Potpourri

To him who in the love of Nature
holds Communion with her visible forms, she speaks A various language.
                        - William Cullen Bryant, "Thanatopsis"

 

The Turtle

Early in our brief spring Baron and I headed over to Myre-Big Island State Park near Albert Lea, Minnesota for a hike. Unfortunately,  a recent heavy snowstorm had pulled down many trees blocking and closing many of the parks roads and campgrounds. I left my truck at the entrance ranger contact station and we hoofed it a mile along a road to one of our favorite hiking trails. As always there were a few adventures along the way.  You

might note Baron is wearing a red collar. This is a electronic training collar in lieu of the required leash.  I don't allow him to chase deer.  The alternative is a large dog, dragging a man, on the ground,  while chasing something else....:) 
Baron spotted something moving on the road ahead. He is an investigator at heart....

"What is it boss?", he said. Then touched it with his paw.

Sniffing the creature who refused to play Baron quickly lost interest and we head on toward the Great Slough skirting around all the fallen trees on the road. It was a beautiful day and we had the huge park all to ourselves.  A small creek drained the slough into Albert Lea lake and Baron spotted a ruckus going on. It turned out to be a bunch of large and spawning fish. In the midst of the turmoil we spotted something unusual. Look carefully....

Just another day with Mother Nature for a man and his dog....

 

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