Small is Beautiful

During my walks one of my great joys is to find and photograph small things that might otherwise be passed by.

These discoveries feel like little surprise gifts - but I have to be observant and look closely.

Deer tracks are plentiful here, but when they're so well-defined and we share tracks, then I can picture a buck or doe on nightly grazing rounds. I wonder if they bother noticing human tracks? Probably not - no hunting here to cause alarm.

Now this little beetle seemed to be standing on his version of a soap box, ready to make an important announcement. Or maybe he was just showing off his fine red markings for a lady friend...





Another surprise is seeing these bright red manzanita leaves on the new growth of very young shrubs. This photo doesn't do the color justice. It can be brilliant and deepest maroon red, but usually these bits are only a couple of inches in height - easily missed.


One of the weirder finds on the cooler, shadier forest floor is what is called a Ground Cone (Boschniakia strobilacea). At first glance, they seem like dead pine cones, but if you look closely, they are quite something else.

I read that they are parasites that feed off roots deep below the surface. What we see on the ground is the head of a fleshy flower stalk with very small purplish flowers when in bloom. On one of my walks, they are everywhere beneath the pine trees.

I've had to postpone walks for the moment: We're having very hot weather and terrible, thick yellow smoke blown into our mountain valley from the large California wildfires. It's very hard to breathe outside. So for now, I continue to find photos of small treasures in my computer files.

I hope you find some interesting small things too.

Crater Lake - Magic...

It's been raining heavily for 24 hours here and the deer are totally soaked. Here they are looking in, wistfully, wishing for more apples (Old Mamma is on the top right; notice her right leg with the knob where it broke 3 years ago).

Meanwhile, it's probably snowing heavily in Crater Lake, here in southern Oregon. If you've never been there, I would say that it's worth your while to see it at least once in your lifetime. I first visited when I was 13 and never forgot the experience.

As you approach the top of the crater rim to get the first glimpse of the lake, the intense blue of the water takes the breath away.

Crater Lake is magical, like a large brilliant blue gem in the middle of a forested nowhere. The lake, formed from rain and snow over the past 7,700 years, is contained in the remnants of the volcano that is known as Mount Mazama. The lake is 6 miles wide and 1,943 feet deep. It is the deepest lake in the US, one of the deepest in the world. The sides of the crater are nearly vertical in most places.

The photos showing snow were taken mid-June; even that late in the early summer there were 10-foot snow drifts in places.

There are many forms of wildlife that migrate through the area, and those that are permanent residents. This beetle was very friendly, and very large! Anybody know what kind it is?