A Walk Down Louis Agusta Drive

Last night the weather report predicted rain and wind. Wrong! I washed my clothes in the kitchen sink and hung them outside on the hammocks to dry in the wind. After that I took a mile long walk down my dirt road past farms and cattle and pigs and chickens and tractors running in the fields. I would really like to drive a tractor too. I heard a Bewick's wren which is a first for me. I heard the Carolina wren, jays, cardinals and house sparrows chirping away. Up ahead you can see they got a nice new bridge. My ranch is a mile away on the right close to where the dirt road meets the pavement.

I sat on the elevated platform where the rancher has a metal table and 3 metal rocking chairs. I worked on my computer for an hour or so researching where to go in San Antonio. Then the three of us had lunch. Grass plucked from the lawn for them. Cheese and crackers for me.

I drove to the library to read the newspaper. I shopped at Target for groceries and a wedding gift. As I saw all the employees wearing red I realized I forgot to wear red. I am wearing orange and green. Nice sunset tonight.

I think this one is named Mammoth. He was just begging me to take his picture.

Ladybird Garden Revisited Times Three

This beautiful wood cut out is on the new play area for the kids. This is above the door right at the level of my neck.

This is below.

I can see why kids love it here.

Chimney swift tower.

A long board for the kids to use like a balance beam.

Yikes!

I was exercising on the equipment for adults to use while the kids play. I was on an elliptical talking to a girl and her Aunt Martha who grew up on a farm in Texas with Guernsey cows and Holsteins. They grew garden vegetables. She loves windmills too but not the kind that create electricity. I like all windmills. The girl's little brother looked like he wanted to use the elliptical so I let him have it. I tried the exercise bike but that is hard to do when I am wearing a skirt so I kept walking. The garden has a new turf that does not need much mowing. Was it part buffalo grass maybe?

This is the board walk back to the class room area.

Big Bluestems.

I am back inside by the introductory video.

This garden has their own database. Visit wildflower.org/plants-main to explore the database.

So purdy!

I should not have taken so many pictures.

Oh, they got a downstairs? Cool.

This is my view of the prairie from one of the windows downstairs. This would be a fun place to volunteer..

 

Blunn Creek

Today is my last full day in Austin and I have been driving quite a few miles. Today I thought I would stick closer to home. I hiked the Blunn Creek Nature Preserve which is only 5 miles away. The trail loops around the creek and I forded the stream 4 times. I had my coffee cup in my hand but once I saw how steep it was I put the coffee away and got out my handy dandy hiking sticks.

I hiked to the top of this volcanic hill. I was listening to the birds and I used my Birdnet App on my phone. I now know the sound of the Carolina wren now. The Carolina wren says, "I wanna eat! I wanna eat! I wanna eat right now!" The phone told me I was listening to a tufted titmouse and an Eastern Screech Owl. I didn't hear it make the sound of a miniature horse so I guess I heard a mated pair doing the tremolo purring trill of 35 notes in 3 to 5 seconds. Score an owl for me today! Whew! Bird of the day? Eastern Screech Owl.

I was here for an hour and met only 1 other person during that time.

What a jewel right in the city! By the time I was done it was nearly 11 o'clock so I drove to the nearest Planet Fitness for another free trial. I really like Planet Fitness now. I didn't finish there until nearly 1 p.m. so I drove back hoping the Sicilian food truck would be open. Rats, they didn't open until 2. I got a great falafel plate of food for only 5 dollars. I had 4 falafel, two kinds of dip, and four pieces of Pita bread. I will have the last two pieces of Pita bread for breakfast. Then I thought Great Clips wouldn't be busy. I haven't had a hair cut since October? She said come back at 3. I came back at 3 but didn't get my hair cut until 3:45. I told her, "I'm going for the Mamie Eisenhower look." She laughed and told me I wasn't the only one. These people at Great Clips were laughing and teasing each other. One guy was doing jumping jacks in front of the mirror. Oh, man, I was laughing the whole time I was in the chair. I have been to Great Clips many times and this was the jolliest visit ever. Now my car is nearly packed. Tomorrow will be hot so I am wearing my sundress. I think I'll stop for lunch in San Marcos. They have a free LBJ museum there and I could hike a natural area around the river and the new dam. I don't have to check in at the ranch outside of San Antonio until 3. Golly, I love to travel!

Listen to the sound of an Eastern Screech Owl here:
 

https://youtu.be/EqWWWfB9Ee4

Let's Go Fly A Kite Up In The Atmosphere

I left the house early (for me) and got to the farmer's market in Dickenson by 9 a.m. I park and see several police officers. I am wearing shorts, my big hat, sunglasses and sandals. I taste some delicious peach and ginger sauce with some celery. I decide I can't eat such a big bottle of it within 2 weeks. Next a lady asks if I want a free chair massage. I do want a free chair massage. I explain to the chiropractor where I have the battery in my back. Golly gee, he had me so relaxed I was drooling. I buy some romaine lettuce, cabbage, a jalapeno pepper and a bag of cherry tomatoes from a farmer. I brought my cooler with me and inside I froze a big water bottle of ice. Next I see a lady selling candles in antique cups and saucers. They are so cute! I see one shaped like a Scottie dog. She said these Scottie dogs came free with boxes of Grape Nuts. Okay, now I have to have a Scottie dog. A man is playing really good guitar music and singing songs. I buy a box of Mexican wedding cakes from a lady. I tell myself that is enough now get out of here. I see the police man and woman have a baby on their table. I ask if this is a new recruit. They say she is. Look she is holding a badge. I play peek-a-boo with the baby to make her smile. I tell them that today is my little brother's birthday and could I please take a selfie with them? The male officer uses my phone and we take a selfie. Next I head to Galveston for a family-friendly Mardi Gras event. I park and walk up the ramp where I see people dressed in purple, green, and yellow. Rats, I forgot. I am wearing blue and tan. I also forgot my purse which holds my socks and water. Two ladies greet me and ask me to sign in. I sign in. She asks what color beads I prefer. I choose gold. She says she likes my earrings. I say they were three dollars. Here I go humble bragging again. Have I always been this way? I text my girlfriend and asked if I humble bragged before I was married. She asks how much wine I have had today! Geez Louise! I look over the silent auction items. They have some nice stuff here. I meet a lady named Gay and she explains what I should expect. I ask if they need any help. I could volunteer? She says they have enough help but thanks. I meet the Fabulous Rose. I say nice to meet you Rose. She says no. I am the Fabulous Rose. I apologize. Fabulous Rose was born in Louisiana and is part of the Crewe here in Galveston now. She explains the whole situation. She is one funny Fabulous Rose. More children and families arrive. A 4 piece blue grass band is playing in the grass. They're really good players so I can't help but dance as I walk along. I meet another couple. She tells me I can't believe a word he says. He nods and says it's true, I instigate trouble. I say Okay and keep on going. At 11 the action starts. Kids can get on the two trailer hay wagon. Parents get on the hay wagon. I get on the hay wagon pulled by a big pick up truck. A guy is filming all this. Will I be on TV tonight? Planes are flying overhead. The grass is full of golf balls. I ask the 8 year old girl next to me if this is a golf course. She says she doesn't know. We stop at the first station. She comes back with an onion. Music plays when we stop and we all shout and cheer. At the next station she brings back an onion. Do you like onions I ask. She says yes. At the third station a little boy comes back with a green pepper. At the fourth station another kid comes with a piece of celery. At the fifth station a kid comes back with a bag of rice. At the sixth station another kid comes back with a bag of white flour. All these ingredients are to make gumbo like the poor people in New Orleans used to do. The final station is at a farm. I walk to the final station. A man says look out or you will step in those fire ants! Yikes. Okay I walk up to the farm house. I see two chickens in a dog kennel. I hang out by the chickens. I get to pet two chickens. The chicken owners reassure their chickens that everything will be okay. They tell me that last year the chickens didn't want to run. He kept finding eggs in the dog crate. I guess it is hard to run when you are in labor. The first group to enter the barnyard are the zero to five year olds. I get a picture as the chicken falls through the window into the grass. Guess who catches it? I am not kidding. The orange-haired 3 year old who catches it is named Tyson. Like Tyson chicken? Unbelievable. The five to ten year olds go next. The ten to fifteen year olds go next. The fifteen to twenty ones go next. And they all get two rounds. Sometimes they let both chicken go. Finally the twenty one and up males have their turn. And then the twenty one and up females have a chance. I go in. I do not catch a chicken. Now it is time for the free gumbo. I thought I would pay for some mac and cheese. I am in line with a lady with white hair. We talk. She is from Iowa. Her 65th anniversary is coming up on Valentine's Day. Her husband usually uses a wheelchair so she hopes they will let her have two bowls of gumbo. I offer to bring one to him. I bring the gumbo to him and he is very grateful. I go back in line and get a free bowl of rice and a free bowl of potato salad. I go back and sit with the couple chatting about his career as a manager of a hog processing plant and her job as a dental hygienist. We have a nice chat until the music starts up behind them and we can't hear each other anymore. I offer to take their plates to the trash. I go into the bar and ask where the recycling is. I am holding her empty bottle of Texas Blue Ribbon beer. They don't have recycling. They don't have recycling? A bar doesn't have recycling? I sigh and take the beer bottle to my car where I grab my bag of tomatoes. I share my tomatoes with the couple until they decide to leave. Yeah, he can hardly walk the poor man. I sign up for the silent auction. I bid on a bucket of car cleaning equipment. I bid on a bottle of peach vodka with two wooden bottle stoppers. I hope I don't win. I don't win. Now I am disappointed. I flirt with the guys in the band. I see Gay is rolling up the orange fence that the chickens were in. I go to help her. We wiggle the wooden posts out of the grass and commence to roll fence. This is kind of fun. A guy comes over to help. He has a knife to cut a plastic tie. Another guy comes to help and soon we have everything rolled up. I see the hay wagon coming back picking up pieces of wood. I pick up a piece of wood for them. The lady in the wagon thanks me and says she remembers me from last year. I tell her I wasn't here last year. She says I should come next year. I tell her maybe I will. I walk back to the silent action. I see kites flying in the sky. Kites! I could fly my penguin kite! I ask a couple how to get over there. They tell me and off I go to the kites. I park on the beach side of the road. Dang, the kites are on the other side. This road is busy and people are driving fast. I make it to the turn lane and wait again before I cross. Rats! People are not flying kites. The kite store is flying kites tied to posts in the ground. I cross back to my car, put the kite away, and don my binoculars. I see sanderlings, and gulls, and terns and other shore birds. This place is beautiful. There is a restaurant above me. People are eating outside! The bare sand feels so good on my feet. I carry my sandals. People are collecting sea shells. People are having picnics. I walk up the beach as far as I can go and then back down again. I see a family of 3 flying a kite. I ask if they would be willing to help me fly a kite. He says yes. Two of them help me and goshdarnitall, my kite is up in the sky! Wow! (more pictures tomorrow)

 

Singing In The Rain

I assembled my kite that I bought yesterday. My friend from work wants me to video the kite as I fly it. I replied: I will try but no guarantees.

After all the driving I did yesterday I decided not to drive at all today. I walked to Bayfront Beach Park in the rain wearing my rain suit, wool socks and sandals. I walked between 3.5 and 4 miles. The wind was coming off Galveston Bay so on the way there the rain hit me in the face which was unpleasant. I stood under a picnic shelter to take these shots. I got pretty excited on the way there because I thought I saw a dead armadillo on the road but it was only a possum. There is a farm near here that has peacocks. That is cool. My "wasbund's" Uncle had a peacock and it sounded like a small child crying sometimes.

I almost always enjoy a trip that is easier going back. Walking, kayaking, swimming, canoeing, biking, motorcycling and driving are almost all better if the return trip is easier. Returning home after an adventure is not always better if I wanted to keep that adventure going, know what I mean?

 

Snow

As I was shoveling snow today I wondered how many pounds of snow I have shoveled in my lifetime. How many hours have I spent shoveling snow? How high would the pile of snow be that I have shoveled? How many driveways have I shoveled? I know I have shoveled snow in Roseville, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Fridley, Blaine, Anoka, Columbia, Coon Rapids, Ramsey, Urbank, Alexandria, White Bear Lake, St. Cloud, Duluth, Grand Marais, Elk River, Savage, Illinois, and Wisconsin. I don't always love shoveling snow. Sometimes I hate shoveling snow. This year shoveling snow isn't as wearisome because I know I will migrate south and not have to shovel snow at all which will be super awesome. Today I shoveled snow because it was snowing too hard for me to drive to the YMCA. Shoveling can be good exercise. There will be a day in the future where I will not be able to shovel snow any more. I am grateful I can still shovel snow.  

Am I Important?

The weatherwoman said this weekend would be peak colors in Duluth. Perhaps she is right but it is hard to know with the foggy drizzle. I went for a walk near a stream I monitor hoping not to get shot by hunters and wishing I had worn my favorite color instead of my navy blue raincoat. Entire families on 4x4 off road vehicles went by. The people on the noisy vehicles appeared to be having fun in the mud but they sure tear up the roads around here. White throated sparrows call out. Woodpeckers are drumming on the trees. Crows and ravens are chatting. A rooster crows. I noticed a trail going through the woods on my left. Last time I was here I figured out it was a beaver trail. I saw the ferns and tansy stems near the stream on the right side of the road were all flattened toward the water. I saw a big deep rut in the road and I figured the beaver carried a heavy log.

This is where I suspected the beaver carried that log. A river otter would be cool but I think otters would have a narrower trail.

Lo and behold! A brand new dam built by busy beavers. Already the water is a good six inches higher above the dam. Beavers are an important part of our ecosystem. I don't know what impact this beaver dam will have on the plants and animals and birds and fish and reptiles around here but I suspect it will be helpful. Beavers are herbivores. I eat herbs too. In fact, as I walk along and snap off the yellow tansy heads I gather rosehips in my pocket. Like a beaver, I am preparing for winter. Are these beavers a young couple or have they been together for a few years? I hope the giant beaver is selected to be the state fossil this year. The milk from the mother beaver is 19 percent fat. Does this couple have baby beavers and if so, how many? A beaver can hold it's breath for 15 minutes. I am lucky to hold my breath longer than 1 minute.

If beavers are an important part of our ecosystem, am I an important part of my ecosystem?

 

Places To Go, Streams To Monitor

Last night we had a storm. Two buildings, a church and an apartment building, were struck by lightening closer to the downtown area. I got 1.4 inches of rain on my tiny deck. I decided today would be a good day to monitor my streams. I am getting ready to go when I see my neighbor mowing his lawn wearing flip flops. "Dude," I think to myself, "Wearing close toed shoes would be good when mowing your lawn." I gather all my stuff, rain boots, rain coat, short list of things I need to buy, a cozy sweater and I head out. Across the street in the newly mowed lawn are two tables and one shelf filled with hand blown glassware. Glassware is not on my list of things to buy today. But I go look. I see beautiful glassware. I see one giant vase and in my mind I see a $150.00 price tag on it, at minimum. I look anyway and I see a piece of green tape that reads $8. My mind was blown. I talk to Alisha, my neighbor, about a glass. She says it's 2 bucks. I say it's 5 bucks. She read it upside down. I only have 4 bucks. She takes 4 bucks. The cup is clear with blue and green. In the picture it looks yellow but that is because it set it on top of my wet car. This glass is so heavy and beautiful and will make my Duluth water taste even better. What a deal I got here. Then I go to Walgreens to buy calcium tablets and to break a twenty dollar bill so I can buy vegies from my farmer. After my first monitoring spot on the Cloquet River I go to the farm with a ten dollar bill to buy tomatoes and squash. I must have tunnel vision laser focused on the tomatoes because I don't see the farmer waving at me from the corn field. He looks like Santa Claus if Santa wore bib overalls and carried a hoe. I wave back. A bellow behind me makes me jump. There stand Elsie the cow with her sweet brown and white face standing there with her boyfriend, Elmer. I just walked past two ginormous cows and didn't even see them because I love tomatoes that much.

O

Turkeys in the hay, turkeys in the way, turkeys in the straw, haw, haw, haw!

If you were an apex predator with color blindness, these turkeys would really blend in. I bet these birds were freshly hatched this year.

What did the angry turkey say to the other turkey?

Go pluck yourself! At my second river the water was much higher but not high enough to say the level was high. I marked it as normal because I have seen this entire road covered in water. Some turtles just hatched here and I could see their shells. These could be snapping turtles or maybe some other kind. I brought my nippers along because I want to make a fall bouquet. I snip off some maiden hair ferns, some fireweed stems, some balsam boughs and some sassafras stems. I also use my nippers to clip off some invasive tansy to make up for what I take out of this public forest. This will make a nice bouquet. I start to head home. I stick to my plan and just buy what is on my list. No more impulse buying for me. I get home and bring my things inside. I kept one dollar to repay the neighbor. I go to the neighbor's house again with my dollar bill and only my dollar bill because I am not going to buy anymore glass no matter how beautiful and how valuable.

I meet the Dude who mowed without shoes. His name is Jake. He blows glass at Canal Park and I have always wanted to take a class there. He says I can ask for him when I sign up for a class. He says he sold $400 worth today. He says he wants to get rid of his inventory. He says he will trade me for something. I eye the olive oil dispensers. His olive oil dispensers are gorgeous and functional. I mention I am infusing olive oil with garlic, peppers and orange peel. He says he will trade me, my olive oil for his olive oil dispenser. I run home and grab my olive oil which is actually delicious but it sitting in a $2 bottle I bought at Savers. He takes my spicy olive oil. His girlfriend is making lunch. This will go good on his sandwich. He asked me if I grew the peppers and dried them. I say no, I bought the peppers but I did peel the orange. He goes inside to get his sandwich and says to me, "Take what ever you want on the table. You don't have to take the olive oil dispenser I pointed out." I take the one he pointed out. I thought it was pink but in the sun it's orange. OMG!  Win/win bargain here.

I take most of my tomatoes and all the squash I bought from the Santa Claus farmer and bake them with onion, garlic cloves, plain olive oil, salt, pepper, and basil for an hour. I eat a quick lunch and go for another walk to get some exercise. I walk through the University campus. I monitor the Tischer Creek for the city of Duluth. Tischer Creek is at .4 inches. Even though we got all that rain, the creek is still very low. I would guess all the critters  who live in this creek are breathing a sign of relief that we finally got some rain. Football players are playing football. Baseball players are playing baseball. Tennis players are playing tennis. The campus seems to be coming alive again after the pandemic. I think back to my freshman year of college. I lived off campus. I would not be watching football, tennis, or baseball, I would probably be hanging out with other girls I see sitting in hammocks by the music building. These girls are sitting cross legged in hammocks jabbering away. I can't sit cross legged very long anymore but I can do it for a couple minutes. My right hip can tolerate that position longer than my left hip. Maybe I should buy a hammock? I keep walking. I have never been a big sports fan so I just walk through the crowds humming a song in my head (Nancy Sinatra-these boots(sandals) are made for walking), eager to get home to drink water out of my new glass.

 

Creative Ways To Stop A Child from Crying

Tonight after work I went to the gym to swim some laps and to wash away all the work worries. Two kids were having swimming lessons in the last two lanes.  One was a boy. His little head was no match for his swim goggles.  The goggles were so big five inches of goggle strap stuck out from the sides of his head like the barbels on a bullhead fish. He was smiling with his instructor and I heard him ask who I was when I walked by. The other swimming student was a girl who also wore goggles and pig tails and a two piece swimsuit with a red skirt. She was screaming bloody murder.  "I don't want to do this!" she said. A woman sitting right there in a chair appeared to be grading papers.  I heard her tell the girl she was going to do this.  I assumed she was the mother of twin swimming students. The girl continued to scream at the top of her lungs as I put on my cap and goggles.  I watched the instructor take the girl by the hands and dip her head under the water. Silence from the girl. As soon as she was lifted above water the screaming commenced.  Again the girl was dipped under the chlorinated water. Silence. Up she comes and she takes in a breath before screaming again. Down she goes.  Silence.  I think to myself, as I start my laps, this is a very creative way to stop a kid from crying.  I swim for about 15 minutes. As I leave the pool the girl is still crying and her brother is still smiling. The girl cries softer though.  Her little lungs are getting quite the workout today.

Pure Genius Observed

After work I went to the gym to swim a few laps and saw this. Pure genius I think.  If you can't ride two bikes at the same time, just strap the smaller one to the back of the bigger one.  I never would have thought of this myself.

Before I went to the gym I stopped by Coon Creek to monitor the water.  I can see my shadow in the water. The clarity was 78 which is good for this creek. The water temperature was 48. The flow was back to  normal after heavy rains earlier in the week. I see they are building new buildings in the marsh north of Highway 10 and Hanson Boulevard. I doubt the creek will improve because of the changes they are making in that swamp. 

My Personal Assistant Take Two (Photobomber in lower left)

My Personal Assistant

Walk For Hope

I remember exactly how I felt when I arrived at work one summer day nine years ago. I don't remember everything but I remember how I felt.  I felt annoyed. I had to employ my most powerful mental filter because what I really wanted to say to my boss at the time was, "What the hell? Where are your social skills? You could easily say hello or good morning first." What he said to me as I walked in the door with my backpack, my lunch,and my motorcycle helmet under my arm was, "I thought you were in a motorcycle accident in Andover last night."

What I did say was, "Why would you say that?"

My boss heard about a motorcycle accident in Andover very close to his house. The sirens at 4 a.m. woke many people out there in the sticks. A woman was killed. Her broken body was found on a country road. Rumor had it she hit a deer because hair was found on her body. At the time we didn't know she was one of us. She worked at the same place and she was brutally murdered by her boyfriend and his brother. We didn't know the brothers faked a  motorcycle accident. We didn't know the details.  We didn't know the hair was not from a deer but from her boyfriend's dog.  We didn't know he would leave his DNA on a baseball bat.  We didn't know to what great lengths these two  men would go to pretend to be innocent of murder.We didn't know that one of the brothers was a snitch for law enforcement and that fact would lead them both to a lighter sentence. We didn't know how angry a powerful and successful family would get when the community would not allow these brothers to get off Scott free. We didn't know that the parents of these murderers would promise the judge not to let my coworker's daughter talk to the man who killed her mother and then hand the preschool aged girl the phone when he called from the county jail. I still don't know how my coworker's mother comes to work every day with a smile on her face and does her best to do a good job after suffering the loss of a child from extreme domestic assault.

What I do know is that I had a magical morning at the Walk For Hope in Bunker Hills Park Saturday morning. The weather was beautiful.I walked two miles in 54 minutes. I got behind a man and woman who I thought set a good pace for a long time but eventually I passed them.  The tshirt I earned is orange and I like orange. It's my favorite color. The conversations I heard were pleasant and mostly about things I was interested in. I knew quite a few people from here and there. A politician gave a boring speech. A 15 year old gave an incredibly heartfelt and emotional speech that made me cry. That 15 year old girl is going to be the President of the United States someday. She used her pain of domestic abuse from a step-father to help others which in turn helps her. As I left to go to my car after the walk a 12 members women's drum team was beating drums.  After walking two miles me and my old hips could not walk normally past that drum team. I was feeling so good I just had to prance a little bit as I walked by the drums.

I would have preferred to hug my coworker who would be in her late 30's by now if she had lived. Instead I stared at a red wooden silhouette of her with a plaque with her name and the details of her death. She is not defined by her death. She is defined by the loss we all feel because she isn't here. She was awesome.  The Alexandria House is also awesome. I know or have known 5 women who have used the services of Alexandria House. I have hope. 

Long Weekend of Primitive Camping Concluded

Camping brings out the real you.

You wake early. You dread the outhouse. Then you see a shooting star and suddenly all is well.

You look for bear tracks on the prairie road.

You suddenly want a sun bonnet like Laura Ingalls Wilder wore.

Morning mist over the prairie. I feel bathed in nature yet in severe need of a hot shower. Hygiene standards are shockingly low by Sunday morning.

Find a penny.  Pick it up All the day you'll have good luck. But not in the outhouse. Now is not the time to be thrifty.

Can You Canoe?

The whole fam damily came along.

Abby is scientific! I admire scientific!

She found a frog and a turtle egg! And she caught them. The egg was easier.

One egg was warm and uncracked so we put that back. This one was cracked and very cold. We regretted opening it as soon as the turtle moved in our hands. Those tiny feet though!

We named it Bob but did not know the species at first.We built a condo in the wet sand and protected Bob from the sun with willow cuttings.

Abby is the Minnesota version of Steve Irwin. Next she caught a turtle with the same spotted shell as Bob. This is Franklin, Bob's cousin. Both are softshell turtles. We are so sorry Bob and Franklin. We renamed Goose Poop Island to Turtle Egg Island. It's official.

My fam damily. Who decided I should be in the canoe with the youngest and most inexperienced? Well, we had the most fun and we saw the most turtles.  22. Lilly wants to be a screen writer. The next Diablo Cody?

Who wants to come next year?