A GALLERY mostly of things I saw close-up today that got my attention 

I decided all the pictures deserve mats… beginning and ending with two images that are not close-ups: the Eastern sky just before the sun came up this morning, and the Western sky several minutes after the sun had dropped out of sight. I got the first Rhododendron blossom when Tilly and I walked out to the end of the road to get the morning paper.  The wild Rhododendrons are just now coming into bloom.  The others near the end are garden varieties, not wild. I tried to get painterly images of the white Rhododendron blossoms.  The third picture today is a Manzanita. The Pygmy Redwood grove allows enough light to get to the floor of the forest to enable the Manzanita to flourish.  The fourth image is a virtual forest of moss spores maturing in tiny capsules which will eventually explode to do their part in moss reproduction.

The fifth picture is a cross section of a Manzanita.. The six picture shows the basic element of spruce reproduction.  The seed pods I photographed against the blue sky are left over from last year in Sue's  garden. Her back yard is full of Lavender, especially spectacular en mass in fields in France. The Cana Lily makes a sensual image.  It’s not information we are likely to need any time soon, but I finally learned that the hairy light stuff hanging on almost every stressed or dying tree or shrub in or around the Pygmy Forest is Macrolichen.  Sue's Daffodils are in full bloom. Look for the white spider with the red marking on the white Rhododendron (no. 15). The white flower next to last is some kind of bulb flower... maybe a variety of gladiola.