Last workday this season

I finished the last day of my commitment to Tamarac NWR today, and said, “I quit!” on my way out of the office this afternoon.  I have enjoyed my time here, but I’m ready for a little vacation.  Of course, I’m returning next year, so you know I must have liked it here.

That being said, I’m not leaving here in the morning.  Let’s just say that the fridge hasn’t been fixed yet.  I really don’t want to go into that tonight.  So I’ll just show you some pictures I took yesterday as I worked on an assignment to gather ‘treasures’ that might be found along the trails by kindergartners later this week.

The milkweed pods are sending out their seeds for next year, so I thought collecting some of these pods would work with the little ones to compare soft to hard.  When I was little, my mother always called these seeds that blew around on the winds ‘money stealers’.  Don’t know where that came from, but that’s what I’ve always called them too.  With the expenses I’ve had this summer, I guess they’ll leave me alone. 

I found other treasures along the way, but some of them I couldn’t collect.  After our rains last week, mushrooms are popping up all over.

I decided yesterday to just use my little Canon Power Shot X280.  I’m not totally comfortable with it, and will probably always prefer my Canon Rebel DSLR’s, but I was pretty happy with the results.

It’s just on the edge of prime leaf peeper season here, and the sumac was just brilliant yesterday.  With my repair delay, I just might be here through the prime time for fall colors.  I’m thankful that the refuge is allowing me to stay as long as necessary to get things taken care of.  I’m trying to go out each day to notice the changes and sooth my anxieties.

While Emma and I took a stroll through the woods in the afternoon, we encountered some interesting shelf fungi.  Tomorrow’s another day, and I hope to make some progress towards my departure.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy