While on a hike recently I noticed what looked like black charring around the base of several beech trees, that looked at first like someone had intentionally tried to start a fire at the base of these large trees. In each case though there was a white fuzzy/fluffy branch above the "char" mark. If you made a loud noise, the fluff started rippling in the breeze, except there was no breeze. I looked them up after getting home and they are Beech blight aphids AKA Boogie woogie bugs for their rhythmic dance behavior, and the "charring" on the ground is a sooty mold that grows on their poop.

A cousin recently bought this cast-iron coin bank for my wife.You put the coin in the horses mouth, press the lever and the horse springs over the jump. The coin flies out of its mouth, bounces off the fence, and falls into the hole. My wife saw it and said, The horse is hanging its legs. The rider is hanging on the horse's mouth and her leg is too far back, and after the horse "jumps" the jump the rider looks like she is about to fly right over the horses head and crash into the fence for a possibly fatal injury.

A couple of pictures from a favorite local hike we took friends on back in September

Some pictures from Cannon Beach on the Oregon Coast. Haystack Rock