The last hopeless remnants of a rigid frozen state. Isolated holdouts hide deep in the woods clinging to the only thing they know. A cold hard existence.

Some will leave no trace left behind

Others, pooling together will linger in a more fluid state.

But even the iciest holdouts will soon pass to the other side.
Old Man Winter’s crystalline restraints are no match for Spring’s warm embrace.

I just had to get that out of my system even if it meant a double posting today. I liked the images and thought they might give you an idea where some of the mossy rocks in my head come from.

Old Quill Story:
Today’s hike got turned around pretty quickly. I found something I wasn’t prepared for and needed to carry it by hand. I figured it wasn’t too smart to continue tripping around in the woods and risk either breaking it in a fall or setting it down to photograph something else and forgetting it. I did what I normally don’t do. I did the sensible thing. I turned around and took the easy way home.

What Lurks under the leaves?

You’ll have to come back tomorrow to find out. I will not be releasing the identity of the previous owner of these teeth until all graphic evidence of this discovery has been processed. But I’m happy to leave you guessing with this photographic clue. It should give you something to gnaw on while you’re waiting.

Tomorrow’s post will also include reasons for proper tooth care. Viewer discretion is advised.

Going Green is not something Corpse Flowers do. Translucent white they look like a ghostly apparition on the shady forest floor so you can see why they are also known as Ghost Plants. On the other hand whoever named them Indian Pipes must have looked at them while standing on their head.

Monotropa uniflora

Lacking chlorophyll these plants can’t photosynthesize and have no real use for sunlight so they don’t mind the deep shade of the woods. They are myco-heterotroph – they get their nutrients and energy from mycorrhiza fungi (symbiotic between a fungus and the roots of a plant – in this case the trees) that it is parasitic upon.

If your wondering – I took these photos in the rain. I never did learn to get out of it.

If you see Corpse Plants you know you’re in a good place to hunt mushrooms since they prefer rich woods. These were found in Stone Valley, Town of Colton, NY where if you can ignore the attraction of the Raquette River and it’s numerous waterfalls you’ll find a wide range of woodland wildflowers and mushrooms. Here are a couple.

This section of the river is so powerful you don’t have to worry about drowning if you fall in. You’ll be bashed to death on the rocks long before you breath water.

To make matter worst there are a number of hydro dams that release water without warning so keeping out of the river bed is always a good idea.

Back to the Corpse Flower. ‘Bloom’ time is June to September so keep your eyes out for ghosts when in the woods this summer. When they get old they turn black. Same if you pick one and let it dry. If your sweetheart is a zombie – this is the flower for them.

I don’t usually cheat but sometimes I can’t resist. I do have a license but still I believe it’s best to admit it before getting caught. I don’t think editing by cropping, sharpening re-sized images and adjusting gamma (lightness or darkness) by a bit is cheating. But using some image tools to go way beyond and bring out things that wasn’t there in the original photo goes too far.

There wasn’t much I could do with the sunshine but I did tweak this photo just a little bit. I couldn’t say what I did now. It was edited a couple days ago and I forgot exactly what ‘tool’ I used in Paint Shop Pro. (an old version – 5)

In the next Photo set I used the Hue/Saturation/Lightness tool – exact settings have been lost to memory again. But hey at least I remembered what tool I used to get the effect.

Basswood Sky – before editing

I don’t really know what I’m doing besides just fooling around. Most of time fiddling around doesn’t produce anything worthwhile

Basswood Sky – after editig

On rare occasions I get surprised when something I do ‘works’. I was so happy with the results this time I couldn’t wait to show it off. First place I put it was on my desktop. Now you can too.

OH YEA. I did say I had a license. I don’t think anyone really needs to see it but just in case here it is. It allows me to do anything I don’t get caught at.

As usual I sized some images 1024 x 768 and linked to them so you can get a closer look. This time one of the shots might prove good enough to use as your desktop background.