Thursday, May 24, 2012

Nature's Mini Stings

The rumor is that Irene brought up a whole new slew of mosquito, a tougher, more durable, more tenacious breed. I don’t know if this is true, but my 2 hour walk around 6 last night was teeming with skeeters. It had been a full day of sweaty work, so I’d done a quick wash off of grass and dirt before applying a coat of Skin So Soft which has proven to be a successful barrier against most insects. Not true last night. They swarmed like zeros honing in on Pearl Harbor. SLAP! SMASH! BLAM! CRUNCH! SPLAT! Take that you needle nosed, thread legged, buzzy-buzzy, blood sucking, hovering horde of EVIL!! And they smoosh so easily. A tangled heap of wreckage in amongst the arm hair. I kept thinking of the old boy scout ploy to wait until the mosquito has inserted its hypodermic and then you clench your fist and forearm thus trapping them with their suck pump engaged until they fill so full of your blood that they explode. I never actually tried or witnessed this, but the idea of it brings out the bloodlust in me. It’s like one’s own mini Tarentino movie. But I didn’t have the patience last night. Actually, I did. The mosquitos didn’t discourage me or turn me back; I just took them in stride and walked on, by turns taking in the scenery and sounds, birdsong, or reading the book I was carrying. I wonder if getting all pent up about insects sets off an aroma or vibration that actually attracts them? Hmmm.

It is so stunningly beautiful here. The green has embraced everything so thoroughly that I can’t imagine winter having been here. The long months of grey, beige, and brown help you appreciate the green so much more.

One less Canada goose gosling, but they too are taking nature’s whims in stride.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

When did it become so GREEN!!

Amazing. Towering grass in the orchard, begging to be shorn. (And we’d better do it or we’ll need ghost scythers in there soon.) Pockets of violets and wildflowers and, yes, dandelions throughout the lawn. The trees are all in tender leaves. And our redbuds and crabapples are in full blossom for the first time I can remember. So gorgeous. And the sun, harbinger of 10 dry days ahead, is yelling for us to get outside and be a part of this fantasticness – so a few quick catch-ups before Richard and I – tend to our new stream bed, set about finishing up the last stage of our stone wall out front, saw up a maple that uprooted itself right by our pond dam and stack it on a new pile over in our meadow across the road (on palettes c/o Royce), and various gardening, grounds chores. By the by, it is forecoast to go to below freezing tonight, just to keep us honest.

Bird update. The Canada geese have 6 goslings, scruffy grey and yellow, with loads of pluck. They’re probably in the side yard right now, bobbing and chewing through some very tall dandelion stalks. There are also 4 other Canada geese adults hanging around. At first we thought they were trying to nest, but now we think they’re the offspring of last year’s family. We’ve introduced our hatched Pilgrim geese – 2 girls, 1 with a major underbite, and a scrawny gander – to Shmuel, Mary Ann, and Felicity and a new family has been born. They have taken to the pond, claimed goose island, and Shmuel is ruler of the roost around here, bossing all the Canada geese around, showing them whose boss. He’s a good papa, full of hiss and vinegar. We also have 8 small ducklings and 6 new chicks (Have I ever mentioned my husband is a hatch-addict? I believe I have.) So our roosts and coops and hearts are full and I’m going outside.