It was a hot day today.  I took a walk in Brightwood Park early in the morning.  I found a group of ghost pipes.  I was amazed that watching them with some imagination I found many human faces with funny-looking expressions.  

After walking in the woods on a typical summer day, I often find a few itchy bumps on my arms when I get home.  Being in the park everyday, I recently somehow felt a reduction of mosquitoes buzzing.  This morning I found an answer: many spiders have reported to work.  Their construction was efficient like the work done by California engineers (I miss them so much!).  Meanwhile the products had rich artistic components.  Under the morning sun, the threads glowed in bright rainbow colors.  In a gentle breeze, the patterns of color and shape changed.  Webs with regular patterns vibrated in beautiful uniformity, like soldiers in a parade.  The irregular-shapes performed like fireworks or meteor showers.  One of the webs looked mandolin-like, sitting there and waiting for a musician.   

I found a perfectly knitted spider web in a shaded corner of the woods, which looked like a clock.  My camera could barely record its image.  The owner of it patrolled in circle regularly, like the motion of hands on a clock.  

Near the entrance of the park, there is a log on which many mushroom grew last year.  New growth has appeared at the base of the old ones, looking tender and pure white.  Watching the two generations of mushrooms, the image of a smiling baby in a stroller surfaced in my heart.

This appears to be the season of tiny flowers of spotted wintergreen.  Many of them can be seen near the small pond, with a scan by careful eyes.  The flowers open facing down, like timid faces of young girls.  It took me an effort to find one peeking sideway to take a picture of its details.  Upon examining the pictures, I found that I was not the only curious visitor, as in the background there was a fussy image of a tiny green insect making circles.

After the first cosmos flower bloomed in the pollinator gardens,  many more came to the stage a few days later to  form a choir.  Insects joined the flowers by dancing.

Earlier this month, Brightwood summer came into bloom.  Here are some of my favorite photos:

Try to look for one picture in which a frog was watching the parade of the wood duck family.  Also, can you identify one in which the wood duck mama saluted by lifting her right foot?

The mushrooms growing last year on a fallen tree near the entrance of the park (remember the king in his throne?) now have their base coated with a new  white-colored layer.

I found another tree hole in which a northern flicker made a home.  When I approached, the bird stuck his head in song!

The  wood ducklings are out of the weaning stage and are trying to hang out by themselves.  They are like high school kids now.