We went camping over the Labor Day weekend and it was wonderful to get out of the heat wave of the valley and into the green pine trees up north. Somehow the two hour trip managed to take us nearly eight hours in the midst of holiday traffic and car accidents that brought traffic to a literal stand-still on the highways, but it was worth it.

We went on a walk to see how many different types of mushrooms we could find. All the mushrooms you see here were within something like one hundred yards of our tent.

We pulled into the campsite after nine at night so we set up our tent in the dark and crawled into bed.

We met a couple who have lived in their RV in the area for at least the last six months. They were a nice couple but a few things about them couldn’t hide the fact that they were the kind of people that could live out in the wilderness for lengthy stretches of time. The advice she gave me that included dumping the body of anyone you might have to shoot in the wilderness because “you are not innocent until proven guilty and you will be sued for everything you have by the deceased person’s family” told me that I didn’t wanna be on her bad side.

However, they were full of very useful knowledge as well. They informed us that the ranger could ticket us for setting up camp within a quarter mile of a man-made watering hole that is meant to serve the local wildlife. I think they are called water tanks, but they aren’t tanks at all so don’t be misled by the name.

It rained for a bit each day – only a tad. However, on the last night there was a downpour. Thank the Lord our tent was watertight and the baseball-sized moths couldn’t get inside while we slept!

Doesn’t this all just make you think of a land of make believe? The angle of these photos makes it rather easy to imagine we are just a few inches tall. It makes me think of fairies and fanciful tales of flight.

It makes me think of Fern Gully!

A 1000 pound horse will eat between 15 and 25 pounds of food per day and, under normal use, drink 10 to 12 gallons of water.

Regardless of a horse’s actual birthdate, for most competition purposes, horses are considered a year older on January 1 of each year in the northern hemisphere and August 1 in the southern hemisphere.

They have very large eyes (among land animals only the ostrich has a larger eye).

Horses require approximately two and a half hours of sleep, on average, in a 24-hour period. Most of this sleep occurs in many short intervals of about 15 minutes each.

The domestic horse today has a life expectancy of 25 to 30 years. The oldest verifiable record was “Old Billy,” a horse that lived in the 19th century to the age of 62.

Pregnancy lasts for approximately 335-340 days and usually results in one foal. Twins are rare. Colts are usually carried 2-7 days longer than fillies.

I’d like to dedicate one day a week to a topical photo series. This will be a great way for me to practice a hobby I really enjoy while passing on some inspiring photos of places and things you may not experience in your own neck of the woods. I’d be interested in hearing what sort of series interest you so don’t be shy!

Goats have horizontal slit-shaped pupils.

Pregnancy duration is approximately 150 days. Twins are the usual result, as with this litter. Birthing is known as “kidding”.

On Yom Kippur two goats were chosen and lots were drawn for them. One was sacrificed and the other allowed to escape into the wilderness, symbolically carrying with it the sins of the community. From this comes the word “scapegoat”.