a walk in the mushroom patch

I spent my morning out in the woods, walking some of the trails that were still rather damp from the last couple of days of heavy rain. My eyes slid along the path as they usually do, the first of the autumn leaf fall coloring the trail ahead of me. I usually find mushrooms as I walk, but today, well, I found more-- and a wider variety-- than I usually do. It became a treasure hunt of sorts!

Also found a bit of time to spend with my tree.

 

Yeah, it's been a good start to the day.

Now, coffee and crochet.

rewilding bits

I went for an extended walk out at Williams Nature Conservatory today, walking the North Loop and the Perry Road. It was terribly windy, had a couple of real 'we're not in Kansas' moments. It made taking pictures interesting as the canopy was doing this crazy dance above me and most landscape pictures I was taking were blurry. Changed my plan, then. Decided to concentrate on the little things.

It feel to the ground in a slow flutter, and then was picked up time and time again by the wind until it finally settled right by my foot.

This is exactly how I found this still life. It appears that I arrived right after the squirrels had brunch.

This is a little blurry as the wind was having a good time with it. Large leaf, that was like some sail on a boat. I looked closer at it and found that sail to be full of holes.

Moss has always been a wonder to me. Especially when I find it growing on a huge boulder like this.

There were quite a few of these crackling underneath my feet.

I just liked this.

Autumn color. Love it.

Oak leaves that caught my eye.

Thistles always catch my eye. These were as tall as I am, and that's saying a lot as I am over six foot. For a long time, I always thought of thistles as being these prickly things that made running barefoot as a kid a pain. Mowed them off in the yard. But when left to grow? Stunning. In all stages of life.

I have been taking a lot of inspiration from nature lately-- even more than I normally do! 

This month of "rewilding" has been good, and something I intend to continue with even after September has expired.

September 6 Rewild, Rasmussen Woods, Troost Trail

Today's Rewild Walk took me back to Rasmussen Woods on the Troost Pond Trail. I am always amazed at the differences in what I can find from trail to trail in my favorite woods. The next adventure will take me back to the cliffs, hopefully tomorrow if the weather cooperates. I don't mind walking in the rain, but somehow I don't think walking on slippery rocks would be in my best interests! 

I found these odd little mushrooms along the trail. There were two groups of three. They reminded me of flying saucers left behind by some alien insects or something. 

There was a old, dead tree that still stood upright, bark peeled away to expose the trunk beneath and these beautiful squiggled runes and worm holes. Yeah, I'm drawn to the beauty of the dead stuff, too.

A look up the bank to the high trails above.

Today's heart, and one that I found on the prairie loop back in April.

And finally, just a little bit of sweet-and-pretty. 

September 5 Rewild

My journey took me to Williams Nature Reserve today. I had always known it was there, but had never been out there for a walk. I will most definitely return. 

September 4 Rewild

Septmeber 4 Rewild Your Life 30 Day Challenge:  I took a walk down at Sibley Park along the river and then through the flower gardens and snapped off a whole lotta pictures. These are a few of my favorites. 

Sept 3 Rewild

30 Days to "Rewild"

I've been missing the woods a lot lately. Things have gotten so busy that I've somehow grabbed a hold of that old bit of "I just don't have time" and managed to convince myself that sooner or later things will slow down enough that I can get back out wandering around those oh-so-green places. And then, another day passes and I think, well, I will do it tomorrow.

Well, I came across a challenge on a Facebook page, We Are Wilderness, one that challenges you to spend at least 30 minutes a day in nature for 30 days. Sounds like the perfect way to reconnect, recharge-- to carve out that bit of time each day that I have been longing for. So, I have joined the challenge.

As I ran across this tonight, I didn't have a full 30 minutes out in nature today, but I did spend almost that much time working in my flower garden, so in a way I suppose that can count for today.

Camera is all charged up and tomorrow morning I am heading out to Rasmussen Woods for Day 2.

a spin on paint by numbers

My Grandma Lorraine taught me a lot of things. I learned how to crochet by watching her, but never hooked as tightly as she did. I still wonder how she ever got the hook through the stitches on the return row. I sat with a skein of yarn and chained. And chained. Until I had this ginormous pile of chained stitch at my feet.  Red wool. 

My first experience as an embroiderer and cross stitcher was with her. I still tied knots in my embroidery floss back then and never understood why I had all these bumps coming through the front of the piece. It was her patient hand that showed me how to tuck the ends. 

She also made these amazing braided rugs, made from strips of wool from old clothing. I use to roll up the balls of wool strips as she cut them. She had one in the dining room under the table. It was huge, and I remember still to this day, nearly 40 years later, what it felt like under my feet. 

Cross Stitch Pattern inspired by my Grandma's Paint By Numbers

She also did paint by numbers. I recently saw a painting kit at the craft store  and there was this wash of memory-- of sitting beside her at the dining room table, my toes wiggling against the wool rug underneath them as she popped open each of the little plastic paint jars.  And that itty bitty paintbrush. Tiny. And she would paint, dipping that brush and finding each number on the canvas board that corresponded with the number stamped on the flip lid of the wee paint jars. I wiggled in my seat, wanting to try it, too. She would let me, but only the places that were bigger. 

She knew what she was doing, she did. I still color outside of the lines. 

Lately, I find myself thinking a lot about the things she taught me. What an influence she had on the creative me. She was responsible for the foundation. She instilled in me a love for those things that were simple and real. A love for the things that are fashioned as much by your heart as they are your hand. 

Pine #2

She has been gone from this place since 1976, but I still talk with her frequently. I feel her sometimes in the things that I create. Hand and heart.