Tom Morris was asleep on the back porch railing as I went out to the barn this morning. No sooner did I have the feed in buckets than the rain poured down again. I was wet through bringing the horses in to their stalls. They were quite happy grazing in the downpour, so I had to walk out to the pasture to get them. Not a very pleasant start to the day, having breakfast in wet clothes. But there was no point in changing, because there was work to do.
Tom Morris at rest
Jane and I cleared the path to the ring and began to pick up the pieces. Resetting the jumps was not too difficult, but the west end of the ring is covered with leaves and twigs. And as we explored, we kept finding more damage and trees down. Clearing up this mess will take weeks. Massive, live trees were blown down or snapped off in the west woods. Our favorite trail is utterly impassable.
Harry went to the store, and then picked up my brother, Michael, who has flown in from Kirkland, Washington for a visit. If he was hoping for a relaxing time, he picked the wrong weekend. He did a heroic job of clearing some of the mess. Being my much younger brother, he was able to do at least twice the work I am capable of doing. Apart from the fun of seeing him again, he has been a great help.
In our travels around the farm, we saw two turtles – a two turtle day is a good day, of course. These two were near each other, but both appeared to be female. One of my hopes is to someday find a baby turtle. In the meantime, it was great to see these two healthy turtles had survived hay season.
We also saw the toxic jack o’lantern mushroom in the woods, not to be confused with the chanterelles that are also out in abundance. We also saw an unidentified fungus
Chanterelles – delicious! 
Jack O’Lantern – deadly! 
Not sure – best not to eat it!
In the studio, Harry was hard at work, and we spent some time with him.
The artist at work 
Michael tries on a Browns cap
Finally, our friend Carter sent this amazing picture of Indian Pipes (Monotropa Uniflora), a flower I had never heard of. Heidi knew them, and identified them, and Carter took the picture in New Hampshire, where they are spending the summer. Apparently, the plants do grow here, so I plan to keep watch for them. They look like a fungus, but are in fact a plant, sometimes called a Ghost Plant, and they don’t depend on photosynthesis, instead getting nutrients from decaying plant matter, like fungi. They are not common, and they are beautiful. They were beloved by the poet Emily Dickinson, who was a bit of a ghost herself.
Indian Pipes / Ghost Plant photo by Carter Smith
Stay safe, stay well. Peace.