Rob's Teddy Bear

Day 260: My guests had a busy day yesterday and today (their last full day) promises to be even more active, so I thought I'd show you Rob's "teddy bear." This is the slime mold he found at Longmire. Of course if you've been following along, you'll recognize it as Fuligo septica which bears the unpleasant common name of "Dog-vomit." It was inside a rotting stump, too high for me to have observed from the ground, so when Rob found it and called me over, he hoisted me up so I could see it. I climbed up the opposite side of the stump to take the photo. His view of it looked even more like a teddy bear than mine! Then I proceeded to explain slime molds to Mike (Rob's dad), who was intrigued by the fact that they can move. I was so tickled that Rob had spotted it that all through the remainder of the day, I kept inserting, "You found a sime mold!" into our coversations.

In other news, I am happy to report that the top of the Mountain came out yesterday evening, so they were able to see it, albeit not in total. We'll remedy that today. My botany partners dropped by in the evening to meet them, and to show them pictures of the bear they'd spotted at Paradise. Rob and his dad were also able to get a glimpse of the northern hemisphere's night sky, although dawn was already beginning to dim the stars when we went outside. Tonight's viewing should be much better. Tomorrow they begin the journey home, and one thing is certain: Merry is going to miss terribly the wonderful new friends who came here just especially to meet him.