a secret garden

I was walking in the backyard when I noticed the moss growing on the tree trunk.
The moss seemed to be a darker green than usual.

But what really caught my eye was its rich deep velvety texture. I guess that it is growing quite well because of the combination of rain and cooler weather.

I noticed something growing up from the moss. Can you see it?

There it is! I have no idea what it is. Perhaps a seed pod? Hopefully there are some botanists out there who can figure out what this is and post it as a comment to share with us all.

These little pods were all over the moss. They seemed to be everywhere.

It looked like a little forest in miniature.

The bottom line is that here was this secret little garden on the side of the tree that I have walked by innumerable times and didn’t know what it really looked like. How many other wonders of nature do I pass by on a daily basis without noticing. For me, nature is just so fascinating. That is why I have included so many pictures with this blog. I hope that you enjoyed them or at least found them fascinating or at the minimum amount of “least”, a little interesting. I had to improvise for the close-up pictures and so I used a simple magnifier lens. I thought that the pictures came out pretty good for using a “granny” magnifier. But the depth of field is quite shallow. I just have so much fun with my digital camera. I think that I am going to wear out the contacts on the exposure button from repeated use. Today, don’t walk by the flowers but take a moment and “smell the flowers” and enjoy their perfume. And if you happen to have your digital camera with you, snap a picture or two. Lew