Oct 11 2008
A Yard Full of Surprises
Halloween is Liz’s favorite holiday, so she really gets into decorating the yard for it. But not with prefabricated junk–she strives for something far more authentic.
Friday, she started weaving a web. When complete, I won’t be able to walk through it, as I did when making that afternoon’s trip to the mailbox, where a wonderful surprise awaited me.
It wasn’t a check or a gift or a letter of any kind. It was a spider–a jumping spider that played hide and seek with me as I tried to photograph it. You might just be able to see him on the far top center above.
Many jumping spiders are striking, but this one was exquisite–simply breathtaking. It’s worth clicking the photo for a larger view–check out the blue-green fangs!
A little web searching leads me to believe that he is Phidippus mystaceus. What a wonderful creature–I so enjoyed observing him.
Today, Liz & Travis set up our locally famous Halloween centerpiece: the Musician’s Graveyard. We’d already had inquiries from the UPS driver and several neighbors about when and if it would return this year. Below is just a section of this epic display of musical ghoulishness.
This evening, things got even stranger and more amazing. Liz found a remarkable mushroom poking up from the mulch that one could only call phallic. Sure, most mushrooms are phallic, but this one was really phallic.
Here she is, displaying her find. Below, the mushroom, a Common Stinkhorn, in all its tumescent glory.
Stinkhorns often smell terrible, like rotting meat or feces–this one had a more pleasant, yeasty smell, a bit like beer or bread. Our friend Sharon had another reaction. “It smells like sex,” she said, but perhaps that was just the power of visual suggestion.
Above, Sharon photographs the mushroom, which attracted a small crowd of neighborhood walkers who paused to look at the graveyard, then wondered what we were taking pictures of.
Naturally, everyone laughed at this marvel. But the kicker came when Liz announced that there might well be nascent stinkhorns called volvas or eggs concealed at the base of the mushroom. She brushed away some mulch and voila, there they were. Scroll down if you dare…
Here’s hoping things are entertainingly strange in your yard, too.
Whooey – I hate to ask what happened next – after all that ‘shroom voyeurism.
Hey Honey,
I believe after further intense close up study the mushroom that it is actually a
(Phallus hadriani). I can’t figure a way to italicize.
It is a choice eater.
Love,
Lizzie
Mother nature is a maddddd scientist!! YAAAAHHH