An ekphrasis is a poem describing a piece of art such as a painting or a statue. Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese contemporary artist. I loved her sculpture of a flower and wrote an ekphrasis about it. Yayoi’s Flower in the Woods at Crystal Bridges lime-green serpent stem red/white polk-a-dot petals Please Feed Me, Seymour… Read more »
November 2021
Fungus Schmungus #3
This mushroom was growing on a dead tree in my daughter’s yard. The scientific name is Sarcodontia crocea. Sarco means “flesh.” dontia means “teeth.” crocea means “yellow.”
Fungus Schmungus #2
I found this mushroom while walking the dog. It was growing where there had previously been a tree stump and looked like a pepperoni pizza. The scientific name of this mushroom is Ganoderma sessile. Ganoderma means “shining skin.” The Ganoderma family are edible. Other Ganoderma species called “reishi” mushrooms are said to have healing properties… Read more »
Hedge Balls, The Magical Fruit
As I was recently driving north on Highway 65 in northern Missouri, I saw numerous hedge ball trees full of the strange yellow fruit. My grandmother used to put hedge balls in her basement to get rid of crickets and spiders. The weird fruits are also known as Osage oranges, hedge apples, and monkey brains…. Read more »
Wolf Spider with Egg Sac
I saw this wolf spider in the driveway, carrying her egg sac to protect her spider babies until they hatch. After the eggs hatch, she will carry the baby spiders on her back until they can fend for themselves. There is a nice blogpost about wolf spiders at https://animals.howstuffworks.com/arachnids/dont-be-afraid-big-bad-wolf-spider.htm
Miniature Petrified Barn
This tiny barn is made of petrified wood and is on display at the Petrified Wood Museum.
Llewellyn Spaniel
I met this guy at Hobby Lobby. I realized I had never seen this breed of dog before.
Fall Officially Here
I walked the dog this morning and all the trees in the park were dropping leaves at a constant, steady rate. Never seen leaves fall like this before.
Latte Art
This latte art was created by Kevin at Barista’s Daily Grind in Kearney, Nebraska. It would be fun to create a similar type of art for hot chocolate with whipped cream, marshmallows, and chocolate/caramel/strawberry syrup.
Newfoundland Dogs
These two beautiful dogs waited outside patiently for their master at a coffee shop in Keystone Ski Village, Colorado.
Shelley Jones Clark
