City resident Dorothy McIver discovered this fungi on a tree on Willow Street in Greenfield. PHOTO BY DOROTHY McIVER

This grasshopper landed on a shrub next to Kay Lyons of Greenfield in the parking lot at the Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Hospital in South Deerfield on Sept. 29. “We were there to have our dear dog put to sleep, and the beautiful grasshopper was a pleasant distraction from our grief,” Lyons told The Recorder. PHOTO BY KAY LYONS