June 2023

Highway Rider

I was going down  I-40 in Arkansas when a mechanical bull passed me.

Fungus Schmungus #6

I found three very colorful mushrooms. The violet ones are Reishi mushrooms (Ganoderma lucicum) and are also known as Lingzhi, Divine Mushroom, and “Mushroom of Immortality.” Reishi mushrooms are used in medicinal teas. I could not correctly indentify the green mushrooms or the odd bright yellow mushroom. The yellow mushroom was growing out of a… Read more »

Vintage Hotel Signs

At the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument in Kearney, Nebraska stands a reproduction of an old sign from The Hammer Motel in Kearney, Nebraska. This weekend I went to the Des Moines Art Festival In Iowa and was delighted by Ed Pribyl’s colorful visions of vintage hotel signs.

Fancy Cars

I saw two artistic vehicles recently. The truck went by while I was at a gas station and the car was parked in a grocery store parking lot.

Match Stick Museum

The Match Stick Museum in Gladbrook, Iowa is small but fun. The artist is Patrick Acton. His match stick art is in Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museums and is shown at the Iowa State Fair. This is a replica of the US Capitol which took 478,000 match sticks to make.

Tire Horse

This life-size horse made out of old tires was outside of a tire store. The dogs went crazy when we discovered a horse on our dog walk.

Chameleon Changing Colors

Last summer, my family visited the Butterfly Palace and Rainforest Aventure. This chameleon was green and blue when we arrived. He s-l-o-w-l-y followed my son from one side of his aquarium to the other. My son, Cole, wore a magenta shirt with a wild pattern. As the chameleon followed around the enclosure, he changed colors… Read more »

Deer Eating Mulberries

I was sitting at my kitchen table when I saw this small buck in our back yard, eating mulberries off the tree.

Mandolin

I saw this mandolin for sale in an antique store. I am not a musician, but it made me want to find out more about mandolins. This instrument is from Italy and brings to mind “Italian Restaurant Music.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXHb9Hh15xQ But it can be found in many genres of music. For other examples, you can watch this… Read more »

Dobsonflies and Dragonflies

I found this insect crawling on the ground near the Mississippi River. It was about four inches long. I had never seen one of these before.  My research showed that it was a dobsonfly larvae which would normally be underwater. Maybe a bird plucked it out of the water and dropped it. Anyway, a dobsonfly… Read more »