I’m looking at the very real possibility of losing my woods to a large, three-story townhome project. If it’s cleared through the Plan Commission, I will be staring at the front facade of many buildings instead of woods when I look out my windows. I will also lose the place I have been walking and photographing almost daily for more years than I can count. They want to cram nine multi-unit buildings and parking lots on less than three acres and have already had drilling equipment in the woods to assess where to bring in water even though the project has not yet been approved. In that process, their tank-like piece of equipment ran over, and completely smashed into the ground, one of the hot-spot logs that has produced numerous slime molds and mushrooms that I have photographed. At the time, it was growing a clump of tubifera ferruginosa that I have not seen in the woods for several years. There is also a large northern hackberry tree that rivals the state champion in size. Until I mentioned it at one of the neighborhood meetings, no one knew it existed. Whether or not we can get it declared a historical or legacy tree remains to be seen but the fight is on for our neighborhood plot of greenspace. Hopefully this summer will not be the last pictures from my walks in the woods.

The tubifera below survived the tank and I always love finding the tiny sea creature forms of it. It’s about the size of a pencil eraser. I am not completely sure it is tubifera ferruginosa but it appears to be at least a form of it.