The small details matter

On my first blog post I said that the small details change with time. Today I was reminded why the small details matter.

We spent today working on expanding the trails at our cabin. We went back and forth over the newly cut trails several times throughout the day moving materials to the end for a project. I parked my ATV in one spot several times just off the trail while I worked on things. About halfway through the day I looked down in front of the ATV.

I had driven over this Orange Coral Fungus, tires only inches away. These are fragile, driving on it would have destroyed it. Yet it stood untouched surrounded by other crushed vegetation, a lucky survivor.

Being a good steward of the forest is a lesson in compromise. Anytime we cut a new trail, expanding our access, we change the forest, a necessary evil. In this area, on both sides of the new trail, there were other survivors, the small details that make up our forest floor.

From a distance the details blend into similarity, the colors, textures and features forming a canvas for natures paint brush. Up close the details stand out.

I think these are Tawny Funnels (I am not an expert on fungus – don’t eat these thinking I am). Examining them I notice the caps are filled with water. The water contains rotting vegetation and insects. Not being an expert on fungus, I figure these mushrooms probably get most of their nutrients from this rotting stew.

Just walking around the forest and looking at eye level, without stopping to examine our surroundings, the small detail get lost in the 360 degree canvas.

This brings me back to the first image on the page, a baby snapping turtle. I found him at the gas station on the way home. He was in the middle of the lot just laying there.

To this little guy the small detail mattered a lot. Had I not been looking I might have missed him, lost in the sea of concrete, tires like titans crashing all around. How he had not been crushed I’ll never know but he was a survivor. After taking these photos I picked him up and brought him to the woods.

It’s easy to get lost in the canvas. The small details matter.

All photos were shot with my Fujifilm x100s.