How the Forest Protects Itself

We are newly back from our woodland retreat, and after all that driving we don't have much energy; therefore I have time to sit here and post some photos. The interesting thing about these pictures that I took on a very brief jaunt into the wooded back of my grandfather's property, is that they represent only about fifteen minutes of our whole trip. Why? Because the mosquitoes were unbearable. I paused to frame a shot and they would divebomb me from every direction! Still, I suffered their attempts in the name of photography. :)
This is not a pancake on the forest floor, but a giant mushroom. I thought it looked incongruous, but there were quite a few of them back there.
I can't even identify these thistle-like things on the tips of the branches, but they made for a great photograph.
The dead trees are sometimes more poetic than the living ones.

This trip, as usual, managed to refresh and inspire me simply with its visual beauty. Michigan and Indiana offer some spectacular scenery for those willing to drive northward.

The only downside to our trip? I never even noticed how much time I was spending in the sun, and now I look like a lobster. I preach to my children about sunblock and then forget to apply it to myself.