30 December
"The woods are lovely, dark, and deep," Lines stolen from Robert Frost, even though it was not a snowy evening, and there was no horse. The woods, however, were indeed lovely, and it was indeed a dark morning, as dark as any I can recall. I've written often about sunlight in the forest, but the Forest's darkness has its own beauty. It was still, as well. One can usually hear the traffic of the nearby highway, and apparently there are a couple of helicopter instruction sites nearby who add their clamour. Notwithstanding that, once in the woods, it somehow feels peaceful and quiet. The mechanical noise is distanced and not a part of the Forest. The unusually warm season has led to a continued growth of fungi. The mysterious poached egg fungus has subsided to a single tough nubbin. Meanwhile an assortment of white, fan-like fungi are appearing. Some of these look as though they could meld with some of the orange fungi ...