Andrea Smart

A branch fell out of a tree during the last storm. Here it is, - damp, dark purplish-brown wood lying in the dark brown bark on the park path. The stick is covered in pale sea-green oakmoss lichen, some cartilage lichen and tufts of bright, happy, Kelly-green moss.

A larger #HotStickSaturday entry than usual. It’s covered in #Oakmoss #lichen and fluffy #moss. #ISeeMoss #LichenSubscribe #ISeeMoss #PNW #Nature #Photography #GoOutside #Breathe #Notice #MentalHealthBreak

A vibrant, kelly green, 1-centimeter ball of moss growing on a concrete curb. It’s sparkling in the sunlight from all the tiny crystal, orb shaped dewdrops on it.

An adorable #round tuft of #moss with tiny spheres of sparkly #dewdrops. #BlueSkyArtShow #Macro #Photography #NatureIsArt #ISeeMoss #GoOutside #Breathe #Notice #Don’tGiveUp

Tonight’s #sunset with a chorus of tiny Pacific tree #frogs as the soundtrack. We’ll try again tomorrow. #NatureSounds #PNW #NatureTherapy #Trees #NatureIsArt #PacificTreeFrogs #GoOutside #Breathe #Notice #YouMatter

Ew.

A great blue heron is in the process of taking off across the rocky tide pools of Seal Rock, OR. Ripples flow out from where our friend is lifting a foot out of the water, and its wings are stretched out wide brown seaweed covers the rock in front of the heron, and other rocks in the background have brown and dark green seaweed on them. You can tell it’s a bit foggy on the beach here, but the morning sun was trying to burn it away.

Caught this friend about to take #flight last summer at some #OregonCoast #TidePools. #Februarty #Birds #GreatBlueHeron #LooksLikeADinosaur #PNW #Nature #Photography #GoOutside #Breathe #Notice #Don’tGiveUp

I’ve also never seen a dragon (sadly? fortunately?), but still, my first thought on seeing this was, “Ooo, dragon scales.” I wonder why that is? It’s probably all of the fictional or artistic dragon depictions I’ve seen in the past, and the lichen patterns reached into my brain and pulled it out.

A lumpy, 4-centimeter section of a maple tree trunk covered in a species of disc lichen with brownish centers and white rims. The discs are packed together tightly, so they kind of made me think of dragon scales for some weird reason. A bit of pale, bluish-green shield lichen is on the left edge, and a couple of small sprigs of tiny, pale sea green oakmoss lichen is on the far right.

For some reason, the #lichen on this late #ThickTrunkTuesday offering has me thinking about #dragon scales. #LichenSubscribe #Fungi #FungiFriends #Trees #Nature #Photography #PNW #GoOutside #Breathe #Notice #Don’tGiveUp

It’s very warming!

Ahhh! That is a lot of snow! March is coming…

And at least now I don’t have a nerf sword stuck to my hand. 🙄

Oh! It was from July? I was thinking Spring was quite advanced there! It’s chilly and rainy here, but we do have a few little blossoms coming out!

Beautiful!

This is a naturally monochrome, backlit shot of 3 of those round, spiky sweetgum tree seed pods against a light gray, rainy sky. One drop of rain clings to the same twig on the right, and additional branches are blurred out on the left.

A #few backlit sweetgum tree balls for #MonoMonday #Februarty #Trees #PNW #NatureIsArt #Photography #GoOutside #Breathe #Notice #RainyDay #Don’tGiveUp

Thanks! I’d totally love to be able to shrink down and take a walk in there.

A macro photograph of dewdrop-covered moss at eye-level. The foreground and background are blurred, but the narrow focus enlarges the little crystal orbs of dew on the stalks of moss that carry the spores. The tips of the sporophytes are reddish brown. The stalks are a light, yellowish green and the base of the moss is a darker green. I wanna walk through this scene as a fairy!

These tiny #moss #macro shots feel like a #fairy land. #Dewdrops make me crazy. In a good way. #Februarty #Stunday #ISeeMoss #PNW #NatureIsArt #Photography #green #Sparkly #GoOutside #Breathe #Notice #Don’tGiveUp

Thanks for the reshare!

Thanks for the shoutout! Alt text for the 3rd picture: A 4-centimeter section of stick teeming with lichen and moss! The upper left has little, bright-yellow pops of sunburst lichen. plenty of leafy, pale-sea-green lichen sit with disc-shaped lichen with gray centers and white rims. Moss too!

A lush green mimosa tree dotted with its silky pink Pom-pom flowers hosts two bright, white cattle egrets - one sitting straight up, the other kind if hunched. Rocky, black, basaltic cliffs blur in the background.

#Two cattle egrets perch in a giant mimosa tree against the backdrop of black lava cliffs on #Oahu. #BlueSkyArtshow #HI #Hiking #Birds #Egrets #Nature #Photography #GoOutside #Breathe #Notice #KeepGoing

A 4-centimeter section of stick traveling diagonally from lower right to upper left against a blurred, straw-colored background. The stick is teeming with lichen and moss life! The upper left has little, bright-yellow pops of some sort of sunburst lichen, while plenty of leafy, pale-sea-green lichen with little black hairs covers the stick, as well as a little section in the middle that has those disc-shaped lichen dots I love. They have dark gray centers with whitish rims. Tiny buds of deep green moss poke out all along the top. Shaggy bits of sea green oakmoss or cartilage lichen stick out along the bottom. So much fun!

This stick has it all! Lots of different #lichen types and little sprigs of #moss too! #HotStickSaturday #ISeeMoss #Fungi #FungiFriends #PNW #Macro #Nature #Photography #GoOutside #Breathe #Notice #Don’tGiveUp

Ohhhh! Really? That I did not know! Thanks for that information, because we will watch it for sure.

Ohhhh, yes! I love that book! My son recommended it to me.

I just love foggy forests!

Looking up at a forest of costal evergreen trees in the afternoon summer sun, filtering down through the green. Thick greenery on the ground, blue sky above, and all the trees, shaggy with lichen and moss stretch towards the center.

I’ve often #found the most interesting things in the #forest. Every #tree is an entire city, whether standing or lying down, becoming part of the forest floor again. #ForestFriday #Februarty #PNW #NatureIsArt #Photography #GoOutside #Breathe #Notice #Hope

Ha! Oh yes. The universe loves dramatic suspense.

Yes. I believe that. Here’s hoping that window flings wide to something amazing for you!

Wishing you good luck. Don’t have any advice, though. My job (tech writing) was outsourced to AI, so I’ve become a substitute teacher instead.

Mesa Falls on Henry’s Fork of the Snake River tumbles over a basaltic shelf, partially in the shade on the right, where another evergreen tree pokes out on the edge. Thick lodgepole pines cover the opposite hill, and the basaltic cliff opposite the waterfall is covered in thick, green moss. The sky is blue, the sun is shining, and a faint rainbow stretches from the mist on the lower right toward the opposite cliff.

#Idaho has many hidden gems, and #MesaFalls is one of them. A shot from a few summers ago. #WaterfallWednesday #Forests #Trees #Rainbow #NatureIsArt #Photography #GoOutside #Breathe #Notice #Don’tGiveUp

Tall stands of Douglas fir trees in bright green grass on either side of a brown, bark nature trail with dappled sunlight falling through the boughs creates a sort of magical nature tunnel.

These trees #form a magical tunnel of wonder through a local park. #Februarty #Trees #ThickTrunkTuesday #PNW #NatureIsArt #Photography #GoOutside #Breathe #Notice #KeepGoing

😭😭😭

Indeed it was.