Beyond my backyard

I was going to go on a hike today, but with all the rain we've been having I decided to wait a few days. I did, however, go for a walk before supper, just in the wild area behind the house. I walked toward the beach, checking for blueberry patches as I went - I just picked nearly a quart on Monday, so I didn't pick more than a handful or two as I went, but I was looking to see where might be a good place to pick next time. I saw a lot of blue berries, but a lot of them seemed very tart, so I think they've still got to ripen a bit.

And then there were the bushes that are nowhere near ripe! I thought from a distance that they were another type of berry entirely, because of the bright red and green, but they have the right general shape - they're just on a different schedule than the ones I've been picking so far.

I was a little surprised to find mushrooms growing out of the sand! I know they pop up fast, but it's only going to be wet here very briefly!

I made it to the shore, at a different spot than I've been before. It was further down the beach, where there are more dunes and beach grass growing.

This was the view as I was walking back to the house.

It's an unusual little ecosystem, this stretch of open sand between belts of trees. And this is what's growing underfoot:

Blueberry bushes under the trees, clumps of grass near the edge of the trees. The rest of it is all lichen.

Big clumps of lichen growing on bare sand - you can flip them over accidentally while walking! (I try to put them back when that happens...) They're usually very dry and crunchy to walk on, but with this wet weather it was like walking on soft carpet. It would be pretty comfortable to lie on - but rather moist!