My niece visited the other day, and since she lives in the heart of Spokane, we took the opportunity for a walk in the woods. I tried to point out interesting nature stuff, but she was a bit worried about being in such a strange place. She's not even in Kindergarten yet, so this is a big wilderness for such a small child.
I tried to snap a few nature shots here and there when possible. For each photo, I'll be sharing a color version first, just scaled down from my cell phone snapshot to keep the upload reasonable. Then I'll share a black-and-white version with a few edits I made in GIMP.
Our first stop was a rotten stump with neat bark, moss, and lichen textures. A small seedling is growing in the rotten wood behind the slab of bark still clinging to the crumbling wood. Larch needles are scattered everywhere, and that peculiar conifer which sheds its needles every year leaves its mark everywhere else, too. Do you like seeing the greens and browns from the color image, or the gritty texture from black-and-white?
I pointed out some deer and rabbit droppings as we walked along, and something about this patch of forest floor detritus seemed worthy of preserving for a post as well. Twigs, needles, several kinds of moss, and a lone turd. Nature! For the black-and-white version, I tried some tools to sharpen and enhance the image as well. Cell phone photography is always a bit hit-and-miss for focus when you're too far away for macro but too close for the standard lens. I think the moss fades away when you can't see the greenery as well.
Finally, despite our weird winter, there were patches of snow, and one had a tiny mushroom sprouting out of the crystals. It was less than 1/2" across (10-11mm?) and valiantly made space for itself among the crystalline water. The black-and-white version here has a lot less impact since the field is mostly snow, bit I tried to enhance the image for more of a sense of the grittiness of old snow.
After this, we walked over to the road where mud puddles were bubbling strangely. Our "soil" is a silt and clay dirt, and the gravel is not exactly good. Water infiltrating the ground hits pockets of trapped air, which then bubbles up. I don't have any pictures, because keeping my focus on the kiddo required my full attention.
A "monster truck" (lifted Ford Bronco off-roader) caused some excitement when it drove by, mostly because she was excited. The driver was taking it slow, driving the back road speed limit and not acting like an idiot. Props to them. Too many idiots treat the road like a race track, endangering others and damaging the road.
By the time we headed back home, the niece was asking to be carried, but that was complicated by the muddy boots she was now wearing and her disregard for how she swung her legs. But we got back without her melting down or me getting dirtier than necessary. Win-win!
It's been a weird winter here in the Pacific Northwest. Snowfall has been scant, and we're all a bit worried about the upcoming summer wildfire season. The mountain snow in the Idaho panhandle needs to be sufficient to fill reservoirs and keep the forests hydrated for as long as possible while feeding the Spokane, Pend Oreille, and Clark Fork rivers. The screenshot below is from the National Water and Climate Center interactive map.
Red, orange, and yellow are bad, with red indicating less than 50% of the average snowpack. There are only a couple green and cyan dots, indicating near average or above average levels. Worst-case scenario: another Big Burn like the Great Fire of 1910. I'm sure I sound like a broken record by now, but please be prepared. Build an emergency kit or survival kit, have an evacuation plan, and coordinate with your neighbors in case you need to work together.
End of rant. Happy hiking!
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