Bat Count

Today was warm and windy so I decided to wait until 8:30 p.m. to bike Blunder around the block to do her business. The sun had set but there was still light in the sky. I was able to count the bats as I biked, starting west. Block 1 I counted 25 bat sightings. Block 2 I saw none. Block 3 I counted 7. Block 4 I counted 12. Blocks 2 and 4 are shorter than 1 and 3 but there are an inordinate amount of bats on block 1. The trees are closer together on blocks 1 and 4 and I suspect the bats congregate there because there is more food on the blocks where the trees are so close their crowns almost touch. The DNR website says the little brown myotis is our most common species of bat. In the winter they hibernate in caves and mines. I don't know of any caves or mines around here. In the summer they roost in caves, mines, hollow trees and building. I know of some hollow trees in our neighborhood but I am really curious where these bats live. Mostly I want to keep them from staying in my house!

A Wild (life) Day

Today was a wildlife day for me. I was reading the paper this morning on the deck while enjoying my breakfast when a ruby-throated hummingbird flew by to sample the nectar from the zinnia plants. After lunch I rode my motorcycle up to the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge. I drove the wildlife drive loop - a 7.5 mile gravel road. This is a truly wondrous spot. All around you, as far as you can see, is nature. Beside the road you are on, there are no signs of human interference: no cell phone towers, no electric lines, no houses, no poles, just nature. Big bluestem grasses were waving and trying to reach me as I putted along. Gravel is a little tricky to ride on so I kept it slow - about 12 mpg. The limit there is 20 mph. No one was ahead of me and no one behind me. I lifted up the face guard on my helmet so I could smell in the fresh air. Goldenrod is blooming - that explains my itchy, watery eyes. I saw the huge eagle nest and it looked even bigger than I remembered from before. I saw some ducks and hawks. Riding on a motorcycle is much different than riding through here in a car. In a car I would pull out my binoculars and bird field guide. I do recognize the cormorants though - their silhouette on a dead tree beside a pond was easy for me to distinguish. I had stopped to admire the cormorants. While I had the helmet off, I called a sibling who lives nearby to see if I could visit but, alas, no answer. The milkweed pods were bright green and I knew that if I stopped to open them, the seeds would have white, silky, feathers on them. Everything is so beautiful out there. On a motorcycle, you can get closer to nature. I got so close, in fact, a grasshopper landed on my nose. My face guard was up and this determined little grasshopper grabbed on tight to my little, pug nose. I shook my head like a dog to get it off but it clung tight with it's legs. Looks like they only have 6 legs but it felt like more than that. Grasshoppers have raspy, horny little feet and they dig in to stay where they want to stay. I had to stop the motorcycle and push it off my nose with my hand. Grasshoppers can be overwhelming. Once, when Offspring #1 was about 4 years old, I was walking through a wheat field with him and his cousin and the grasshoppers overwhelmed me. I can take so many hanging on my body at one time before I lose it. On this occasion, too many grasshoppers clung to me causing a sensory overload. Several got underneath my billowy blouse and were hanging on to my stomach and back with their horny little feet. I lost it. Despite the fact I was chaperoning two impressionable four year olds, I whipped off my shirt and used it like a cow uses her tail yelling all the while. This was not a pretty sight. After finishing the wildlife loop, I headed back home on county road 8 or county road 4. Different counties call the same road by different numbers. I veered off to go through downtown St. Francis on Ambassador Boulevard. I drove past the screw factory. I don't know why but I find it funny that there is a screw factory in the town next to mine. Screws have to be made somewhere I guess. When I got home I was on my deck again. I had gotten the mail and my Conservation magazine had come. I hope you all are able to read the Conservation magazine. This issue was especially good and I read it cover to cover in one sitting. While I read, the hummingbird came back to sample more nectar from the zinnias one at a time-yellow, yellow, pink, yellow, orange, yellow and yellow.

Free at last. Free at last.

I moved Offspring #2 back to St. Olaf's last night. One columnist called the school Hogwarts for Lutherans. I can see the resemblance. We managed to fit everything in one load and I could still see out the mirrors. My back is aching today but I have the house to myself again so it's all good.

This year she's not living in a dorm. She living in an honor house. It's actually an old farmhouse on the edge of campus. There are 4 bedrooms upstairs, one on the main level, and one on the lower level. The staircase has a carved newel post and a railing one could slide down. The floors are wood and haven't seen varnish in a LONG time. The electrical system is old. The sockets have only two holes. She'll have to buy an adapter. And the light switches are those old kind with two buttons. You push one button in to turn on the light and the other button slides out automatically.

I haven't seen those light switches since I lived in a house on Pleasant Lake outside of St. Cloud when I went to college. Her room is very small but she has it to herself. The eastern exposure is sure to get her up and moving in the morning.

Several Orange Cars

Watcher or Watchee?

This morning I did my routine as usual. By 6:20 I'm sitting at the kitchen table reading the funnies and downing my handful of old lady pills as usual. I have a handful - fiber, vitamins, iron, calcium, fish oil, glucosamine/chondrontin, claritan for allergies, baby aspirin, blah blah blah, yeah, I'm an old lady. Out of the corner of my eye I see a hummingbird at the deck door - hovering with beak pressed close to the glass in the upper right hand corner. The hummer hovers there for 15 seconds or more before gliding to the upper left hand corner for another 15 seconds. I watch in awe at the seemingly effortless flight. The hummer heads diagonally down and hovers at the door handle for a full 30 seconds. I watch the hummer and the hummer looks inside the house at me. Maybe the hummer enjoys watching domesticated life as much as I enjoy watching wild life. What a great way to start the day!

Reduced My Carbon Footprint Today

Today, for the first time, I rode my motorcycle to work. I didn't think I'd have the courage to do that for a long time but I made a trial run on Sunday and all went well.

What were the best parts? This morning, there was a thick white mist on the road near the creek and my bike and I cut right through the mist, disturbing it into swirls. On the way home, I stopped for a red light on the corner of 109th and Jefferson (Blaine). Two boys came to the fence at the day care there, put their fingers through the fence, and stared at me. I stared at them. I waved. They waved back. They watched me as I waited for the light to turn green and take off. Two future cyclists? I think so. When I stopped for gas in Ramsey and cut the engine, a huge backfire happened just as I hit the kill switch. I'm not sure it was my vehicle but it sure was a satisfying backfire.

What were the worst parts? I was cold this morning! I had gloves on but my legs and neck were freezing. My full face helmet fogged up at red lights. I ended up lifting the face guard while the light was red and slamming it back down when the light turned green. Later I coughed inside my helmet. That was strange. This made me wonder, what would it be like to sneeze with it on?

Overall, it was a great day. I had fun showing my bike to my friends at work. One asked if he could watch me leave, if I wasn't too uncomfortable. I didn't care. Tomorrow should be nice as well but I have a work out session to attend on the way home and I don't think I want the bother of hauling my work out clothes.

Fair Food

Food I might have had: Elvis sandwich, grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich (too far away at lunch time), corn on the cob (again too far away).

Food I didn't want to have: foot long hot dogs (saw two people eating these loaded with raw onions at 8:45 a.m. and it made my stomach turn), turkey leg, fried cheese curds, french fries, fried fruit on a stick (why fry fruit? Fruit is good just plain), hand-dipped caramel apple (sister says she prefers machine dipped?), deep fried twinkie on a stick, deep fried candy bar on a stick, teriyaki ostrich on a stick, and spam fries.

Food I did have: Falafal on a stick. Falafal, in case you don't know are deep fried balls of mushed garbanzo beans. I also had deep fried pickle (turned out to be slices of pickles breaded and deep fried and served with ranch sauce - surprisingly tasty but what isn't good when deep fried?) and a nut roll. On our way out, we stopped to see the largest boar (always a highlight on the fair). Passing by the swine barn we stepped gingerly over some crap in the road. My sister is a crapologist. She knows her crap. She says, "Sheep, possibly goat crap." She has taught crap. She bought artificial crap for her 4H groups so they can identify wildlife by their droppings. So I am carefully looking down, making my way down the street to the swine barn and I notice a resemblance. The crap is round, brown, with a yellowish color inside-it looks like a miniature version of my falafal!!!! So glad we ate before seeing the largest boar.