How can you tell what month it is?

Obviously, from this picture, you know it's autumn. Colored leaves, a blue sky you could dive into. I wanted to get a shot of some students bundled in sweatshirts, but the idiots are still running around in t-shirts and flip-flops. Gotta look hot on campus after all, even if you can no longer feel your toes. And besides, it's SUNNY. It oughta be warm. (One of the points of maturity is when you realize that things rarely are the way they oughtta be. Life is SO unfair!)

This photo could be taken on any day from June till - oh, I dunno - November? The "native flora" in the right foreground are your only possible indicator - if you know what blooms when. This photo, and the previous one, were both taken on the same day.




As was this one. But with all the evergreens, this could be any bright day without snow, December or June. It's the little things you have to pay attention to. the feel of the air, the angle of the light. Right now we are getting lots of mushrooms following every rainy day, but mushrooms are really good at hiding, and unless you know where to look, and pay attention, you'll miss them.

Mushroom hunting is big business in this part of the country. Chantarelles and morelles can bring in enough money to feed a family through the winter. Good hunting area are fiercely guarded, and people have been shot over mushroom poaching. Mushroom camps are a lot like goldrush towns, with no law, lots of cash, and lots of sin to spend it on. It's not just the bears that will kill you if you wander off the trails back in the woods.