Who can resist this face?

Whenever I go on a trip, no matter how close or far from home I am, I am always delighted when I see domesticated animals around. And by "domesticated animal," I am specifically referring to cats and dogs. The sight of these two animals which serve as human companions can really brighten my day - even if it's just a cat that lives in the neighborhood where I work. I'll wear my personality on my sleeve a bit here by saying that sometimes I feel that I can connect with a cat or dog more easily and readily than I can connect with a human. Having said that, it must be apparent to you by now that I have a special affinity for these creatures.

During our recent trip to Kentucky, we stayed in a lovely cabin. In the cabin's guestbook several previous guests had mentioned that a dog had dropped by for a visit. I saw the dog one day while we were in the car, but he was several cabins away from us. The day after that, he walked down the road and paid us a visit, just like he had with the other guests.


Cute little bugger, isn't he? He was very sweet and personable, and was not afraid of us at all. He readily accepted our pats on the head, scratches behind the ears, and rubs of the tummy.


It wasn't all about being near us, though. He also stalked the woods near our cabin for chipmunks and other rodents, but then he came back up on the porch to see what we were up to. He wore a collar, but no ID, so we didn't know his name. He was obviously someone's pet, because he was well-cared for (except he was in need of a flea bath). The first evening he came by, he hung out on our porch, curled up right in front of the door, until late that night. He was gone the next morning, but stopped by again for a brief stay early in the evening before wandering on his way.


This guy has obviously been asked to pose for pictures before!


Even the sweetest dog eventually gets tired of having a camera shoved in his face, though.

While I was glad for his short companionship, I did worry about the fact that he was out roaming freely. It was not a heavy traffic area, by any means, but the risk of accidents with loose dogs is just too great. I hope he stays safe.

For fear of making my own puppeh jealous that he is not being mentioned in a post about dogs, here's a shot of Emmett that I took the other day. He turned 13 a week ago.


Next time, I'll share some photos of special felines that I've encountered while away from home.

Putting the pieces together

During our recent trip to the Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky, we encountered some interesting trees. The leaves were H-U-G-E! I had a vague recollection of seeing them during our previous visit to the same area 5 years prior, but I had no remembrance of the what the tree was called. Luckily, when we stopped in the Gladie Cultural-Environmental Learning Center, they had a sign up on the wall that said "What's up with the big leaves?" A question they had obviously heard many times, they must have decided it was time to inform the public of the answer to this burning question. The mystery tree was the Bigleaf Magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla).


Leaves, with leaf bud sticking out from the middle.


Those are some big leaves!


The leaves were easily as long as my entire forearm, including my hand.


Looking up at some Bigleaf Magnolia leaves. This photo does not justice to their size.

The leaves can get as large as 30 inches! These understory trees put out magnificent blooms in June or July, and it's a shame we had missed them by a few months. Between the magnolias and the many rhododendrens that were around, I would imagine spring and summer to be a time of magnificent flowering in this area!

So anyway, once I found out the identity of the tree, I was happy enough, and considered the case closed. Until we got home, that is.

You see, during one of our hikes we came across an interesting piece of plant matter that I thought might actually be a mushroom of some sort.


Looks kind of like an artichoke, huh? I did a search for "artichoke mushroom" on Google, which only lead me to some recipe sites. Then I tried "artichoke fungus," and still no luck. After several more failed search attempts, I eventually stumbled upon a site that showed me that this was not a mushroom at all, but the shriveled fruit "spike" (cone, actually, just like a pine cone) of... the Bigleaf Magnolia tree. Aha!


Seeing this particular decaying Bigleaf Magnolia cone really made me think it was some sort of fungus.


Bigleaf Magnolia cone, aptly laying on a Bigleaf Magnolia leaf on the forest floor.

I love it when things come together like this. It took me quite a while to relocate the site that led me to this knowledge (no, I didn't bookmark it!): it was MushroomExpert.com, a site that certainly warrants more study on my part.