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337/365: "It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt. It lies behind stars and under hills, And empty holes it fills. It comes first and follows after, Ends life, kills laughter." ~ Gollum, The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien

337/365: "It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt. It lies behind stars and under hills, And empty holes it fills. It comes first and follows after, Ends life, kills laught
2 more pictures in notes above ! :)

I planned to get out of the house early enough this morning to catch the frost, but I dawdled too long and it was all gone by the time the dogs and I bounced out the front door. Just in case, I headed down to the shadiest part of the "light side" of our lower forest, hoping I might get lucky. Nope. Just a tiny bit here and there, but I'd missed the real show. Oh well, it's going to be very cold the rest of the week, so I'll try again tomorrow! :)

As the dogs had a fine time nosing around and looking for icky things to chew on, I began studying stumps, logs and branches. Our Oaks get positively COVERED with various lichens and fungi, and there seem to be endless varieties as I pay more and more attention. Every stick, every log, every piece of bark, has the potential of showing me something interesting and new! I feels like I'm in a gigantic toy store in the woods, with hidden surprises everywhere, just waiting to be discovered!

It didn't take long to find my day's treasure trove! Examining a couple of logs without seeing anything special, I reached over to grab a fallen branch and toss it aside...when my mind registered "CIRCLE" and I froze in mid-toss. I have trained myself to look for circles, ovals, and rounded shapes over leaves, and this has really helped me to find mushrooms. In this case, the circular shape was exceedingly small, and it took me a few seconds to race along the branch with my eyes to find what got my attention. MUSHROOM! There it was! Tiny and shriveled, this little mushroom was a brand new discovery for me! In the past, I've never found mushrooms on the thinner Oak branches, only the thick ones. But here it was! And then...I spotted another! And MORE! In twos and threes, many little mushrooms were poking out through the various species of lichen and moss attached to the branch! It was like a little village of fungus, all of them so precious and tiny, ranging in size between 1 mm and 1.5 cm! I had a hard time knowing where to begin, there were so many wonderful little shapes, positions and fun groupings! My biggest challenge was finding a way to balance the unwieldy branch without mashing mushrooms and still being able to get the angles I was after. Many pictures later, I was satisfied that I got my Picture of the Day, so I lay the branch back down, and just for fun, took a very good look at the tree's trunk and a living branch...YES! Lots and lots of tiny mushrooms!! I thought to myself, "I bet they've been here all along, and I've just never noticed them until now!" Isn't it just amazing how much there is to see out in nature?!! :)

When I got home, I found myself becoming overwhelmed at the sheer number of magical little scenes I'd been lucky enough to capture successfully, and it was really hard to narrow down my favorites. In the end I decided to go with this picture because the mushrooms are so cool looking the way they are peering down from their woody perches, the gloom deepening into darkness behind them. I found myself thinking of one of Gollum's riddles to Bilbo, one of the many they trade back and forth in the heart of the Misty Mountains. I have always loved those riddles, so I used the one I was thinking about as the quote for today. (If you don't know the answer, it can be found here: Lord of the Rings Wiki: The Hobbit: Riddles in the Dark

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE (3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. J.R.R. Tolkien

Explored on December 4, 2013. Highest placement, page 3.

Petar Bojić, , , and 37 other people have particularly liked this photo


14 comments - The latest ones
 Sami Serola (inactive)
Sami Serola (inactiv… club
Oh, I would have lost to Gollum =( I recalled and thought the answer is 'death'.

This is just marvelous! Like reading mini novels =) I truly feel sorry for not being able to read them on daily bases, because this just is so damn busy time of the year! I need to get back to these on holidays =D

EDIT: SOme constructive feedback. Could you please use a little smaller pictures on tags =) Then they would fit into screen better also on tiny laptops and tablets =D But no need to change if I'm the only who thinks so.
10 years ago.
 Claudine Gaulier-Denis
 Pam J
Pam J club
Just simply exquisite !
10 years ago.
 Wierd Folkersma
Wierd Folkersma club
Great feeling in your mushroom pictures, mysterious
10 years ago.
 Mike (Bogger3)
Mike (Bogger3)
Superb capture Janet
That's Wild!I
Seen in
Wonderful World of Wildlife!!
10 years ago.
 Eunice Perkins
Eunice Perkins club
How privileged we are to see all these delightful treasures by way of your camera. It is becoming a highlight of the site for me!
10 years ago.
 (*NIKonGT*)
(*NIKonGT*)
I'm also a big fan of Tolkien -----------and your Pictures :-)
10 years ago.
 Fizgig
Fizgig
Great composition & detail!
10 years ago.
 Puzzler4879
Puzzler4879
Beyond stunning, Janet!
Your image was viewed and admired in
Impulsive Creations
10 years ago.
 Jenny McIntyre
Jenny McIntyre club
My son used to go to school with a lad who lived next door to JRR Tolkein. Lord of the Rings is one of his most favourite series of books of all time.

The little mushrooms are just adorable
10 years ago.
 ctofcsco
ctofcsco
Thanks for sharing your wonderful photo! Seen in Bilder Freunde - Images amis - Pictures friends.
10 years ago.
 Christiane ♥.•*¨`*•✿
Christiane ♥.•*¨`*•✿
EXCELLENT, Janet ! ******
10 years ago.
 Stan Askew
Stan Askew club
i agree with Christiane !!!

seen in Mes Préférences à Moi
10 years ago.
 Chrissy
Chrissy club
Janet, the hats of the lads are BEAUTIFUL! Love them!
10 years ago.

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