Just another mushroom

A walk in the woods with my boys led us to a huge number of this kind of fungus. I think they are actually dead or dying. It's autumn not a lot of mushroom thrive when it is almost winter.

Devil's Spring

Carlsbad Cavern in New Mexico

Frozen rain

Altamonte FLORIDA

On thanksgiving week we packed up and headed for Orlando. Our eldest son had been asking us forever when he could go back to Disneyland. Well, Cali is far and Orlando is just a drive away. So early morning on friday at 5 we left our quiet neighborhood and headed for Florida through VA, NC, SC and GA. We stopped at Savannah for the night and toured around but it was a great disappointment nothing much there. After doing all the necessary theme park at Disneyworld for a pre school kid we visited our friend who lives in Apopka. His wife is a nurse who duties at night so when we came she was asleep. To keep the kids screams and laughter from waking her up we took them to this lovely community place in Altamonte to feed the birds, fish and some turtles. The kids had fun and we did too. Have you ever tried feeding seagulls and blackbirds in the air? It was cool the way the can catch the bread crumbs being thrown in the mid space. The sunset was beautiful too. It was cold then, apparently quite unsual for Florida that time of the year. We were surprise too we thought we get some warmth a break from cold Maryland.

Woolly Moth

Wintery Wooly

It has been a while. I have been very busy.

We went camping last weekend at West Virginia hoping to see the autumn leaves. We did but they were all on the ground. We were two weeks late it seemed. I was hoping to take pictures of mushroom but we saw heaps of caterpillar instead. This is a moth caterpillar. I don't know which one but they do look pretty and prepared for winter.

This could be the Tussock Moth Caterpillar but I could be wrong.

Coprinus micaceus (Mica Cap)

I am not 100% sure with description but it is pretty close. I took this shot today during my walk through the woods.

Devil's Snuff-Box

Lycoperdon Perlatum

I am pretty sure this is the Devil's Snuff box according to the description I found in my research unless anybody proves me otherwise.

'Shrooms Amanita

I took this shot in RED Creek Campground at Dolly Sods (Monongahela National Forest) West Virginia during our camping trip last weekend.

"Bwisita"

"Bwisita" is a composite word from "Bisita" (visitor) & "Bwisit" (Badluck). Here this squirrel has become a menace to our veranda, knocking several of my spice potted plants, killing some. I hid behind the blinds for almost an hour waiting for a good shot. I used my Macro lense as it gets me a little closer. I am saving up for a telephoto lense.

"Itay"

Nag bibigay ligaya ang bahagyang makasama ang ama.

Photo taken at Centennial Park Columbia Maryland. Pictured here is of father and son in the afternoon. Perhaps afterwork.

HPPAY FATHER'S DAY Y'ALL!

Chameleon

This chameleon is a local resident at the Washington DC's Smithsonian Zoo. It took me about 20 shots I guess to get a few good ones.

"Ihip ng Hangin"

Eto ay kuha no'ng nakaraang linggo sa Boston (Cambridge to be specific) at Charles River. habang lulan kami sa tinawag na Duck Boat (Duck Toars). Eto ay isang Amphibious Vehicle, originally from WW II. Habang pinag pa drive ng tour guide ang anak kung limang taong gulang ang sailboat na eto ay muntik ng bumangga sa likuran ng Duck Boat namin, sila yung sumalubong nalang bigla. Medyo malakas ang hangin kaya maraming sailboat ang naki agaw sa Duck Tours sa kahabaan ng Charles River. I wish I was able to take a better photo peru yakap yakap kung aking bunso na medyo pagud na at aburido kasi gumagabi na at buong araw na kaming. namamasyal. Nalibang naman ang aking panganay at naka pag drive daw sya ng Amphibious Truck. Below is a photo of the Duck Boats.

Look no head!

Taken at the Smithsonian Zoo in downtown DC. Petty about the vine spoiling the scene but anyway I thought it looked cool. I couldn't find where the head was and the snake wasn't giving any indication that it was going to say hello soon so I took the shot. About a few minutes later my husband to a photo of the same snake with his head out. He got the best shot of that day. Below is the photo he took. I was kicking myself a little bit for being impatient.

He loves me he loves me not!

If you want to do this game this is a perfect flower for you, easy to pick and only a few, you'd get it over and done with in a jiffy, hopefully the odds are on your side but why use a flower why not ask him instead . . .

This shot I took at the Smithsonian Zoo in Washington DC one Saturday afternoon last year. Using our new macro lense.

Buttons

These fungi I found in the woods of Catoctin National Park. The trees had almost no leaves, The color was yellow every where. The area looked a little desolate and I was very happy to find the color below. I would try to find what sort of mushroom this is but it takes a lot of energy to search on the net and often you don't really get just in one day. So I will do that later if I do not forget. In the meantime I'll have this on here.

I didn't do any alteration at all whatsoever. As I have mentioned before I don't have any photo editor except iPhoto in my iMac. The image is not as sharp as I would have liked it to be. If you notice closely the mushroom is not actually in focus but the part of the log it is on behind it.

I am really very happy with little Canon Ixuss, with a good light and the right functions I do get good photos. Most of my recent photos are taken with this little one because it is easy to carry around in my bag or in my pocket.

"MALUNGKOT"

Libingan ng mga Bayani

Robert "Bob" Francis Kennedy

Ito ay kuha nung nakaraang taglamig sa Virginia Arlington Cemetery. Libingan ng mga nasawing sundalo at iba pang mga importanteng tao sa US. Sa di kalayuan ng unang litrato ay nakalibing ang pamilya Kennedy (JFK, dalawang anak at ang yumaong asawa na si Jackie O). Ang libingan ng kapatid na si Bob ay nahiwalay sa di masyadong magara na landmark (kompara sa kay JFK na may enternal flame). Base na rin eto mismo sa hiling ni Bob sa nabubuhay pa.

Note: JFK Jr. and his wife were cremated and his ashes were spread somewhere else.

Added (later):
The image above was taken using a Canon Ixuss. As of now I don't have a good Photo Editor, still saving some cash to get one so I am using what comes with Mac Os X Computer, iPhoto, there isn't much you can do really. The first image I under expose it one click to make the trees and the tombstones pop out a little bit. The second image I changed to BW but it doesn't look that way. ANYWAY, it was quite overwhelming being in that place. While I was there a funeral was in service of one casualty from Iraq. It made the visit even more desolate plus it was really cold, minus zero. JFK's grave (38 52'53.51"N 77 04'17.38"W) quite grand as it was on a hill almost overlooking the mall, the capitol and all those landmarks in DC. Then there is this eternal flame. His brother's grave (38 52' 52.13"N 77 04' 17.94"W), Bob, pictured here, is not too far from JFK's. JF Kennedy is one of the only US presidents buried in Arlintong, most of the US Presidents are buried in their home state.

"Ala ala"

"Ala ala"

Mga canyon ng alaala sa mga nasawi sa civil war. Kuha sa nakaraang taom (2007) sa Maryland.


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Looking at his canyons from the distance reminded of how many dies during the war for freedom. Like they said Freedom is not Free.

Got to "Litratong Pinoy"

War Memorial

Morchella

An edible mushroom called morel my son and I found on the side of the road during one of our walks in our area. At first I thought this is poisonous but after searching on the internet to know what it's called I discovered that this is actually an edible one and well sought after for that matter. These are prized by gourmet cooks. Commercial value aside, morels are hunted by thousands of people every year simply for their taste and the joy of the hunt. Morels contain small amounts of toxins that are removed by thorough cooking, and morel mushrooms should never be eaten raw. There are anecdotal reports that morel poisoning is more likely to occur if consumed alongside alcohol.