Fran
Stories from Fran
Beekeeping, Sheldon-style
A Tour of Woodmont (Palace Mission) with Mother Divine
When we learned that one of Lower Merion Conservancy's Winter Treks was a "Divine Saunter," a tour of the Woodmont Estate, led by Mother Divine, we signed right up.
Celebrating Thanksgiving
Ronald McDonald House
Paul heard that the local Princeton alumni group had volunteered to cook an evening meal for the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House residents, and we thought it was something very much worth doing. After a flurry of emails from the organizer and other volunteers, we signed up to bring baked ziti. Because it was the day before Thanksgiving, numbers were somewhat short of the 80 to 90 they usually have attending the evening meals.
Thanksgiving dinner, courtesy of HIAS
HIAS and Council sponsored a Thanksgiving dinner on November 22nd for the entire South Philadelphia community of refugees from Burma, held at the Houston Community Center at 8th and Snyder.
Ready for the Mendel Dinner
A visit to Princeton
Although I had never been to Princeton and Paul hadn't been in years, we were amazed to be invited to two events there on the same day. One was a networking event for Princeton alumni and the other was a lecture entitled "Mushrooms and the History of the World" presented by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, Professor of Anthropology, University of California - Santa Cruz.
Celebrating John's birthday
Mushrooms around the campground
We arrived at our campsite at Milburn Landing, Pocomoke River State Park, at dusk, and it was dark when we went up to the ranger station to register, but that didn't preclude mushroom spotting. An Amanita practically glowed in the reflection of the station's security lights, although it was a few yards away, in a stand of loblolly pines. Why didn't I take my camera?
The campsite lab
After returning from the Forest Trail with several specimens, I set them up on the cook stand at our Pocomoke River State Park campsite where I could take some photos and collect spore prints. Lesson learned: rain and wind are not ideal conditions for making spore prints.
Visit to the Eastern Shore
Forest Trail, revisited
We hadn't completed even half of the Forest Trail on the first day of our Eastern Shore trip, so on the last day we went back to see if we could finish the job. Not a chance. We were far too busy feasting our eyes on a dozen or so more new-to-us mushrooms species to make any time hiking.
Pemberton Park
Pemberton Park was one of my favorite parks to visit with my two young sons when I lived in Salisbury, and we went there often.
Bald Cypress Trail
Bald Cypress Trail at Pocomoke River State Park offers three different types of forest, a bald cypress swamp, loblolly pine grove, and a mixed hardwood forest, all in just one easy-to-hike mile. Of course the warm rainy weather had brought out lots of mushrooms we had to stop to see, and it was pouring rain, so it took us two hours to make the loop.
Pocomoke River Forest Trail
The Forest Trail crosses a swampy area of bald cypress before entering a forest of mostly loblolly pine. The loblollies don't crowd each other, so visibility is excellent. Even from a distance we could easily spot chalk-white mushrooms that
Boys' best friends
Brandywine Zoo
Many of our refugee friends long to visit the zoo. I had promised the boys I would take them over the summer, but the pricing at the Philadelphia Zoo is prohibitive, especially since so many people were interested in coming along. Also, there are so many costly extras, you're in the position of spending even more or disappointing the kids.
This camera does macro
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