I am getting married in October. Between wedding-planning, working, school and sleeping, Blogging has not been on the top of my to-do list. However, I have been taking pictures and occasionally arting. I will finally have my associates degree in December, if all goes well. I wish I could say I am getting a more auspicious degree, but I've worked hard for it and am proud of myself.
I don't know what I want to do to further my education. I would love to take some classes on insects/plants local to this region. I might be moving to New Mexico within the next year. I would really miss all the familiar plants and life forms I have grown up with. Everyone of these pictures were taken in my parents yard in Winston-Salem NC. It is hard to imagine being away from all this.
We are going to NM on our honeymoon. Hopefully, I will find as much to like about that state as I love about NC. I have no idea what to expect. Jeremy laughed when I asked him if there were dust storms or if I would find tarantulas in my bed. I've been doing tons of research, but nothing will compare to seeing NM for myself.
It was cicada time. They particularly liked a white pine tree at my parents house. Their drone was almost deafening.
It's baffleing to me how such a large creature can emerge from that shell. It must have been awfully cramped.
This one had a bubble in his wing. I would have been interested to see if it survived, but my parents dog ate it, and dozens of it's comrades. I think she ate the one below as well.Such a sad end for a 17 year old bug.
It's been a rainy summer. Something like 21 straight days of rain. One breif sunny spell in all the rain I was walking my dog and saw a mushroom. And then another one. And then a whole cluster of them. They were everywhere, more shapes and sizes than I had ever seen before.
This mushroom was growing on a ditch beside my parents house. It was so unique I had to take a picture of it. It's the one that started it all.
A few inches from the one above was this cluster. Something had been eating them...My dog helpfully finished a few off. It's been a week and he isn't dead yet, so I guess they aren't poisonous. I gave some thought to identifying them, but figuring out what mushroom is which is not my thing. I'd rather look at bugs....
I like how this one was bursting from under the moss and dirt. Urbanmushrooms.com has some interesting info on mushroom growth.
I think the most visible part of the mushroom is the partial veil and the bit you can barely see curling out of the ground is the cup. I should go back and see if it's still there and if it's grown any more.
Oh look, a cicada shell.I think this is an earthstar mushroom?
My mom's Dragon Wing begonia. I thought it was pretty.
I found this today and knew it was something special. I thought it was a mushroom at first, but it had a flower. It's Indian Pipe, or Corpse Flower. It is not a mushroom, but a plant without chlorophyll. It gets it's food from a fungus that gets it's food from the roots of trees. Some rare variants can be red.
I got a dog. His name is Heinlein, after Robert Heinlein. He's a pitbull, obviously a vicious man-eater. He is 10 weeks old, and 16.8 lbs. So far he knows how to sit, when properly motivated. He just learned to go down the stairs. No mother has ever been as proud of her child as I was the first time he did it.
This one had a bubble in his wing. I would have been interested to see if it survived, but my parents dog ate it, and dozens of it's comrades. I think she ate the one below as well.Such a sad end for a 17 year old bug. 
