One need not look beyond nature’s own doing to find beautiful things, exquisite and lovely forms so picturesque that they must be the purest variety of art ever known.

A knot clinging to the base of an ancient colossal tree.

Morning thunderstorms moving in from the west.

A ring-billed gull (Larus delawarensis) at sunset.

An American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) landing on the water.

A white fawnlily (a.k.a. white trout lily; Erythronium albidum) in dappled sunlight.  (Yes, the flowers always lean down.)

Large, woolly mature poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) vines grow on some of the larger trees around the lake.

Shepherd’s purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) creates its own alien landscape.

A mallard drake (Anas platyrhynchos) rests at the base of a reed bed.