Sunday, April 19, 2009, 06:14
Peeps in the Wild
Monday evening (the day after Easter) we took Pixie for a short walk up the dirt road. It was overcast but not cold, and I thought a little fresh might make me feel better.
As we walked along, I saw something bright yellow on the side of the road. It looked like. . .
. . .a Peep.
A bright-yellow marshmallow Peep.
"Is that a Peep?" I said. It was, after all, the day after Easter.
Randy and I went closer to get a better look.
It was, indeed, a Peep.
"What," I said, "is a Peep doing out in the middle of nowhere along a dirt road?"
"Don't know," Randy said. He picked it up and looked for a knothole in a tree to put it in.
The bright yellow Peep really stood out in the otherwise drab landscape with no green leaves or anything else to brighten it up.
We walked a ways farther up the dirt road, and there was another Peep.
"I'll say it again," I said. "What is a Peep doing out in the middle of nowhere along a dirt road?"
Randy picked up the second Peep and found another knothole in which to place it.
We walked a little ways farther to see if we could spot any more Peeps, but we did not. Eventually we turned around.
On the way back, sure enough, I found another Peep on the opposite side of the road.
This one had been run over and was as flat as it could be.
Randy pulled back the dead leaves in the ditch to give the flattened Peep a decent burial. We didn't find any more Peeps after that.
All week long, I kept thinking I should take the camera up the dirt road to get a picture of the Peeps in the trees. I just couldn't seem to find the time or the energy to do it, and finally on Friday evening, I told Randy we should take the camera and Pixie and get a picture of those Peeps.
Unfortunately, the first Peep was no longer in the tree.
"I think it was right there," I said.
Randy stepped up to the tree to look. "Yes, it was. I can see a little bit of yellow stuck down in the knothole."
"I bet a Blue jay got it," I said. "I think those Blue jays will eat just about anything."
We walked farther along, and finally, we spotted the second Peep. Randy was able to get a good picture of it.
We still do not know how the Peeps ended up out in the middle of nowhere along a dirt road. But Randy says he likes the idea of putting them in the trees so much that he wants to buy some Peeps next year before Easter to decorate the trees along the dirt road.
I think we ought to get some bright pink ones, too.
Beetle
Tuesday evening when I came home from covering a meeting for the newspaper, as I walked up to the porch, I saw it -- the biggest beetle I have ever seen. The thing was large, oval, black, smooth and shiny and it was trying to jump up the window to find a place to hide. It was almost half the size of the palm of my hand.
I hurried into the house and grabbed the camera. The beetle was aware that I was there and went absolutely still. I got several pictures of it, and then I picked up a piece of straw to tap it. As soon as the straw touched the beetle, it went into action and was frantically looking for somewhere to hide.
Randy had also gone to a meeting, and later on when he came home, I showed him the picture of the beetle. We both went on the Internet to try to identify it, but we had no luck of any kind. Several websites informed me that there are more than 30,000 beetle species in the United States, and I wasn't able to find a single one that came anywhere close to what I saw. Randy couldn't find anything, either. So we still have no idea of what kind of beetle it was.
All I know is that it was a very large black shiny beetle. The other thing I know is that I HOPE it stays outside!
Spring Weather
We have had an unbelievable string of lovely spring days this week. For most of the week, the highs were in the 60s with sunshine. Friday and Saturday, the temperature got up into the low 70s.
According to my weather records, last year we hit 70 degrees on April 20, but then it was cold after that with highs in the 40s and 50s, and we didn't get to 70 again until May 6. There were more cold days after that yet, and 70 did not show up again until May 24. We shall see what this year brings.
LeAnn R. Ralph
Wednesday, April 15, 2009, 06:31
Dried Up
We could use some rain. We really could. I can tell that the grass in the horse pastures wants to start growing, but it doesn't have any moisture to work with. When Kajun walks across his little pasture, he is kicking up puffs of dust with his feet. It is hard to tell out in Isabelle's pasture because there is more long grass there from last year that she would not eat because of her piles of manure here and there. But still, I know the ground is dry there, too. When I picked up horse manure and put it in the wheelbarrow Tuesday, the ground was very dry and powdery in Isabelle's pasture.
If we do not get rain, then our hay field will not grow and we won't have hay for Kajun and Isabelle for next winter and to help get them through the summer to supplement their pasture.
If we do not get rain, then our garden will not grow very well, either.
We have been in a drought for five years, and it is interesting to see how the wild grapevine has taken over the bank below the lower driveway. Grapes like it hot and dry, and they have apparently had the perfect conditions in the last few years. The wild grape vines have grown more in the past couple of years than they did in the last 30 years. All throughout the old thatch on the bank there are grapevines snaking around. I was able to pick enough wild grapes there last fall to make several pints of wild grape jelly.
Yes, there is nothing like the taste of wild grape jelly. Especially wild grape jelly that I made by picking the grapes myself. But I would just as soon we had rain and that I had to look farther for wild grapes than just a few steps across the driveway.
It has been so dry the last few years that my grandmother's day lilies have died out along the house. I watered them periodically, too, but because they are on a slope, it didn't help that much. They needed rain, and they didn't get it. Before the drought killed them off, every summer the lush green day lilies would start blossoming around July 4th and would continue throughout the month. I am glad we have day lilies elsewhere on the property, but I miss the day lilies along the house.
I am thinking that this year, I ought to plant some moss roses where the day lilies used to be. Moss roses are tough and are drought resistant. At least they would provide "something" there to give a little color.
Running Away
I opened my fourth box of Puffs Plus Monday evening. That means I have gone through three boxes in one week.
This is in spite of Zyrtec every morning, 2 diphenhydramine pills every six hours (the generic for Benadryl), 2 accolate pills (one morning and one evening; Accolate is a prescription allergy medication) and steroid nasal spray. My nose is running away with me. But how can that be with so much medication designed to keep my nose from running? Hmmmm?
If I didn't have the medicine, I suppose I could always go around with a bucket taped under my nose. Doesn't this virus have to give up SOMETIME?
Tuesday was a lovely spring day. Sunshine. Warm at around 60 degrees. And how did I spend the day? Blowing my nose, putting allergy eye drops in my eyes and smearing on whatever kind of medicine I thought my help on my poor, cracked, painful nose. I have been waiting for spring for a long time. And now this?
LeAnn R. Ralph