OFF-TOPIC: This Time of the Year it should have been...

...this scenario

...or even this one which is one of the environmental crimes of the city of Munich again where the Olympic lake was dried out, fish and everything else "removed" only to be the playground for some idiots. These blockheads think it is so cool to have a World cup skiing slalom for ONE DAY in the middle of the city (but this is a completely different story) although the appropriate ground exists just 50 km south of the city towards the Alps (the pics show snow canons that produce the stuff that is needed for plastering the little Olympic mountain for this event). How irresponsible and shallow-brained is that? And the waste of energy that could have supported a whole village for one year not to talk about the damage that is done to the whole ground when the stuff melts away etc. etc.??

In winter time the lake is normally populated by all sort of waterfowl and other birds. Many come from northern regions to find food here and some open water still when everything else is frozen. But now the area is completely dead, not a single duck or goose to be seen. It is very sad. And you want to know what the greatest joke is? We currently have temperatures around 12°C and the snow is completely gone...

Btw - the photos have been made on the 12th of Dec. Four days later the snow was completely gone. This is typical for Munich city. So far to the planning skills of  a host and organizer...

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OFF-TOPIC: The Colours in October

October was not golden this year as it is normally supposed to be - it was ugly, rainy, dark, cold - simply yuck. But around the 20th the sky lit up and Mother Nature presented us all her skills in form of an Indian summer....

(all photos ©Petra Voegtle)

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OFF-TOPIC: Impressions from a Walk through the Forest

Just a few impressions from a walk through the forest these days. While the weather is still nice and quite mild this is the opportunity to stroll through the forests and see what Mother Nature has in her portfolio...

Schopftintling - edible young

(Coprinus comatus - shaggy ink cap, lawyer's wig, or shaggy mane)

not sure what this is...

Hallimasch (edible)

Armillaria mellea - Honey Fungus

Another version of this is Armillaria solidipes and it is known to be one of the largest living organisms, where scientists have estimated a single specimen found in Malheur National Forest in Oregon to have been growing for some 2,400 years, covering 3.4 square miles and colloquially named the "Humongous Fungus."(Wikipedia)

Grünspanträuschling

(Stropharia aeruginosa - verdigris agaric)

the Moss Manikin (there is a legend behind this)

Täubling - some of them are edible

(Russula)

Hallimasch

(all photos ©Petra Voegtle)

 

Years ago - exactly before 1986 - we used to stroll through the forests and collect mushrooms for eating. This was always much fun and very relaxing even if you did not find enough for a soup. But since the disaster of Tschernobyl the mushrooms are contaminated still by the radioactive fall-out especially here in Bavaria and will be for the next couple of hundreds years!!! You can eat these mushrooms if you don't do it too often but to stay on the safe side you rather should not.

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