Backyard and Beyond

There are eight million stories in the naked city. Ok, these pictures come from a pair of cities, but… …you never know what you’ll see when you’re looking out for fellow travelers on this hurling space rock. For instance, this escaped parakeet, a Rosy-faced Lovebird, I guess, briefly perched on the balcony. (Photographed through the screen).

I just can’t imagine the mindset that a) cages a bird, and b) takes an animal so far from its natural habitat.Here’s a Handsome Fungus Beetle (no, seriously, that’s what Endomychus biguttatus is called) that found its way into the car. It was helped out. I bring rocks home from trips. (Imagine my surprise on discovering that not everybody does!) This is some kind of shale.One of two English Oaks (Q. robur) on 13th Street. Very unusual for a street tree around here.A forest floor alive with fruiting bodies.