Little Things, Long Walks

The summer of 2020 presented challenges, not only was traveling around the world difficult, but so was getting around the block. The arrival of COVID 19 meant lockdowns and social distancing, with many public places closed. I am an avid traveler (more than 100 countries and territories) and besides missing trips to the airport - my happy place - in the summer of 2020 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. All went well and I am still cancer free. Though the pandemic was an obstacle, it also turned out to be a 'gift.' 

I have always liked to walk, anywhere. I find it relaxing. After my surgery in 2020, I walked around my neighborhood - very slowly - as part of my recovery. I got stronger and moved on to a small hilly park near my home, a 2 1/2 mile hike with a 300 to 500 foot elevation gain completed in a hour. A nice little workout. But even a pretty forest  can get a bit boring. I started timing myself, seeing if I could go a little faster, or at least not any slower, as I completed my circuit. Then, as I was walking this same route throughout 2020 and into 2021, I started to notice things. At first it was the obvious. The change of seasons from summer to autumn was colorful. Winter brought better views. In spring, the frogs mated in the vernal ponds, their 'peeping' like a heart beat echoing in the trees. There were the spring ephemerals and flowering trees like Mountain Laurel and Serviceberry. By summer, the oaks and maples and birch presented a roof of green blocking the sky, and after the rains colorful fungi hid among the roots and rocks on the trail. I found the walk was no longer boring. And I was getting slower, very much slower, as I hiked through the woods.

I started to learn about the various flora and fauna of 'my' forest. I became very interested in finding the little things, hidden gems, of nature. It makes my walk - any walk, anywhere - much more interesting. It means I do a lot of squats as I investigate and take photos. While I have an app, I like to check identifications of species against other sources for accuracy (but still I can make mistakes). I think this is healthy not just for my body, but my brain as well. It doesn't matter really, but I hope so.

So what do I see? Tiny fungi, slime mold, bits of bone from animal droppings (whose poop is that?), insects, feathers. I find big things too, but here I would like to share some photos of small things, particularly slime mold. It is not a fungi, but according to AI, a "brainless organism that acts like a single amoeba or joins together into a moving, creeping mass of protoplasm to find food" (like the creature in the 1958 film, "The Blob"). I take pictures only with my phone and depicting scale is sometimes difficult, but some of the things seen here are really, really small. 

Yes, 2020 was challenging, but the upshot is I think I am more fit in mind and body than before. Recent research shows that it is not how many steps you take, but how long you are out walking that keeps you healthy. Good news. I also learned that, if I can't go abroad, traveling around my neighborhood can still be pretty fascinating. 

Tubifera ferruginosa (red raspberry slime mold)

Arcyria cinerea

Fuligo septica (Dog Vomit Slime Mold) 

Stemoitis splendens (Chocolate Slime Mold)

Probably frog bones from owl droppings

Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa (Coral Slime Mold)

Hygrocybe miniata (vermillion wax cap)

Marasmius capillaris

Xylobolus frustulatus (ceramic parchment, a crust fungus)