Giants Of The Earth?

Recently I was stumbled upon  the inner mechanics of my blogs and came across a tab named “statistics.”  I tried it and found something called “page views.”  And thereby discovered a ranking of my posts over the years.  As an ex teacher I try to make my book review and nature blogs informative and even, shall we say, educational. I rarely take the low road to humor or entertainment values for their own sake. J Thus, it was a huge disappointment that by far (17,000)  the most viewed post I ever wrote was the following. Sometime you have to wonder at the taste and values of the American Public…….

(July 23, 2010)  I'd never seen them before but they are all around us this summer. They're called earwigs. Oops wrong picture.

They're creeping crawly things, usually found, for example,hiding underneath Baron's water dish. They slither off at the slightest exposure and also try to sneak into the house.

They reportedly tunnel in thru the ears and nest in the brain. Take my word for it THIS IS A MYTH. They also DO NOT CARRY DISEASE.

With a rear mounted pincher they are scary to look at though. When I saw my first ones, my imagination got the best of me. Thinking they were babies, I recalled similar looking giant creatures in a movie, marauding through the streets of Japan & America, laying waste the countryside.

 

 

Thing Rod Serling....

 

 

 

Size: "1" 

Shape: Long, narrow

Color: Dark brown

Legs: 6

Wings: No

Antenna: Yes

Common Name: Earwig
Kindom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Dermaptera
Family: Forficulidae
Species: Forficula auricularia

Earwigs feed on leaves, flowers, fruits, mold and insects.

Mrs T has proposed dousing the house foundation with a pesticide. Being the "Green" member of the family, I've resisted that idea. Earwigs. Harmless, cute little bugs aren't they?

 

Mothers Day

On this special day for Moms, I think of the mother of our two sons.  Who grew into fine young men under her care and tutelage.

 

 

And my own mom who raised three sons and  closely guarded the eldest (Troutbirder) while allowing him to run free...... 

"Drives"

When our boys were small, overtired, slightly sick &/or cranky, we used to take them for "rides." It was a miracle cure. It had a calming, soothing effect that left them quickly asleep and ready to bring home and put to bed. All these years later it is still one of our favorite things. In any season we just head off for parts unknown. A new road, town, café, scenic vista and we now find ourselves to be calmer and refreshed. Oh and in spring, summer and fall we like to bring picnics along.

Some recent examples from last year -

We found the Houston, Minnesota Nature Center at the terminus of the Root River bike trail. It functions both as a nature center and as the trailhead facility for the Root River Trail in Houston. Here you can camp, take a shower, enjoy the hands-on nature displays, meet Alice the Great Horned Owl, walk through the prairie, take in a Saturday evening program during the summer, or enjoy recycled bike art

 

An old mill at Lake Mills, Iowa.

 

A view from the ridge at Balltown, Iowa looking east to the Mississippi and Wisconsin.

 

 

 

Cranberry farms in Wisconsin.

 

On a minimum maintenance road it's best to take the four wheel drive Chevy truck....

 

 

A round barn along the way

 

Of course, a day trip is never really complete without a picnic. Here we are with friends Rick & Loretta at Big Island State Park.

 

Then it's Minnesota :"Country Roads Take Me Home..."

 

Summer Plans

I went down to the county fairgrounds to get my Coyote Camper out of storage.  Everything checked out  just fine. It's ready to go!

Then I charged the battery on my lawn tractor to get ready for spring lawn clean up.

 The fishing boat got a good vacuuming and the trolling motor was checked out as well.

 

 

I headed up to Rochester and Gander Mountain to replace my leaky waders for trout fishing.  Baseball is also definitely on my mind. 

Perhaps a few more games to be taken in this year as the Twins might be making a comeback with an improved pitching staff.  My little garden seed packages are on immediate standby and it will be a great summer for flower gardening.

Oh just one caution. The way things have been going this so called spring, I’m predicting rain, sleet and snow in a couple of days!!!! Grrrrrrr!

 

Hiking With Baron

It’s been a long and difficult winter here in Bluff Country. A year ago March resembled May and local farmers were already cultivating and in early April planting began.  Yesterday, May 2, we got 13 inches of snow here on Oak Hill.  Only a few days prior to that The Big Guy (Baron) led a 2 hour hike in Lake Louise State Park.  On that day the temperatures had reached 75 degrees…… Go figure.

Baron- Leader of the Pack

 

 

Theresa Bugnet

It was love at first sight.

I might have met her sitting at a sidewalk cafe with friends in Tours.

 

Or perhaps along the Champs Elysee in Paris?

 

Did I take a chance on the Montmartre with Mrs. T, on the far left in the red jacket, keeping an eye on the revelers outside the Moulin Rouge?

 No, it wasn't any of these romantic places. I learned later, Therese, this delicate French flower, while of Gallic antecedents, was actually from Canada. Her father George Bugnet was a novelist, scientist, poet and settler born in France. He and his wife had migrated to Alberta, where it took 25 years of work and research to develop her. He crossed the wild Alberta rose with the Kamchatka rose of Russia.

She is almost a grandmotherly type now, having been around for more than 50 years. She was actually living along the driveway, next to the house, we bought in 1970. I was new to gardening then and didn't even know one was supposed to cover roses in the harsh winter climate of Minnesota. She wasn't bothered at all.

Although a sunny girl, she has done quite well with our move into the woods next door. A spot on the edge, that is partly sunny, seems to suit her just fine. Her children live nearby, as I have made cuttings and with an ice cream pail, potting soil, some Saran wrap and a little hormone powder they got a good start in life.
 

 Theresa Bugnet (Tear Reeza Bow Nay).  What a sweetheart!

Custer State Park “lifers”

 

Now that I’ve become a dedicated birder “listing” is part of the game through such organizations  as ebird and MOU I keep track of my sightings.  This will be my sixth year of of this fun hobby. My life total is 277 birds identified. Two hundred and eight are from Minnesota. About 50 are from Florida and Arizona with the rest from states nearby.

Three recent “lifers” were from South Dakota’s Custer State Park.

A Mountain Bluebird

 

 

A Lewis Woodpecker

 

A Clarks Nutcracker

It was a veritable “Corps of Discovery” sighting.  Lewis and Clark in the mountains as it were....: