Weird and wondrous

I checked the calendar and was pretty sure it was October. However, the lilacs in the yard were blooming.

I posted a photo on Facebook and some fellow friends also stated that their lilacs were flowering too.

Apparently, this reblooming was due to stress.
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"We occasionally see spring flowering trees and shrubs display a flower or two after a stressful summer is followed by milder weather," stated a post titled "Garden Questions: Can lilacs bloom in fall?", a special to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, by Melinda Myers on www.jsonline.com
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"These plants set their flower buds in the summer before their normal spring bloom time. Unusual or stressful weather conditions can cause some of the flower buds to open in fall," Myers wrote.

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According to an article titled "Why Is My Lilac Bush Blooming in the Fall? (Explained)" by Goi Lita on gardensuperior.com  stressful weather can cause the plants to go into a dormant state.  

"When they come back to life from a dormant state they often bloom, even though freezing weather may just be around the corner," Lita posted. "It’s not fully understood why this happens but some experts believe that when the lilac revives from its dormant state, it fears that it’s dying and wants one last chance to reproduce."
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Regardless of what caused the stress, both authors and other websites said the late blooming isn't terrible for the lilacs. It will just result in fewer blooms in the spring.

While the lilacs were flowering in the yard, mushrooms provided some color and texture on the forest floors.
I'm not a mushroom expert, but a coworker opened my eyes to some "fowl" fungus.

A mushroom that I had been watching mature on a rotting stump turned a brilliant organ.

I misidentified it as a jack-o-lantern fungus on a post on Facebook.

​A coworker steered me in the right direction and I found out the fungus was actually called a chicken of the woods. In fact,  he even asked me to harvest it for him.

"One can easily spot the chicken of the woods mushroom by its impressive size and vibrant yellow-orange colors. This large polypore has surprised many a nature lover the first time they found it!," said a post about the mushroom on www.mushroom-appreciation.com.
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The post said that the mushrooms are edible and sought after by some foragers.

"This mushroom has a lemony, meaty taste.

​Some think it tastes like its chicken namesake; others describe the flavor as being more like crab or lobster. Whatever your opinion, the chicken fungus makes a great substitute for meat in almost any dish," the post said.

I will take their word on that. I am not a mushroom connoisseur. My grandfather ate mushrooms. We would scour the woods and yards to find the specific kinds he at. However, my grandfather's mushrooms were fried in an extraordinary amount of real butter. I would wager his dishes were 75 percent butter and 25 percent mushrooms.

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I also stumbled on another "fowl" fungus.

I believed them to be false turkey tails. Of course this meant that there are also "true" turkey tail mushrooms.
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The Missouri's Department of Conservation's website described the false turkey tail as large, layered groups of leathery, parchmentlike brackets with multicolored zones and smooth undersides.

The site also posted about lookalikes saying  "The 'true' turkey tail, Trametes versicolor, has pores on the underside.

​"The multicolor gill polypore, Lenzites betulina, has a gill-like underside."

Meanwhile, I spotted some pink spots on a decaying log. An internet search turned up that it was called Wolf's milk or Toothpaste slime.

A post on www.centralcoastbiodiversity.org said the slime is found from June to November on dead wood.

​The post also stated that the slime consumes bacteria as well as yeast and other fungi.

"Lycogala epidendrum, commonly known as wolf's milk, groening's slime is a cosmopolitan species of plasmodial slime mould which is often mistaken for a fungus," stated a post on www.inaturalist.org

"Theseaethalia are small, pink to brown cushion-like globs. They may excrete a pink paste if the outer wall is broken before maturity," the post continued.

I wondered how I had missed these little pink globes before. The revelation came to me as the next day the pink was gone and little gray globes remained in their place.

According to a post on www.first-nature.com, "Lycoperdon perlatum, the Common Puffball, is an edible fungus. Only young specimens should be collected, as once the spore mass begins turning yellow the fungi are unsuitable for eating."
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Wikipedia listed other names for the fungus as warted puffball, gem-studded puffball, wolf farts or the devil's snuff-box.

The mushrooms and lilacs were thriving in the warmer weather. The toasty temps brought out some garter snakes as well. There were as many four gathered together. At first I thought I may have photographed a private moment between the snakes, a post on www.science.org titled "Garter snakes are surprisingly social" by Elizabeth Pennisi suggested that the gathering may be something different.
"Researchers have discovered that garter snakes not only prefer to hang out together, but also seem to have 'friends' with whom they spend much of their time," Pennisi wrote.

"There are benefits to being social, particularly for younger snakes ... For instance, a group retains heat and moisture better than an individual," the article continued.

While as the snakes grouped together, some maple leaves were singled out for their perfect balance.

It amazed me how they made some unique landings. The leaves made me think a little deeper.

Perhaps they were symbols of times when we were hanging on when we shouldn't have been. Maybe it was more of a depiction of how others helped us on our way down.

Others caught us and slowed our descent. The fall might have been inevitable, but the ride down didn't have to be so rough.

​That's just the nature of things 'round here.