Tiny Worlds

I have always loved looking at tiny things or regular things in close-up, probably because I am near-sighted. One of my most memorable Christmas presents as a child was a microscope, which opened whole new worlds for me. I still love looking at books of scanning electron microscopy images, such as those of the tiny (0.4mm long) mites (Demodex folliculorum) that live in the roots of our eyelashes and other hair follicles. [Oh, you hadn't heard of those? And now your eyes feel itchy? Sorry...]

I took this macro shot in a minute's grace this morning when Miss Annie was not pulling on her leash, trying to convince me to turn around and head for home. My right eye -- the one I use for photography -- is still recovering from the cataract procedure on December 13, so I was pleased to see that the focus was decent, even after I'd cropped the original image.

Although I wouldn't try to eat the lichens and other little plants growing on this branch, I was taken by the way several of them resemble lettuces, particularly the one on the right. A Google search led me to a brief full-color US Geological Survey publication on Northwest lichens and bryophytes, in which I learned that it is called lettuce lung (Lobaria pulmonaria) -- more information on it here and here.

When I became a blipper in October, little did I know that I would be learning so much about my own habitat, as well as those of the blippers I follow! It's like being back at college, but learning at my own pace and not having to worry about exams. In the interest of academic balance, since I was an English major who loved biology, I offer a few lines from William Blake's Auguries of Innocence to conclude today's journal entry:

To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.