Strange lichen (or something similar) grows on a fallen tree in the NW Maryland forest in Swallow Falls State Park. The above photo is a little blurry b/c I didn't use a flash. The photo at right was with a flash, and has a completely diffferent effect. Someday I'll get a little tripod, or monopod, or something, so the non-flash photos may be less blurry. The trouble is: How often will I have the tripod with me when I want to take a photo like this? I'm thinking not all that often. We'll see.

The Swallow Falls pictures will end soon. I promise. Working all day every day means I don't have as many chances as I'd like to get good photos every day, so I've been stretching out photos of a few places/events. This isn't really what I had in mind when I started this little project, so I hope to not have to rely on this sort of thing too much in the future.