A Bloy and his Blog

One of my favorite things about tall pine trees is the unique sound the wind makes while blowing through them. The clichéd phrase “whispering pines” is very appropriate.

The other day I discovered a grasshopper hanging out on my clematis plant.

He was trying to get some sun, but once he caught me looking over his shoulder, he got a little anxious and started moving around.

read the rest of: Looking over the grasshopper’s shoulder

read the rest of: Fireweed blossom

Rainy days bring their own unique beauty to nature. Like these rain drops I discovered hanging from pine tree needles.

read the rest of: Pine drops

The best sunset I saw on my last camping trip.

read the rest of: Fiery sky over Trout Lake

I saw one of the weirdest creatures while hiking last week. At first I thought I saw a small pine cone moving along the forest floor. A closer look revealed this spider, about a 2/3 of an inch in size.

The combination of that pine-cone-like abdomen, the eight legs sticking out, and those freaky multiple eyes… I’m surprised I haven’t had spider nightmares.

Update: I think this is probably a a female wolf spider with spiderlings on her back (see comments below). I still like the “pine cone spider” name I gave it though.

I spent last week camping in Wisconsin’s Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest. One of my favorite things about that area, are all the secluded, “secret”, places that are just a short distance off of bike trails, hiking trails, and roads.

If you get off of your bike while riding on the trail near Crystal Lake, you’ll discover this above scene just a few dozen yards away (along a short hiking trail). Yet hardly anyone stops to take in its beauty.

read the rest of: “Secret” places