My Fascination with Wild Mushrooms

I am fascinated with mushrooms that grow out in the wild.  Okay, seeing mushrooms growing wild in downtown Princeton, NJ isn't like seeming mushrooms on a hiking trail in the wilderness, but it comes really, really close to awesomeness.  I think that the pictures will show you what I mean when I say that I am truly "hung up" on wild mushrooms.

One day just running in the woods at Mountain Lakes Preserve http://mikestrailhead.com/PrincetonMountainLakes.html, I came upon this mushroom:

This was really incredible!  If I hadn't looked down, I would have missed this sweet find!  What kind of mushroom it is, who knows...but it sure is unusual.  

Out on another run, I came across this mushroom right in front of someone's house on Library Place.  This one was huge, over 2 feet in diameter.  All intact, really amazing! 

Growing Vertically

Green, Orange and Brown on the bark of the tree

Here are a few more mushrooms found in Mountain Lakes Preserve in Princeton, NJ: 

looks like what you find at the grocery store, but I wouldn't eat this one!

Mushroom Pillows...Who would of that that there is so much "fungus" among us? 

under view of the Pink mushroom

Last, but not least in anyway, two beautiful wonderful mushrooms from Acadia National Park in Maine. So pretty! 

Pink top view

Shelf mushroom upside down!

All of these mushrooms are different, unique, unusual and I love taking pictures of them.  What a joy to be able to find mushrooms in the wild! 

Fall Arrived.....

I love fall.  The air is crisp, cool and the leaves crunch under your feet.  I have an abundant amount of leaves to rake...more than I can ever do!  So some leaves get raked, some decompose where they land and others get crushed by the lawn mower.  Peak is rapidly approaching.  The first week of November is usually peak here in Princeton.  There are some trees that are showing off their glory now and others that are waiting for the big show.  I am so awed by the change of the colors.  What an amazing miracle how the leaves go from green to yellow, red, pink, gold, brown, and orange.  Sometimes the color is so unusual, I can even give it a name.  I am truly blessed to live in an amazing place that has tons of woods, trees and spectacular colors.  Enjoy the fall show.....

Spectacular Hawaii, The Big Island, Ocean and Flowers

Arch City, Big Island Hawaii

The Big Island of Hawaii is truly a beautiful place.  The ocean is the most spectacular blue I have ever seen, and the flowers in the rainforests are extraordinary!  All about the Big Island, Hawaii

The pictures speak a thousand words....enjoy!

Volcano National Park, Crater Road, Big Island, Hawaii

Waialea Beach, Big Island Hawaii More on the beach...

 Plumeria, so fragrant and beautiful

Ginger Flower, Two Tone Wax, these were unreal, something out of the Wizard of Oz!

Red Torch Ginger Flower at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens, Big Island, Hawaii

Spring Awakening, Good Morning, it's Springtime!

Spring is awakening all around Princeton.  The forsythia shrubs are out showing off their most beautiful yellow flowers.  I really connect with forsythia.  As a child we had a huge hedge of forsythia outside my bedroom window.  One morning I would wake up, pull up my window shade and WOW...there was the gorgeous, glorious, and amazing yellow flowers.  I still feel the exact same feeling I felt when I was a kid as an adult when I see forsythia in bloom, HAPPY and FULL OF SMILES!  Take a look at my perspective of the wonders of Forsythia.....

Next comes those wonderful daffodils.  They grow and multiply without much work and come back every year.  What an amazing present to receive.  I truly appreciate their glory.

Go outside, Enjoy the Sunshine as Spring Awakes all around you!

Musings on Nature Photography - Sunflowers

I am sure that you have heard of @pinterest? It is a new social media platform that is growing amazingly fast! Pinterest has over 10 million users in 9 months, fastest growing site ever!  I really believe it!  I started using pinterest about two months ago and I am truly astonished how many people (mostly women) have repined my photo of the face of a real sunflower picture that I took this summer.  Bruce and I were driving up to Northern Jersey and came across a field of Sunflowers.  I grabbed my cell phone and camera, good thing I had my camera, and started shooting photos.  It was not easy photos to shoot, I couldn't get too close to the flowers and the wind keep them moving.  I got just one photo of the sunflower showing off all of the sunflower seeds.  I posted this photo on @pinterest and it went viral!  It has been repined at the time of this blog 155 times and I have 106 followers on my flower board alone!  I just posted this sunflower photo two weeks ago.  I have had numerous people tell me how much they love the picture.  It makes me feel so good that people like my photo and that it makes them smile! 

Here are a few more sunflowers...Enjoy and Be Sunny!

Starting the New Year with lots of Color

Wow, fabulous Sunrises and Sunsets in the last couple of days.  I start running in the dark and as the world slowly awakes from its slumber, the clouds and sun start to make beautiful color patterns.  Incredible what happens. 

 The sky is so pink, puffy and blue!  What a great way to wake up.

Have a great New Year.  Wake up early, run in the dark, and then watch the sun come up.  There is no better way to start the day.  Now Take Your Day On!!

New Year, Starting Over

Its that time of the year again.  To start fresh, turn over a new leaf, do all the things that you have been putting off.  What should I do first?  Big Question!! Lose 8 pounds #1, Put all my negatives on the computer #2, clean the house more #3, that is enough for now.  Oh, I almost forgot, take more pictures with my new camera.

New Camera, Fun taking Close-ups December 30, 2011

Nice Bark, I have a "thing" for Bark!

More Bark, the Twisty Kind, On a Bonsai Tree

Practicing my closeup

Amazing how far away I can be and get this detail on a closeup 

Small Bird Nest, so cute, no birds, but sweet!

So, I started using my new Kodak camera with its 30x wide angle lens.  Wow, I can really zoom in.  We went to the National Arboretum today in D.C.  Not a lot to take pictures of trees or plants in bloom, but I did find a few items to play with on my new camera.  It was quite fun.