Nature – Page 4 – FocusedPleasure

Mark of the Beaver

This tree was not near water, and had fallen flat on the forest floor, but for some reason had the unmistakable marks of a beaver.

Mark of the Beaver

It is remarkable to see the remnants of such intense purpose.

Tree stump Stonehenge

I saw this and thought of Stonehenge. Ridiculous, I know.

Tree stump Stonehenge

Some trees are first among equals

On a hike recently we saw this tree…

Truly epic tree

It was difficult to capture the scale of this tree with a photograph. It is truly massive, a sight to see.

Discovering Sauerkraut

I have never eaten sauerkraut and have actively pushed it off my plate in any restaurant.

Recently my wife got hooked on the Trader Joe’s brand and offered some to me for medicinal purposes (a good end-run) and I tried it, and liked it (it tasted so “healthy” as I crunched through it).

She then upped the ante and decided to make some on her own, and the chemistry behind sauerkraut is a lot of fun, as it turns out.

Apparently all you do is chop up some cabbage, add salt, and then wait a few days for the chemical transformation to work its magic. The salted cabbage plus the weight of a smaller jar causes a release of liquid that begins to expand upwards.

Her latest batch has red cabbage and you can see its intense color making itself known as time passes…

Sauerkraut Creation

You can also see the bubbles in the picture on the right — the process becomes quite animated, with active bubbling after a few days.

Good times.

Illuminations in the Clouds

This particular sky included some splashes of color that made little sense (on the face of it). The blues are fascinating alongside the oddly placed other colors.

This photo has not been augmented or enhanced.

Shades of light in the clouds

Spring Flower Surprise

Our front yard inexplicably has colorful spring flowers this year and we do not know why. Just lucky it would seem…

Spring flowers1

Spring flowers3

Spring flowers2

Spring flowers5

Spring flowers4

Truffle Love

My wife signed us up for “membership” in a truffle farm in France, which entitles us to fresh truffles each year and a part of the farm that is “ours” (such marketing….), and upon receiving our first shipment we wasted no time in preparing a fresh pasta and cream sauce.

Truffle love

It felt quite decadent to shave the truffle as seen in the photo above, and it was very enjoyable of course.

I’ll say that one of the best meals of our lives took place in Italy, and the method of shaving was quite different: the truffle was grated into very small pieces, as if it were parmesan cheese, and I’d say that the effect was superior.

Regarding the pasta we made at home, the photo affirms that we succeeded in getting the sauce to cling rather well to the noodles, and I’ll count this among life’s small yet grand pleasures.