever the ump saw made him uphold the home run. Damn it!

8-3-08 Trip to the Coast, Part 1

We went to Point Reyes National Seashore and Bodega Bay on August 3rd. Point Reyes and Bodega Bay, and their general surroundings, are probably our favorite coastal birding destinations in California. Today's post is about the Point Reyes portion of the day. I'll share my photos from Bodega Bay later.

Here are some photos from Abbotts Lagoon at Point Reyes:

Brush rabbits were abundant, and effing adorable! This one flipped over on its back (lighting fast!) in the middle of the trail and then back onto its stomach -- very acrobatic. Perhaps it was taking a dust bath? Here it is right after the flip:

Just look at those chubby haunches!

Beautiful clover flower

Brown Pelicans

We spotted a doe and fawn. They crossed the trail in front of us.Monkeyflower

Some kind of sea plant? Neat-looking, yes?

Pretty thistle (note the insect in the second photo)

Bee on a different thistle

A female California Quail strikes a regal pose
A Harrier coursed by

A true bug

GBH stridin' out across the dunes
We saw this scruffy White-crowned Sparrow on the trail on the hike in and the hike out. Judging by its scruffiness, and serious lack of tail feathers, I think it's a young of the year.

Note how its meager tail is jauntily cocked to the side.

Well, I have to go. The Giants game is starting soon, and Lincecum is pitching today, which means that they might actually win. By the way, the only nicknames that have been suggested for him that I approve of are definitely "Seabiscuit," and maybe "The Franchise." "The Freak" is the only one that has stuck, and I hate it.

Ta ta for now,
Sylvie