Pastel Light

The pastel lighting of days' end before the sun actually sets is a beautiful and unforgettable sight, seldom enjoyed by me in these cold temps.

At the time this photo was taken, the very end of November, our lake and cove was still fluid, with only one day of an isolated ice crust appearing up to that point.

Striking Tussocks

What a striking native caterpillar I encountered among the blades of grass in my lawn:

But, beware, this beauty has venom glands at the base of the 4 showy hairy tussocks on its back.

It matures into a very drab-looking moth, the Definite Tussock Moth (Orgyia definita).

Simple Things

I love the simplicity of this pic

and the moody beauty of this watery vision

Expectations

I spent ages looking for the lid of this jar of coconut oil (left). After searching the expected location (of it being on the countertop), I was flummoxed that it was nowhere to be seen. I thought I must have done something absent-minded like throw it into the kitchen recycling skip, put it back in the cabinet, dropped it on the floor and it was lying under the open door of the dishwasher, or put it away with the zip lock bags I was using. Nope, nope, nope and nope. 

I decided to give up for the time being, to leave the jar on the counter until the lid revealed itself - after all, how difficult would it be to spot a green, plastic lid that matched the green accent on the jar?

Expectations! They are what lead us astray, that take us in the wrong direction. With expectations blurring my reality, I overlooked what was actually in front of me  - look again at my photo: the lid is right under my nose! 

The lid was black, not green! My expectation had obscured my vision.

So, what is your expectation or vision for 2024? Will you be open to reality, and not be misled by what you think it should be? It makes life a lot smoother!

Impressive Gem

I found a small round blob of 'jelly' floating in my tray of aquatic plants and decided to isolate it to get a closer look ... and I was amazed at how beautiful it looked up close.

I'm impressed with the detailed green edging - it gives an exquisite and unique texture to this blob, which has filaments inside. It's an algae called Nostoc (more commonly called blue-green algae), and can form colonies on the lake bottom, acting as recyclers and filters. They can metabolize nitrogen (i.e remove excess nitrogen from the system when it converts amino acids to energy) as well as being able to acquire carbon, so they are valuable to ecosystems and other organisms with which they may form associations.

To help visualize this tiny and impressive gem, I've included a photo with a millimeter scale below. One can hardly notice the textured edge this far away!

Turkey Helpers

I walked around my garden beds last week, hoping to see signs of my Jefferson twinleaf (Jeffersonia diphylla) emerging from the leaf litter, but it wasn't showing through at all. I decided not to uncover it, but instead wait for it to emerge on its own.

Lo and behold, a day later, it was uncovered and showing its new growth - it had been aided by turkeys rifling through the leaf litter for grubs and seeds.

Wow! I was amazed. Maybe this is one of the ways in which ecosystems left alone manage to thrive and survive, naturally. Nature doesn't need our "help" - be ecologically responsible, and leave the leaves!

And no, this wasn't the kind of wild turkey that inspired this post!

World Water Day

We need to keep our water supplies as clean as we are able.

One way to do this is to keep plastics out of our water supply, not only for our own good health, but also for that of other living organisms.

A reminder from the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Reserve on World Water Day:

Plastic "is harmful to wildlife and takes a [...] long time to degrade. When it does break down, it becomes harmful microplastics that wildlife and seafood-consuming people ingest."

Let's not pollute our own "nest" and leave a devastating figurative footprint such as this, as our signature.

(Poster borrowed from the Internet; not mine))

When will we ever learn?

Late Bloomers

A new goldenrod for me, and in the most gorgeous setting - seaside goldenrod, Solidago sempervirens (also known as salt marsh goldenrod).

This late flowering plant is a great food source for fall migrating monarchs along the Atlantic coast.

Northern Bay of Bagaduce River, Penobscot, ME

Harriman Point, Brooklin, ME

Unique Point

Whilst on the Blue Hill peninsula, we decided to explore Harriman Point Preserve before heading home, and boy, are we glad we did; it's a treasure trove of beauty. The 138 acre preserve is managed by the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, which allows hunting ...

It was a magical, mossy walk through coastal forest before reaching the peninsula, which opens out onto almost 2 miles of unspoiled beaches. We were bothered by a few biting bugs along this walk, even in October, and it was the only buggy place during this trip - I can only imagine how torturous it must be in summer!

The coastline was beautiful - undeveloped, with natural rock and shell expanses as far as the eye could see, with unobstructed views of the island and bays around. It felt so remote, and we had it all to ourselves (mostly)!

The large sponge on the bottom right of this picture fascinated me

One can follow the coastal forest edge along this section to get all the way around the point

Low tide exposed a lot of little islands

Crescent shaped beach

It was magnificent, soul-quenching scenery, to be enjoyed leisurely - incredibly serene and picturesque. But as can be seen, the sun was getting low in the sky at this point and the walk back to the parking area had to happen at a brisk pace, before tripping home in the dark became a reality.

The gold rock looks like the frog prince's golden ball

The golden light of day's end was getting weaker as we turned away from the coast but still the woods glowed!

Beard lichen draped along tree limbs, catching the light

A most exquisitely scenic bog!

But not a moose to be seen!

Fall Haul

At Naskeag Point, after much shoreline exploration, we picnicked on a grassy overlook that had once been kept as an apple orchard.

There were many apples, both on the ground and still on the tree, that were partially eaten, stung by insects, or rotting with fungus. It seemed like such a pity to let the remaining good ones go the same way ... so we set about reaching up and picking select fruit, as well as shaking branches to remove the ripe and ready ones. We made sure to keep track of the fresh ones' path as they rolled off (my empty cloth shopping bags were put to good use.) down the grassy slope.

What a haul! Some apples were tiny, mostly unblemished, with great, pungent-tasting flesh. I've been working with apples a lot since then, though I didn't get photos of all my creations. 

Apple Cake with Caramel Frosting

Applesauce in the Making

I still have a ton left, even after baking and giving some away

The smell of apples and fall go well together - such a crisp, sweet smell.

Rockin' the Coastline

Another amazing coastal exploration day, this time at Naskeag Point at low tide.

I love rocks! Their patterns and structure amaze me.

This private walkway makes a pretty serious attempt at not having to negotiate rocks!

Slithering Seaweed

We found knotted wrack, a brown algae (seaweed; called Ascophyllum nodosum) growing on the beaches we visited recently. It's only known to grow in the cold waters of the northern Atlantic ocean. It has interesting egg shaped bladders along its fronds - quite an attractive form.

Another seaweed we noticed is spiral wrack (Fucus spiralis) that has warty looking swollen bladders, sometimes joined into heart shapes. They're not filled with air like other seaweeds, but with a jelly-like substance which is released for reproduction instead of pollen and nectar.

Look at how much algae/seaweeds there are to see at low tide - it dominates the landscape. It looks like long-haired beatniks or trolls with their heads popping out of the water!

And this looks like it needs a good brushing or untangling!

Coastal Curiosities

We found this cluster of little organisms, floating as one, in a tidal pool in Hancock. The shadow of their combined mass looks quite lacey and delicate

We had no idea what they were, but have since discovered they are more than likely the seashore springtail (Anurida maritima), a useful scavenger that feeds on decaying molluscs and barnacles. Their bodies are covered with hairs that repel water, keeping them from breaking the surface tension so they can stay on top of the water.

And then there was this beautiful sponge, a group of multicellular animals without true organs or tissues.

I think these are castings - droppings - of the lugworm, which filters organic material from the watery sediments, and expels the non-nutritious sand out of one end of its underground tunnel. Fish, crabs and birds feed on the worms depending on the tide, as they're nearing the surface to expel the extraneous sand grains. And apparently, one can tell the species by the shape and coiling of their 'excrement'!

Reversing Falls

There were so many interesting things to be found and enjoyed on our recent road trip. Some days we viewed mountains, some days rivers, bogs, meadows and on others, coastlines. The variety of landscapes kept us engaged, and through it all, the foliage and weather was spectacular. The trees hadn't yet begun shedding their glowing façade, and the temperatures were in the low 70s. How lucky can you get!

We visited the coast to see the Tidal Falls Preserve in Frenchman Bay, Hancock, where the changing tide is impeded by a pinch in the channel and by the underwater rock ledge. It produces a perturbation and swirling of the water surface that looks like rapids. It's not dramatic and jaw-dropping, just fascinating to see. (You do have to time your visit with the tides of course). The upwelling is productive for wildlife since it stirs up zooplankton and nutrients, which in turn attracts birds and seals.

Whilst waiting for the reversing tidal falls to do their thing, I found this algae in a rock pool. I think it's Ulva intestinalis, known as gutweed in more common parlance. It sparkled and glowed rather attractively in the sunlight.

We picnicked there for hours, until the shadows grew long and we had to return to our lodging.