beautiful small thing

One of our favorite things to do is to go outside and take a closer look at some of the normal, everyday things that we often tend to walk right by. Today, a short walk down the road showed us some marvelously ‘usual’ delights.
Our first discovery was this strange, pocked object. Any guesses?

It’s the top of a dandelion, the seeds having drifted off on the wind.
Then we came across this, which reminded us of the skin of an alien.

It’s actually oozing sap from a red pine tree.
Further along our journey we came across this beautifully colored pattern, like an exotic rug.

This is a tent caterpillar. Can you see the spiracles where it breathes?
This one amazed us. It looks very odd, and we had never bothered to look at one up close before.

This is the point where a pine cone breaks free of its branch and falls to the ground.
Finally, we couldn’t help but notice a not so subtle beauty — this lovely beetle who was spreading its wings out. We weren’t sure if it was injured or doing something else, but we couldn’t help but stare.