A Foliose Romp, Part 1

Got some interesting photos today of leaves of various broadleaf trees and shrubs and some needle-bearing trees as well as foliose lichens, so named because of their resemblance to leaves. Too tired to continue this post, but will post remaining photos and lively text first thing in the morning. Stay tuned....
It's now Sunday morning, and here's the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey used to say.
I started my "foliose romp" with a snack at Quincy Natural Foods where I admire the huge sunflowers by the entrance every time I visit. I am easily distracted, so, even though I was on my way to seeking out lichens and mosses on the trunks of California Black Oak, other ideas occurred to me at the Co-op and at the neighboring post office. I decided to compile a list and photos of "good things we do" and another list with photos of "bad things we do." On the first list would be the plantings in front of the Co-op as well as the raised-bed gardens at their annex accross the street. So, with my snack in hand, I photographed the sunflowers (next post) and the veggies growing across the street. Ever curious, I turned over a few of the huge sunflower leaves (since the topic of the expedition was to be foliage) and discovered some great gatherings of aphids. Will talk about them in the next post. Then, on my way to the post office, I stopped at the bulletin board in front of Papa Murphy's. Wow! What a collection of notices of a wide variety of good and bad things going on around town - I quickly added lots of good and bad things to my lists. Among other things, I grabbed a copy of a free little handout titled "What Is It All About?" Really stupid stuff - I found out what it definitely is not all about. Then, an item for my "bad" list - election ballots in the trash can. Eventually, I got back on track and headed for the woods and gathered the photos show here and in my next post. From top to bottom, we have 1.) What was meant to be a photo of lichens and moss growing on the trunk of an old oak but what upstaged by a pretty sprig of white fir coming in from the left, 2.) a leaf off a California Black Oak that fell to the ground before finishing its color change, 3.) a beautiful, diseased Thimbleberry leaf, 4. and 5.) close-ups of the beautiful Mountain Ash to the side of the courthouse. The neighboring sweetgum trees are beginning to turn color, but I decided to save those photos for another day. Lots of earth colors today - the only brightness being the berries on the Mtn. Ash, but I've already posted here and elsewhere photos of the bright reds and oranges that are the target of most tourists with cameras. On this day, I really enjoyed walking around and getting close to the subtle beauty of many things that were green, brown, and grey.