Nosy neighbors know their neighborhoods. I refer to myself here, as I often wander slowly around my yard to see what my neighbors are up to. I’m not referring to the fellow human inhabitants, whose activities are typically more obvious—lawn-mowing, leaf-blowing and the like. The neighbors I find fascinating are those who share my experience here in more subtle ways.

For example, a recent 10-minute amble about my yard led to the discovery of a brilliant blob of bright orange on a fallen hemlock tree—the clumpy curls of orange jelly fungi—which fruits on dead conifers and stumps in the Upper Delaware River region. 

Most jelly fungi are characterized by gelatinous fruit bodies that can absorb or lose water, which enables the fungus to adapt and survive for longer periods of time. In dry weather, the fruit body shrivels up and can almost disappear. Rain restores it to its gelatinous state and allows the fungus to resume spore production. 

Next up were the cheerful purple berries of a beauty bush shrub, the glowing green tufts of moss and the silvery textured lichen living here. All around, trees were shedding their leaves, which twirled gracefully to the ground, drifting through shafts of sunlight that lit their passage with a final flare.

Some neighbors are more mysterious than others, roaming around at night, calling hauntingly from a tree perch (owls) or screeching and yipping into the darkness (foxes and coyotes).

Other neighbors tend to be the silent types, enriching our everyday lives with beauty, purifying the air we breathe, igniting our sense of wonder and awakening gratitude for what they offer free of charge and without insistence. 

Get out and get to know your neighbors today!