Lichens, Leaves and Lilacs

Well, it's a motley collection of photos tonight, on this rainy, cold foggy evening!  But I do think I came up with a good title.  Spotted some bright orange lichens on a walk recently, the first leaves have started emerging here, and I wanted to share our Lilacs, since so many other bloggers have posted pictures of theirs.

Most of the lichens around here are of the gray green variety, but every now and then I spot this bright orange one.  Lichens are notoriously difficult to identify, but I find that most places I check online, this would be identified as part of the Xanthoria genus, and probably called a Sunburst Lichen.  But if there's one of those rare lichen experts in the crowd, please help!  In any case, it's very pretty.

I was hunting around a reforested area nearby, looking for any evidence of an old barn foundation.  I was unsuccessful, but I did find some interesting rocks.  Only three of them had this orange lichen on them like this big boulder.

It makes me wonder if there's something different in the composition of these three rocks, or if it's just chance that the plant gets started and spreads on them.

I also noticed yesterday that the first leaves are starting to unfold here - only about half an inch long, but looking vibrant in the morning sun.  I look for the reddish leaves of these little trees every year to mark the start of the tree leaves unfolding.

These are Pin Cherry leaves, on a weedy little tree that never grows very big, but provides some bright white flowers later on, and some berries for the birds, or for people who would take the trouble to make pin cherry jelly.

And finally, I thought I should share this picture of our Lilacs starting to show some signs of life.  I'm sure I've seen 8 or 10 pictures of Lilacs (in bloom!!) on other blogs, but of course those blogs are all from Texas or someplace equally south, or from the west coast.  Our climate is a little different, but they've started, and by sometime in June we'll probably have caught up!

Today was May 1st, or May Day, or to those of Scottish or Irish origin, Beltane (that's the anglicized spelling).  It is a festival representing the beginning of summer, and I certainly think of it that way.  By May 1st the leaves here are just starting to unfold; by the summer solstice on June 21st they will be at their peak, and by Lammas Day in August, the harvest will be underway, and the first few leaves will be fading.  If you mark these 4 mid-points of the seasons (including Samhain, which corresponds with Halloween) as well as the two equinoxes and two solstices, you end up with 8 seasons which is about right to me!  I'll have to write something about the 8 seasons someday.

Linking to: