hooly's hikes and bugs

Gaaaagh I need to go Hiking

2011-09-10T22:00:00.003-05:00

We've been so dang hot! Here is a one-take version of Ka Pua U'i. During verse one I felt really weird looking into the screen and watching my hands with a fraction delay, it kind of threw me off. Then on verse 3 I had to look at the words because I don't have them down, and even with reading them, I goofed them up!!

The little ending I decided to tag on at the last moment, and do not have it quick and smooth yet.

video removed

The Hot State

2011-07-20T20:53:00.002-05:00

For my friends in Portland... damn you! Raw and uncut, my first 'original' at bambiloo's suggestion. "I did my best, I have no regrets. I have no professional training in singing or dancing." -- that dorky guy William Hung and ME!

Temporary Post

2011-05-18T19:50:00.001-05:00

This is the family quick version of Rabbit in the Pea Patch. It was the first tune I picked out when I began playing the mandolin. I heard my dad play it, who probably heard his older family members play it. He started playing when he was 4. My cafe avatar is the back side of his little Holdrio Piccolo mandolin his folks got him at a pawn shop.

I shot this quickly in iPhoto, so I'm mirrored -- I'm really right-handed!

Loretta, I looked through some SAW threads and Marcelyn had some suggested tunes for future polls, including Rabbit in the Pea Patch. I PMd her about it, she sent me the ABC of a version she had found plus a couple of youtube links. They are different from my little ditty tune, which I play just one time through here.

First Audio Post

2011-05-08T17:06:00.007-05:00

Today is Sunday, May 15, and I just had my Apple lesson where I learned what to do with my GarageBand and Zoom H2 audio files to put them in email or in the blog. Now I have to hone my GarageBand skills, after I improve my playing skills. The link below was put here during my lesson at the Apple store this morning.

This link takes you out of here and to a whole different site

My recent lesson

Here is one of my renditions, so Loretta, let me know when you have seen it so I can preserve a bit of dignity and take it down. Thank you.

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Robin Babies

2011-04-26T21:24:00.000-05:00

The robins are growing, and their parents are a a bit more protective. Today one of them chased me to the patio and came closer to my head.

Filling out the nest just a little more

The fly was the only other interesting thing I saw

The prince himself

Beak-A-Poo!

2011-04-25T18:26:00.000-05:00

I last took pics of the robin babies on Saturday. It rained and rained most of yesterday and a great deal of today, but was not raining when I got home from work. I trotted out and nabbed a few more shots, much to the dismay of the parents. Wow, they can get LOUD!

Due to the overwhelming demand from my legions of readers, I've decided to take pics every chance I get and document their growth here.

Mama Sentry is chasing me back further with each passing day. She now follows and 'fake dives' at me about half-way across the yard

Beak-A-Poo! (Yes, I know I'm quite clever. Thank you.)

Eyes closed on Saturday, two days ago

Bright eyed and bushy tailed today!

Robin and a Battle

2011-04-23T23:40:00.003-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I noted a new bird nest on the top of fence pickets leaning against the side of the house just inside the turtle compound. Last Sunday I stretched my arm up and pointed the lens downward and snapped, to the best of my ability, the inside of the nest. I did it again 3 days later, then 3 days later again which is today.

Each time I go near the area the robin parents begin a frenzy, so I try to avoid disturbing them. When I do, they get in a low branch of my neighbor's tree or on the fence and yell at me.

A few inches above the wood you can just see the mama's head and beak peaking out

On Sunday the camera didn't find anything apparent in the nest. I couldn't see what I was doing, I just stuck my arm straight up and pointed down

Poor mama doesn't like me, and I can't blame her

Obviously there were eggs in the nest the camera didn't see, because 3 days later there are new hatchlings in there. I had no precise control over the focus

And today, 3 days later again, the babies have really grown! There are 3 turtles living at the foot of the posts, so if a baby makes one little mistake...

The next part is for my mandolin-playing friend. I did manage to record and make a little video, with tips, of last week's SAW tune. I don't know if I will get it posted there, because that just seems like too much work. This is my first "movie" after having my onetoone Apple lesson a week ago. The trainer was fantastic.

Most Memorable Moment

2011-03-20T18:06:00.001-05:00

During my most recent mandolin lesson, 2 of my instructor's sons (young adults) were there and at the end of my lesson he called them in the room to play Django's Mangos with me. My instructor composed DM, and his son's were obviously familiar with it. They are all professional musicians and I couldn't believe they took time to play with me. Instructor played guitar, son 1 played an acoustic/electric bass, I think he called it a stick bass, and it was the coolest thing I've ever seen, and son 3 played mandolin.

I started the melody, then each took an improvised, rehearsed most likely, solo on their turns, then he called out, "Take the melody" to me on the last time through. I will have to say that this experience ranks up there with birthing babies, really. I still can't believe it happened to ME!

As cool as that bass fiddle was, and it makes me want one, I was focused on the mandolin. The kid is phenomenal. I describe his playing as fresh honey flowing over river stones. Ann, who takes lessons from a pro fiddler in the OKC area who also happens to play with son 3 sometimes, listened to a recording of them the last time she was there for her lesson. She had never heard son 3 play, and she described it as sounding like a magical instrument of the gods.

At the end of the tune, the boys complimented me and thanked ME for playing with THEM! Such gentlemen!

Here I am, playing it solo. Instructor had me omit most of the chording when I played the melody with them. He said when there are other players to fill in, one instrument doesn't have to try to do it all. I'm quite sure that it was his polite way of telling me that I'm crowding the music and need to tone it down until I am better able to handle the chord fills.

All I have is my imac to video with, and my back is already practically against the wall. I tilted the monitor and positioned it best I could to get the full mando, but it didn't work. I would have preferred to cut off at the neck and eliminate my head, like so many posters do.

Both pets came and flopped around on the floor while I was recording, so I decided they also wanted to be in the blog:

The Big Shave

2011-03-13T21:08:00.001-05:00

After a few years of cat hairball vomit on every surface of the house: dryer, sofa, chair, table, carpet, box, inside my shoe, etc, and after using the furminator and laxatone for 1 1/2 years, I finally took charge and had Johnny shaved! I bought the "calming" pill from his vet and my friend C brought her industrial duty shaver to my house yesterday. She's a registered vet tech and knows what she is doing.

I gave Johnny one pill, and after an hour he was still not showing signs of being a lazy carcass. I have him 1/2 pill and in about 20 - 30 minutes he was carefree and ready. C was extremely fast with the shaving, and got off the bulk of his hair. When she was ready to go back and clean up the shave marks, etc., Johnny was becoming irritable so we stopped.

I am ecstatic to say that Johnny can get on furniture and I can hold him without having to use the vacuum afterward. The hope is that he will stop the hairball biley vomiting. I do expect possibly one more, due to hair he may have ingested prior to the big shave.

A common occurrence at home: a hair log surrounded by gooey wet biley vomit. This was my gift Thursday morning, and I think it resembles South America, complete with the Andes Mountains.

These are all the splats from the Thursday morning Christmas. Leave only one measly gift for me? Not my Johnny! The big one is always followed by several more lesser ones splatted about.

C begins the shave!

This looks bad but it wasn't at all; I was there. In fact, I did most of the 'scruffing'.

This is Johnny today

He is still a handsome boy!

Me + 3 81s = FUN

2011-03-06T19:42:00.005-06:00

I've had my ukulele for exactly 2 months today, and today was my first meeting of the fledgling ukulele club that a fellow has been trying to get off the ground for a couple of years. I didn't know what to expect, but I was prepared with a rhythm song to sing, Sweet Georgia Brown, and a fingering/plucking solo of Las Mananitas, plus copies to share.

It was in a glass-enclosed small dining area of a local Braum's - a place folks can reserve for little parties and such. In other words, it was a fishbowl in plain view of all customers and staff. My don't-want-to-be-a-spectacle issues began rearing before I even arrived, but I forced myself to go, nerves and all.

I left my uke and gear in the car to first check it out and make sure someone else was there. There was one uke case and bag'o'gear in the fishbowl, but no people. I went back to my car and fetched my stuff, and still no people. I set my stuff up on a small table then proceeded to act all casual and breezy in the fishbowl while I waited. After several minutes the 'head' guy, 'president', 'founder' came into the bowl with a drink and some ice cream. We introduced and chatted while he finished his ice cream, until he finally pronounced us ready to begin.

We got out our stuff and each did some independent, light warm-up strumming, as if we were preparing for a concert! After a moment he held his tenor uke out and said, "Here, try it!' and began to take my new, virginal, delicate Collings out of my hands. I gripped its neck and did not let go until I looked his tenor over for scratches/chips. Seeing none I released my pristine, 2-month-old baby to unknown hands. I loved his tenor, a Pono, which I had seriously considered, and he loved my Collings (but of course!) I can feel it now, I WILL end up with a tenor some day. Dang it.

We played a couple of strumming tunes, then in came a lady and a gentleman carrying a uke, no case, just swinging it to and fro. We all introduced. None of us had met the others before, and our founder knew us only through email. Somebody said something about way back when they were 57. I piped up, "I'm 57" and found out they are all 81 years old. Well, founder guy is almost 81, so I'm calling them all 81.

The two 81 fellows each had something taped to the backs of their ukes. Founder guy had a cheat-sheet of main chords used in each key, pretty cool. 81 #2 had a jar gripper, you know, one of those thin flappy rubber things with little bumpies all over to help you open stubborn pickle jars and such? He had one of those taped to the back of his uke. I didn't ask, but I'm sure it was to keep his uke from slipping as much while he held it and played.

81 #2 performs regularly between sets at a local, long-running melodrama, and at retirement and nursing homes. He is a fun performer and such a nice guy, and his wife, too. Next time they come she will bring her bongos, I hope!

We played quite a few songs together and I was much less nervous than I had predicted... no hives at all! Really I only get hives from pistachios and heat, but when I'm experiencing my performance anxiety I feel like I should be getting hives.

I had so much fun that I will attend every meet-up Founder Guy holds, if I can. I love the 81s and hope they are all there next time!

Giant Tweezers

2011-03-04T19:35:00.000-06:00

Everyone should own a pair!

Starting Over (more snow)

2011-02-09T14:19:00.000-06:00

Home again, 7th day off work. We had more snow during the night and morning. Why do cities have one official place of measurement? Like the airport? I'm miles from the airport, and snow and rainfall recorded there is usually not what I get here. It seems like a city would have 3 or more official locations, then average those.

It first snowed, excuse me, blizzarded, on Tues, Feb 1st. That day I began shoveling the drive, and think I shoveled 5 different times. Again on Wed, Thurs and Fri. Below is what I had accomplished by Friday afternoon, and when I went out again about 6 pm the street on my side had been plowed, and the plow scooped the snow from around the entry to my drive. On Saturday I could get out! Wait a minute... these pics may be mixed up, but I don't want to take the time to figure it out.

I'm kind of mixed up, but I think it snowed again Friday, covering up 3 days of work. This snow was only 4.5 inches and very easy to remove, but I still had to shovel.

So I got it all shoveled off again. Then the street plow came.

After the 3rd snow today, I had to start all over. This is only 6 inches deep, dry and light, and is very easy. In fact, I don't even have to put my boots on which is great, because toes are just a bit tired of the tight boots. I used the Shadow/Highlight adjustment so you could see the level of the fresh snow. I'll go out in a little bit and shovel some more. It is the only exercise I'm getting during all this, so I don't mind too much.

Most of each day has been spent at my command post: a chair in front of my tiny computer desk, about 8 ft from the TV, music stand and instruments almost at my side. With my curtains opened to the back I can watch the snow and birds. One early day in the snow in I noticed how this viney thing resembled a leaping man with no head. The no head business doesn't bother me, because the whole thing is so fun to look at.

I here I used some PS filtering to make the vine man stand out. Below is the non-adjusted image

I Sing... YIKES!

2011-01-06T20:14:00.005-06:00

This is my new ukulele - picked up today from FedEx. Not only did it arrive unbroken, it was also actually almost in tune! I'm not giving up the mandolin. With my tendonitis I just can't play it enough to feel satisfied, musically speaking. I figured the open-hand non-pick strumming on a uke would be much easier for my right arm. And it is; I can't even feel the tendon area AT ALL while playing the uke.

I learned this little tune tonight from themusicteacher on youtube. I don't claim to be a singer, and I don't know any special strumming techniques yet, but here is my first song:

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Eddie and Johnny were initially quite curious about the uke, but now they are already used to it. Johnny, though, is LOVING the crinkly shipping paper that came in the box.

Strings

2010-12-27T12:43:00.002-06:00

This is all about the mandos and ukes.

Above, two of my dad's mandolins. The smaller one was his first mando, bought in 1929 when he was 4 yrs old, from a pawn shop, I believe. It is a little Holdrio Piccolo, like a 'pocket mandolin'. It has a serious crack in the top and a missing tuning peg, but it can still be tuned with pliers! The other one is his Martin, from around '64, per my research. I can't remember exactly when he got it, but I'm pretty sure it was sometime in the '70s. I always thought of its sound as golden honey, whatever that means. It's a bit smaller, with a bit smaller frets than 'regular' mandolins. After he got this one we could play mandolin duets for the first time. Prior to this it was always one on the mando and the other on the guitar. There should be a mandolin in the middle - my dad's 2nd mando and the one I learned to play on. It is being cherished by another family member.

My two bowlback, or taterbug mandolins. The one on the left was my very first mandolin, given to me by my dad when I was in high school. I remember my uncle trying to trade it out of my hands; he really wanted it for some reason. The back is beautiful, the front just so-so. Playability and tone lack some excitement. I never played it much because it is so darned difficult to hold. The mando on the right is a student-grade Martin, made specifically for some music store back east in the early 1900s. I have forgotten the rest, but could always look it up again. It is missing its tailpiece cover, but otherwise is a sweet little mandolin. I bought it a few years ago at an auction, where I was really trying to get a nice fancy f-style. I won the bid at $600, but they withdrew it because they wanted more money for it. I can't remember what brand, but it was easy to play with great tone. They did announce before the auction that if it didn't fetch enough they would withdraw it. They should have told me what was 'enough', because maybe I would have paid it!

These are my and my brother's mandolins, given to us by our parents in our young adulthood. On the left is mine, a nice little Harmony. I played this exclusively from 1980, when I got it for my birthday, until just a couple of years ago. And by exclusively I mean it is the only one I played whenever I did play, which wasn't regular by any means. I would go through spurts of playing for a few months, then maybe wouldn't play for a year or two. The one on the right was my brother's - a Bently, which is worth nothing more than wall hanging decor. I will say, however, that it is L-O-U-D!

These are my mandolins, bought by me for me. On the left is my Collings MT I bought at the Mandolin Store in Wickenburg AZ in Oct '09. I was visiting my cousin in Glendale AZ and we stopped there on a little side trip. She sat in an Italian restaurant down the road reading for about 2 1/2 hours while I tried out every single A style the store had. I quickly narrowed them down to 3: the Collings, a Weber Gallatin, and a Gibson JamMaster. Every test I did the Collings came out on top. You can see it has a tonegard on it. The one on the right is my Eastman 515 I got in Jan '09. I had the scroll-envy for many years, and after missing the one at the auction I finally caved. On day 3 of ownership of my Eastman I was over the scroll, and knew I would get a hand-carved American-made A-style. There is nothing wrong with the Eastman. Compared to my Harmony it is luscious. But it can't hold a candle to the Collings. I still play it quite a bit, though. I'm saving it for a grandchild.

My two ukuleles. My little Roy Smeck Harmony soprano uke on the left. My parents gave it to my in 5th grade, and it was my first very own stringed instrument. It has a screwed-on plastic fretboard with plastic frets, but is made from mahogany. I loved it. On the right is my Harmony baritone ukulele I got for my birthday in the 8th grade. Also mahogany, it has a really nice tone and is easy and fun to play. I tried to string it up about 11 years ago to start playing, and the store (a big, well-known store here in Tulsa) did not know what kind of strings to sell me, and it is all wrong. I'll be getting new, appropriate strings this week and starting it up. Unfortunately it has one tuning peg that slips now, so I'll have to get that fixed.

My 2nd vid post

2010-12-21T10:34:00.001-06:00

I didn't post the title to the tune, because if someone was actually searching for the tune, this could pop up as a search result.

The Road to Lisdoonvarna

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How Do Potatoes Lose Weight?

2010-11-22T20:09:00.006-06:00

I went gluten-free 6 days ago. That has nothing to do with the rest of my entry, other than if I had NOT turned gluten-free I would not have been having a baked potato tonight. I would have had a sandwich, like I really wanted.

Obviously I forgot how long to have it in the microwave. Oops. The house still stinks, my plate is ruined, and by the time daughter Beth and I had everything under control and I "baked" another potato, I could have baked it in the oven. The potato now weighs 16 grams. A hatchling box turtle weighs between 7 and 9 grams. The original weight of the potato was 192 grams. Please do not ask me how I now all these things.

On a good note, she managed to teach me how to purchase and download mp3 albums from Amazon. I am listening to old-timey fiddle/mandolin music right now!

Update on 12-20-10: I found this little tune on a website a few days ago and thought it would be appropriate to include here. It is called "Little Burnt Potato", no, really, it really is!

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I tend to play with a lighter touch than a lot of folks, so I used my loudest pick and sat in my little back foyer area that leads to the garage and outside. It isn't carpeted and closeness of the walls make the tune seem a little louder. I vided it over and over trying to play it faster. but because of my little finger reach on the top string I always messed up. I must exercise that finger! I must! Even slowed down I can hear the chopiness between notes. I am either fretting the little finger or thinking about fretting it, and it keeps me nervous. After 532 attempts, I decided to keep this one. I found a different version where there is no reaching with the little finger, but it just doesn't sound as good as this one.

The Tail of the Diving Duck

2010-11-17T15:57:00.001-06:00

The last time I bought groceries I took a short-cut down the pet aisle, I'm sure to avoid those nasties who stand with their carts in the middle of the aisle, you know, "owning" the aisle? The pet aisle happened to be the nearest, empty aisle, so I took it. As I was scurrying along I glanced to the right and noticed the toys, had to stop, and a little skinny orange duck caught my eye. After handling it and picturing Ed enjoying it, I tossed it in my cart.

Once home, I introduced the duck to Ed, who cautiously took it then dropped it. After I convinced him it was his he was ready to go out and play. Its weight is light enough, and it is soft enough that Ed can easily catch it when I throw it high for him. He loved playing with it. While retrieving it one time, he (and I) discovered it had a little squeaker in it.

Eddie hasn't had a squeak toy for a long time and was very intrigued by it. In fact, he was so pleased with it that I went back to the store right then and bought...

another diving duck! But since I have a habit of buying several of items I Iike, including shoes and clothing, I didn't buy just one diving duck...

I bought all the little diving ducks they had! If there had been 7, I would have bought all 7, because when you find a good thing and want more later, you usually can't find them.

Later in the evening Ed was carrying around his duck, squeaking it now and then. Eventually I got busy and the next time I noticed the duck, a wad of its stuffing was sitting by my foot and the duck had a gaping whole in its stomach. The squeaker was gone. After searching, I finally gave up and again became busy. Soon enough I heard "squeaky-sqeak-squeak" and saw Ed with his head under an upholstered chair that forms a little enclosed cave underneath.

I called, "Ed, come" and he backed out of the chair, turned his back to me, and responded "squeaky-squeak-squeak-squeakity-squeaky-squeak". I said, "Ed, bring it here" and heard "squeaky... squeak... squeak?" Again I said, "ED" then step-by-step he reluctantly brought it to me and dropped it. I promptly put it up high. Why didn't I throw it away? Maybe because I'm trying to become a hoarder so I can star in my own show!

Two days ago I restuffed the duck and stitched its tummy back up:

I let him play with it a little more, but only with supervision, per the instructions:

Last night Beth was spending time with Ed while I was in class. When I arrived home I found this:

Even though the tag clearly states:

Although I haven't done it yet, I've decided to stitch up the duck's hole without the rugged rope tail.

I graciously submit the following as proof of my multiple-buying:

About 3 years ago I bought a little Scooby-Doo ball for Eddie at the Hell Hole (Wal-mart Super Center.) He loved it, and over the course of a week I went to 4 Hell Holes, ending up with 52 balls. Some were Barbie and Spiderman, and a few where shaped like footballs. We play ball every single day it is not raining, sometimes 4 or 5 times a day. We are now down to fewer than a dozen balls, and each time I have entered a Hell Hole I have looked for more but have never found them again.

Ed, enjoying his current Scooby-Doo ball

When I found the frisbees for 94 cents each, I bought a couple of dozen.

Ed loves all his toys

No Need for a Camera on a Hot Day, Unless...

2010-10-18T15:49:00.000-05:00

It's my last day of vacation, and as I lay in bed last night I mentally hiked the full yellow loop with Eddie. So we set out with no camera, went up the craggy way to the top to take the ridge trail to the end and loop around on a lower trail. I didn't plan on it being so hot, and once again I forgot my sweat rag. We ended up turning into the mountaintop and moseying around, eventually finding ourselves at the yoshi pond. We sat on the snacking rock, I had my 1/2 sandwich, Ed had a bowl of water, and we saw 3 folks go by on the other side of the pond.

The only critter things we saw were loads of grasshoppers, so I was glad I didn't have my camera dangling. We took the blue back down, and cut to the parking lot through the back way, thus avoiding the trailhead area. But we didn't avoid everything! Me without my camera, and we apparently interrupted a couple of BBs. They obviously heard us coming first (at least I wasn't singing) and we came upon them, rather suddenly, standing several yards apart and acting all casual. Ha! And another Ha! to the do-gooders who think they are making the area nicer.

I read a post recently on the TM site asking for suggestions on how to handle the crowded paths and keep peace among the bikers, horsers, hikers, and no one said it, but screaming kids with screaming parents. Did you not see this coming, folks? As for me and my dog, we prefer the BBs.

Total hike was 1 hr, 3 miles.

Osage Hills State Park

2010-10-15T13:52:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we decided to visit Osage Hills State Park sans Eddie. I forgot my Garmin and hiking pole, but I made up for it by taking about 45 minutes to decide which other gear to take, and another 15 deciding which lens/lenses to take. I finally decided on my DAJO waist pack so I could carry an extra lens without having to use a backpack, and my walk-around lens. For what it's worth, I didn't actually use the extra lens (ultra wide zoom), but it was comforting to know I had it with me. Plus I had another lens (macro) in the car, just in case.

The park is lovely in October, and the temperature and breeze were perfect. We came across very few other folks which is always a bonus. After parking past the swimming pool we headed down the trail to the falls area, and almost immediately took a little side path down to the creek. We poked our way along the creek bank on the rocks, seeing a plethora of itty bitty tiny buggy things. I took some pics, but w/o my macro lens on I just couldn't get any decent shots. Damselflies were all over the place, a few large hopping spiders, and many small leaping frogs.

The trail leading to the falls area

We took a little side path that went down to the creek

Hundreds of little mussel shells dotted the rocks along the bank

We followed the stepping stones along the creek for a while, hoping we could make it all the way around to the falls area without having to climb back up to the main trail; it didn't work out that way, so up we came

We were duly warned!

We found this one mistflower, or mist flower, blooming, otherwise there were mostly the little asters

A view up the creek to the falls area; when we arrived my cousin looked around, a bit puzzled, and asked/stated, "This is the waterfall?" Initially disappointed, she did find them lovely and relaxing

The view up the creek, including the rope swing on the left

View down the creek; if you enlarge this you may see a little blue speck, which is my cousin relaxing and enjoying the falls

Little pastel moth

Pearl crescent on the asters (just like Turkey Mountain)

Reakirt's blue, I believe

Fiery skippers on asters; they were a good number of them, and they were all playful

Lookout Lake, where we watched a man load the middle row boat, then take it out with his trolling motor to do a little fishing

As we were leaving the park we encountered this tarantula crossing the road; of course I hopped out for my snippity-snap routine, looked up and saw a car coming our way; luckily they were older folks who slowed down, so I continued snapping until the tarantula made it safely to the other side; when the car pulled up the man drawled, "That thar's a TAR-ANCH-chula" and his wife piped in, "Dijoo git a PITcher?" Well, yes I did, thank you for waiting.

We had a lovely day, and stopped to eat BBQ at Dinks in Bartlesville.

Ed Gets to Hike

2010-10-13T22:06:00.000-05:00

When Eddie realized he was going hiking he turned into a lunatic. I finally had to harness him into the back while we finished getting ready, and when we realized there would be a little delay before leaving I had to bring Ed back in. At first he refused to get out of the car - he knew he was being cheated.

We finally left with a joyous dog and arrived at noon. We took the craggy way to the top again, went on to the 2nd meadow before heading west. We didn't go up the tadpole, but poked around the upper enough to see there were indeed other flowers blooming on the mountain. We continued west (NW, to be exact) and headed toward Rock City. We decided to have a snack and a rest at the boy scout rocks, then took the full loop around and back to the gate.

I didn't take my camera because 1) I was tired of the dangling 2) it was windy today 3) Ed. On the big loop we saw a huge beetle of the bess family, a horned passalus (or something like that), but that was really the only thing for which I wished I had my camera. The hairstreaks, really all the butterflies, were not as thick on the asters today.

We were out about 2 1/2 hours but made it only a little over 3 miles. We're like the speed of grandmas! And my cousin is a grandma!

Butterfly Hike

2010-10-12T22:49:00.002-05:00

My cousin and I were at TM for about 3 hrs early this afternoon, and had a wonderful, though tiring, hike with great weather. I chose my camera over Ed, poor boy. We took the craggy way to the top, spending lots of time in all the meadowy areas.

Little asters are about the only flower blooming, and they were all over the place and teeming with butterflies. We saw lots of gray hairstreaks, skippers, pearl crescents, and a few tiny blues.

I thought I saw an ant, but its butt says assassin bug, so I don't know

On the trailhead we found this harvestman feasting on a dead grasshopper

Some kind of bee on the little white asters

Two gray hairstreaks

Hairstreak bouquet, with a pennsylvania leatherwing in the middle!

Katydid on asters

Dragonfly skimmer on wheat-looking grass

Wasp on aster

Skipper on asters; I tried to ID it but there are just too many

Colorful poison oak

While my cousin was on the phone conducting AZ business, I looked around and this exclamation point in the tree was the most interesting thing I found

While returning on the ridge trail we noticed a dark area of the sky; forecast said chance of rain, and it finally did barely sprinkle as we were nearing the end

Question mark

Monarch

A Bee Jigs in Pollen

2010-10-11T21:34:00.003-05:00

My cousin is here and we had expected it to rain today, which it did - ever so slightly in the morning - so we made other plans. After those plans we did go on out to TM for about 1/2 hour, just to look around. I saw enough to become frustrated.

The butterflies were more than plentiful because it had cooled off from the light rain, and we were treated to a special sight: after watching a lone monarch dancing on the asters, another equally large orange butterfly joined it, and I could have had a shot of the two of them on the same clump in full glory. (I've since looked in my ID book and I think it may have been a gulf fritillary.)

Then a few yards down the path we saw another, 3rd, different large orange butterfly which posed perfectly for us. We also saw lots and lots of gray hairstreaks, skippers, blues and pearl crescents. They were all flitting about the asters in the lower meadow areas of the blue and the yellow. So many butterflies and no camera! Tomorrow we will return with the camera, if it doesn't rain!

This evening while playing ball with Eddie I noticed a bumble bee rolling around inside one of the rose of sharon (or whatever it is... I think I read it may be swamp mallow or something like that.) I looked around at others along the retaining wall and I saw 3 bees in all, in various stages of being covered with pollen.

The bee danced the maypole with the... the... middle sticky-out part that had all the little pollen circles on it. I just asked my cousin, who has advanced studies in biology, specifically botany, and she went into full-blown scientific jargon lecture mode. I asked her one more time, please simply tell me what this part is called... then she began a verbal essay on how flowers can get quite complicated blah, blah, blah, and when I rolled my eyes she hollered out "ITS THE PENIS, THE PENIS!"

Any way, the bee stayed down in there, gradually moving around and around in order to cover its body with the pollen; since they end up carrying it as packed saddle bags on their thighs, the bee probably went somewhere to do the packing

This is a same bee, just starting to fly out of the flower

This is a different bee beginning to fly out

And here is the 3rd bee, just starting his pollen-gathering work

I found a tiny leaf beetle on the only white sharon/swamp mallow I have, over in the other corner of the yard

Hiking vs Walking

2010-10-10T14:38:00.001-05:00

My cousin is on her way and will arrive tonight, and we plan to do some light hiking while she is here. Recently I've been reading some other hiking blogs, and by "other" I mean REAL hiking blogs by REAL hikers. So I've been thinking... if I haven't been really hiking, have I just been walking?

After some thought I have decided that if you can do it in clothes you wear to work, it is walking. If you have gear purchased for the sole purpose of walking in the woods, even if it is only one thing, then it is hiking. If you are walking on a paved or maintained path, it is walking, but if you are negotiating rocks and roots, going up and down, and you could not push a baby stroller on it, you are hiking.

I do not wear my work clothes or shoes when I go out, and I have:
1) a garmin 250
2) trail shoes that should not be worn on concrete
3) two pair of hiking boots (one for regular, one for wet and muddy)
4) hiking poles
5) a camelbak hydration pack for longer outings
6) two double-bottle waist packs for shorter outings (one can also hold an extra lens, if I so desire)
7) one of those safari-style hats with a little neck hangy-down part to protect the back of your neck from the sun
8) an emergency medicine pack that I carry with me in case of back spasms or vertigo.

I may have more, but this is all I can remember at the moment. Where I go you could not push a baby stroller.

I go hiking.

Dog on a Log

2010-10-09T21:12:00.012-05:00

Ann drove over for a hike today, and we arrived before noon. Temp ended up warmer than we had expected, and we didn't like it, but the hike was still great. We took the lowest trail to the last trail up, which is a long, steep, slippy trail. I decided I was too tired to go up, so we turned around and went back. It had been about 1 1/2 years since we had taken the lowest trail, and on the way out we mistakenly took the wrong trail down to the lower. With my camera dangling and swinging around my neck, I never would have made it down safely without my pole. We won't be making that mistake again.

Ann and Ed led the entire time because Eddie has to be in the lead. It was too hot for butterflies, but I did get a few pics.

The oddest thing we came across was this perfectly laid out animal fur. It was practically in the shape of a body, I'm thinking rabbit, with tail and leg fur. There was no skin and no bones, only a perfect wig of fur

Ann stopped and squealed early in the hike when she saw a long skinny green snake sticking the upper part of its body up and out of this hole. We had a stand-off for a few seconds, but by the time I lifted and focused my camera it had disappeared back down; we waited a while but it didn't come back up. This was the best thing we saw today

It looked a lot like this

On our way back I was hanging back a ways from Ann and Ed, and I saw this huge ant struggling and shaking, then wobbling, then recuping and scurrying off the trail; I think either Ann or Ed must have stepped on it

I believe this is a green stinkbug nymph; I've seen a few little ones similar to this, but never this one. It's especially cute!

Down in the shadows of the lower trail, just off the path, Ann found this book-in-a-bag. The title is Dead Runner. Ooooh, kinda scary; it's probably left-over booty from a scavenger hunt one of the organizations held at some time - I can always count on trash and marker debris left on the trails after their events

Near the end of the hike I took many pics of this bee on the aster-type flower; on our way out there was a bee on this very same aster clump, don't know if it was the same bee, but at least I took the time to shoot him on the way back in

This log on the lower trail has hatch marks and even a smile, I guess to resemble an alligator, and of course I had to walk across it both times; here Ann is trying to get Ed to go across, but he is afraid of it; I shot the whole series of her trying to coax him across, and he finally made it about half-way before hopping off

Here he just sat, stared and refused to get on; I think Ann is sweet-talking him

Ann, near the end of our hike, looking fresh as a daisy! Well, not so much her looking fresh as it was her stopping to make sure I hadn't collapsed while hoisting my carcass uphill to the next level of trails; snapping her pic was merely a delay tactic to get a chance to lean against a tree and rest!

3rd Hike

2010-10-04T21:45:00.001-05:00

Today made 3 in a row for me and Eddie. My practice has always been that I can manage two of the following 3 items, but never all 3: Eddie, camera, hiking pole. After today I don't really want to take Eddie when I plan to take pics. I missed a few good shots of butterflies with him, but it was still nice having him there.

We went in the back way, blue/yellow/off shoot to the top, then meandered. My purpose was to take a pic of the huge fungus clump at the base of that tree. We also saw a good number of pearl crescents, common buckeyes, and skippers, along with the fall harvestmen everywhere.

We were out there for 1 hr, 25 minutes. Our time and distance are improving. I wore my new trail shoes for the 2nd time today, and so far I love them.

little fall asters where everywhere, some white and some light lavender

common buckeye; most of the butterflies I saw today were weathered

large clump of fungus mushrooms; if you enlarge it you can see the two harvestmen near the top and one near the bottom

2 clumps in different stages of decay

fall grasshoppers are always plentiful, this is the best shot I could get of it on my shorts and trying to focus with one hand while Ed was tugging at the other

this katydid also landed on me, then flipped on over to a tree

one of the many pearl crescents I shot today

Laziness- 1, Declutter - 0

2010-10-03T22:08:00.000-05:00

After lazing around and even napping in the new recliner, doing anything so as NOT to get my de-cluttering task accomplished, I decided to go to TM. Eddie was thrilled, and we had a great time with perfect weather again.

While meandering on the mountain top I saw several fungus clumps in various stages of decay. I had never seen clumps like these before so kept looking for them, finally finding a couple of fresh clumps. The fresh clumps just happened to be at the base of the same tree where I had photographed a vertical village of mushroom/fungus things about 3 years ago. Anyway, I will take my camera next time and hopefully get a pic.

Instead of starting out at the trailhead, today I entered the back way, and quickly decided that's what I'll be doing. I didn't run into anyone else until the blue met the yellow 1/2 way up, and that was nice.

Hike today was 10 minutes longer than yesterday. Eddie hasn't been used to getting out like this since May, and last night he fell asleep almost immediately and began heavy snoring. Right now he's lying beside my chair, snoring. Awwww.

1st Hike Since May

2010-10-02T18:23:00.000-05:00

Although making some progress toward my master plan for the house de-clutter, I'm always finding reasons to delay. Today was a wonderful, not-too-warm, brisk windy day, and I jumped up, harnessed up Eddie and we went to TM. I'm not going to spend time bemoaning how all the yuppie do-gooder "park friends" are ruining the place, but I'm sad the days of yore are over.

The hike was great: went yellow/blue to the upper, up the tadpole to the turn for Yoshi pond, meandered around the top a bit then caught the blue back down to the lot. Things I forgot to bring on the hike:
   < hiking pole (left in my car)
   < garmin
   < sweat rag (left in car)
   < water (left in car)
   < trash bag
   < emergency pills
   < Eddie's prong collar
   < virginal trail shoes

My cousin will be here soon so I've got to get back in the groove.

I knew it was too windy to take the camera, so I didn't even try. We saw only one pic-worthy subject - a common green snake a little over 2 ft long. It was basking in the trail just as we turned east to the yoshi pond. Since I didn't have a rag or water I didn't want to pick it up... didn't want to deal with snake ass that couldn't get washed off - so I was content to rub my finger down its back and watch it dart away.

Total hike was 40 minutes, and my foot didn't hurt and still doesn't hurt. It was my first hike with my orthotics, and I can't believe I forgot to wear my new trail shoes! I was wearing my 2-year-old asics which have all the knobby nubs worn down, giving me very little traction. Dang.

I plan to go again tomorrow; I need to go charge my garmin.

Lorenzo, Eggs, and Babies

2010-09-05T22:38:00.000-05:00

First thing I did this morning was check on the dagger moth caterpillar, which I've named Lorenzo (to go with Alonzo.)

The early part of the day he worked at making the leaf disappear

But by about noon he had settled down on the central vein and stayed there the rest of the day

From the naked eye his spikes looked dangerously sharp and poisonous, but after looking at this closeup I dared to tickle them with my fingertip. They are very soft and flexible

Since I had my camera around my neck and went ahead and walked the perimeter of the yard and found two more McBuggers:

A Pennsylvania leatherwing (soldier beetle) who had been hiking through pollen

And a cute little skimmer who was posed patiently while I took lots of shots

Yesterday while sitting at the computer I noticed a funny little pattern on the window and investigated. It looks like an insect laid eggs on my window, and now I'll have another life form to keep my eye on.

Cluster of eggs

Close up of eggs

A few weeks ago I noticed something funny on the outside of the front door and I sort of brushed it off. When I looked more closely I realized they looked like insect eggs. Last night I happened to be looking through my insect book and saw the same type of eggs. I am happy to know that they are lacewing eggs.

I had already rubbed most of them off. They are teeny tiny white eggs on the tips of long thread-like stalks. The base of the stalks are stuck to the door

And speaking of eggs, the 5 turtle eggs that hatched last fall were kept through the winter by a surrogate mother, then passed to a 2nd surrogate mother for the spring and summer so they could live outside. They are going to stay there and hibernate for the winter.

I was over there around 7pm, and the babies were putting themselves to bed, but these 3 were still out. They have different color dots on them so they could make sure they were all eating. Turtles tend to be quite piggy about their food

This surrogate family has a special compound just for the turtles, with a pond and all sorts of obstacles to make the turtles' lives interesting. Here the western ornate has owned a little cave cubby at the side of the pond

And here are my 3 boys. Rebel is using Mr. Doc to demonstrate for Elwood how to be the boss

Moth Caterpillars

2010-09-04T21:47:00.000-05:00

First, the junk house: the following evening the pods were gone and this was going on:

The next day all the rubble was gone. The kid's toys are still on the front patio, and the fsbo sign still is in the yard.

This evening I was playing ball with Eddie and noticed the small redbud transplant had an area of completely stripped leaves

So I looked around on the leaves and found this American dagger moth underneath a large leaf:

I looked around for more caterpillars, but found only a couple of more areas where the leaves had been stripped. I know already the first thing I will do when I get up tomorrow.

As long as I had my camera out I strolled the perimeter and looked for other buggy things. This spider thing, I'm not even certain it's a spider but I believe it is, on a rose of sharon bloom:

And since I'm posting the American dagger moth decided to include Alonzo, the carolina sphinx moth from last year:

Alonzo feasted for a few days on one of my potted tomato plants, and one day while at work I had decided to feed him to the turtles that evening. When I arrived home Alonzo was gone. I read they bury themselves in the soil, pupate, then emerge in the spring, I think. Alonzo was named by my co-worker who has to endure all my buggy adventures.

Today my mom and I took her new car out for a spin, and we made a quick stop at TM. I can't wait to get back out there. I have a follow-up appt for my stupid foot on Tuesday, and am hoping to get the green light to start walking/hiking again. Our weather is approaching perfection.

Neighborhood Junk House

2010-08-30T22:22:00.002-05:00

This story starts 4 1/2 yrs ago. A family in the neighborhood had moved out, taking all their junk cars with them. Shortly afterward the owners (apparently it had been a lease house) hauled out all sorts of trashy junk from the house. It sat in the yard for 2 or 3 weeks before it finally disappeared.

Pic of the trashy stuff about 4 1/2 yrs ago

Another view, so you can see the full swath of the junk. On the right side of the drive the pile went all the way back to the house. See all the gummy oily stains on the driveway and in the street? It's all from these people. No where else any where in the neighborhood, or any place else I've ever noticed, have I ever seen such a messy street

After these folks moved out, the owners "fixed up" the house, which consisted of painting it a new color, as you'll see in the remaining pics.

The next folks moved in, had a bunch of miscellaneous folk living there with their many vehicles cluttering up the street. They moved out without much hooplah, at least none that I can recall, then the new folks moved in. It was common for them to have 10 cars in the drive and street at any given time, a couple were full-blown pimpmobiles. These last folks moved out a couple of weeks or so ago.

At first there was just a small manageable pile out by the curb, then that grew in a couple of days to a pretty large pile, then a couple of days later the two pods appeared with even more junk piled on the driveway. I have no idea what could be in the pods.

Believe it or not, I would call this most recent pile manageble in comparison to the enormous heap from 4 years ago

And here's a close up of the manageable pile. If you look carefully you can see some perfectly good stuff in there, like the baby bath, a pair of work boots, a bike than can totally be fixed. But what you can't know is the stench. The stench could be detected from the yard across the street and next door, but by two doors down you couldn't smell it. The reeking must have come from discarded, uncooked meat, or maybe disposable pets. It was really bad. This was taken with a zoom and I didn't get any closer.

Yesterday afternoon I was sitting in the den and I heard and felt an incredible boom, I believe even louder than a huge transformer blowing. Ed was scared and dashed to and fro barking, finally parting the living room curtains to look out onto the street. I went out to the porch and saw my neighbors across the street on their porch looking toward the junk house. I walked out in my yard and saw a large truck, like a small moving van, in the street right in front of the junk house driveway. There was some hazy light smoke around the truck, and I figured the truck had some kind of problem, although I couldn't figure out what would have made such a loud boom.

A while later I was out watering the turtles and heard a fire truck in the distance grow a little louder. I ran in, grabbed my camera and hurried out front again.

The truck was long gone, and the junk pile, now diminished to just a wee small pile, was blazing. You can't see it well here, but there were two areas of flames

Then neighbors across the street started putting out the flames from afar. They were doing a pretty good job, and the siren was getting louder and louder, then suddenly cut off completely

Here the fire fighters are extinguishing the rest of the burning rubble. Apparently they turn off their siren once inside the neighborhood, I assume to not draw looky-loos or to not scare folks. They worked a while, I went in, and they eventually left. Ed was so nervous, though, that I finally had to leash him up and take him out front. My next door neighbor was also out with her dog for the same reason. She said she saw the people from the truck, who were there cleaning up the front and back yard, picking through all the junk earlier. Like I said, there was some decent stuff in there, but certainly not enough to reduce the debris by this much. They must not have been too picky. You can see there is only a very small pile up by the pods.

In the early evening I went back out and over there to see the aftermath. Of course I took my camera. I am sickened to inform that the stench WAS STILL THERE! And the flies...? There were hundreds of them. When I moved in close they would hover and buzz around the rubble, and as soon as I stepped back they would disappear into the depths of the pile. So despite the fire, somehow whatever was/is causing the stench is still there, and the flies were braving the heat and ash to nourish themselves and lay eggs.

And through all this, the owner's have made a feeble attempt to rid themselves of this albatross by hammering into the ground a little fsbo sign.

This is what was left after the fire fighters left. There was still stench. And flies. I wonder what the pod people will think when they come to retrieve their pods?

I'll see how long this tiny pile stays here before it is finally hauled away, and the pods, too.

Today during mid-morning I heard a fairly large "pop", certainly not the boom like yesterday, but I ran out to look. There was a regular pickup by the drive and I couldn't tell what the guy was doing. Later I noticed the rubble pile was still there and moved off the drive, so I took more pics of it.

So this is the progress the man in the red pickup made today. The pile looks hardly even noticeable, really, compared to what it had been

Close up of very tiny junk pile. Still stench, still flies.

And some more 'perfectly good stuff' near the front door

It will be entertaining (yes, I know I have a sad life) to watch either the progress or the demise of this property.

Last Day of Vac

2010-05-24T21:44:00.000-05:00

I got out about noonish and headed up the craggy way to the top, meandered west to the upper, then took the tadpole to the first dip. At 86 degrees, it was hotter than I was expecting. I need to stay off the tadpole in the heat. I was all dorked out with my fanny water pack, camera, pole, and C.

I knew when I arrived it was too hot for butterflies, and I found very little other photogenic critters.

A beautiful sight: hardly a car in the lot. And at least 2 of them had a man eating lunch inside

Some type of rosa something dotted the craggy path

More tiger beetles today, maybe this is the female

This was the only butterly I got, another hackberry emperor. Poor thing was missing most of its left hind wing

I watched this ant carrying a long something, maybe a queen of something or a damselfly?

I saw a roly poly near the ant, and sure enough they crossed paths. Just like the ant and nymph from yesterday, these each turned and boogied after the bump. Well, the ant boogied as much as it could while carrying its huge load

Just before starting up the last leg of the craggy trail, I noticed this. If you use your imagination, you can just about see a panda or ferret looking around from behind the trunk

Delicate little shrub flowers with a delicate little crap spider

The asiatic day flowers are now blooming out there, too

This year's version of the jayhawk, or rooster rock I put in a previous post. Rain, soil and rock movement have disquised its features

I cannot get a decent shot of a ladybug. I had to quit taking this when a biker came by, then couldn't find it again. I waited quite a while just to get this butt shot

Backyard Hikin'

2010-05-23T20:52:00.000-05:00

"Issues" have kept me from hiking during the early morning hours the past 2 days, but I found somewhat noteworthy things in the backyard.

Teeny assassin bug nymphs (probably of the wheelbug) were all over the asiatic leaves and fence at the retaining wall. As far as I could tell there were two ages of them--the one in front was a bit larger than the others in this group

These 3 were playing "Follow the Leader" along a fence brace. There were other small groupings as well as singletons who somehow got separated in various areas. I was watching a couple in the leaves when I noticed a couple of rogue ants running around on the prowl. Sure enough, one ant made it over and around several leaves, like a child hopping on boulders, and ran smack into one of the nymphs. They each jumped in shock then turned and scurried in opposite directions... until the ant realized what he missed. The ant turned back around and began feverishly searching for the nymph, but the nymph had high-tailed it over far and wide to temporary safety. I went out several times later in the day, and the next, never seeing another nymph.

The asiatic day flowers finally started blooming this weekend. This one isn't crying or peeing, the drop of water just happened to be there

And the leaf beetles are back, both oulema and neolema. But what I really like is the ancient cave drawing of an animal over there on the other leaf!

2 Hikes, 1 Post

2010-05-19T22:28:00.000-05:00

My cousin and I hiked Monday, with her camera and Eddie. There were lots of butterflies killing me because I didn't have my camera. So on Tuesday, while she visited other relatives, I hiked alone with my camera. It was a beautiful overcast day -- perfect for taking pics.

I took the craggy way to the top, then moseyed west to the upper. Just as I was going north on the tadpole it began sprinkling, and I didn't have my camera bag with me. I wrapped my camera in my baggy shirt-tail and high-tailed it down the mountain. If not for my camera, hiking in the gentle sprinkle/shower would have been wonderful.

I wandered through quite a few weedy areas off path to get some of the pics, and paid for it later. My lower legs are scratched up and I had two tick bites.

Some kind of bee on yarrow

Leaf beetle on same yarrow with the bee

Weird ant thing on the yarrow. Those 2 leaves sticking up are not part of the yarrow

Profile view of a hackberry emperor that my cousin shot on Monday

This hackberry emperor landed directly at my feet. They are so courageous and flew so close that they hit my clothing and head several times during the hike

A question mark? comma,

There were a few, but they were more flighty

Hatchling ring-necked snake appeared injured, maybe by a coon or bird. You can see the injury a bit behind it's necklace and at the bottom of the "U". Poor baby.

Lots of tiger beetles this time of year, and they are very flashy right now

Flower fly on yarrow

Best sample of spittle foam ever. It even has a drip at the bottom

Green bee fly thing on yarrow

Leaf-footed bug, like a giant agave bug, slurping bird poop

Leaf beetle family, calligrapha xx. It was shiny and pretty

Tickseed flower, aka cleoxxsomething

Very interesting. Spikey things on the central vein of elm leaves (I think elm.) I saw these only in two places. On Monday my cousin said some bug bored holes in the veins, laid eggs which are making these. We would love to see what they are. We broke off one and broke it open, but couldn't really detect anything. They are very hard

Humid Hike with Cousin

2010-05-12T22:33:00.001-05:00

Tuesday was heavy with air moisture, and after the dog park (where there were 3 other dogs) we went to TM with a camera but no dogs. Sole purpose was to take some pics of the pretty wildflowers we saw on Saturday. That was the plan.

Between Saturday and Tuesday we had some severe weather in the area, and there were deathly tornadoes within a 100 mile radius. We hadn't realized the damage it would do to fragile tiny petals and such. We found one Indian paintbrush. One. The rosa multiflora were completely torn apart, and there were fewer wildflowers overall than just 3 days prior.

My biggest excitement was chasing my first giant swallowtail off-trail, trying to get a shot. I lost it in the vegetation, but it was fun. Here are just a few of the 76 pics, in hiking order:

I have studied the book, and now finally can ID the difference between yarrow and wild carrot (aka Queen Anne's Lace). This is yarrow on the trailhead area. The bigger plants up the tadpole are wild carrot

I haven't been able to ID this one yet; east side of trailhead in the lower meadow

Indian Paintbrush in same meadow

Don't know what, but it was tiny and cute

A very weathered painted lady in same meadow

Weathered variegated fritillary, same meadow

Milkweed, same meadow

Spongey fungi. Really. It was soft and pliant. I didn't like touching it; north of meadow

Spiderwort - my favorite flower on the mountain; north of meadow

When I realized the race for the giant swallowtail was in vain, I used my toe to turn over this camouflaged-wrapped plastic cup, and found this large scary-looking spider

Red-banded hairstreak I found in the same area where I took pics of one 3 years ago

Rosa multiflora was rain-beaten on the lower blue

Don't know what this beautiful dainty flower is; it was on the lower blue

Hiking With Dogs

2010-05-11T10:59:00.000-05:00

My cousin nd her dog rolled into town Friday night, and on Saturday we took the dogs to the dog park and hiking at TM. They (we) had a fun time at both places.

At TM we took the blue to the upper, then went a ways on the tadpole and I looked for the jayhawk, but couldn't find it. I'm thinking a year of rains and dirt/sand shifting have changed the face of it enough that I don't recognize it. Then we retraced up the tadpole and headed east on the blue/yellow for a ways before heading down.

JayHawk rock on tadpole from May, 2009

Quite a few more wildflowers are blooming: Indian paintbrush, spiderwort, some yellow that I haven't IDd yet, and some purple, and a few others. My cuz found the little white ones that resemeble blackberry blooms are rosa multiflora. I didn't take my camera because I had Ed and my hiking pole. As soon as the wet weather allows we're going back out and I'm taking the camera.

For a beautiful Saturday, TM was relatively subdued although we did come across an extremely loud group of young teen girls on the lower blue meadow. They were nice and gave attention to the dogs, at least.

That evening, after so much activity, the dogs lazed around snoring and dreaming.

Hiking Without a Camera

2010-05-02T22:21:00.001-05:00

Eddie and I took about a 50 minute hike today, up the blue across and down the yellow. It was a beautiful day and I couldn't believe the lack of folks on the trail.

I saw my first eastern tiger swallowtail (yellow and black variety) today and could have had some good pics. Dang. It was on the east side of the Yoshi pond, playing with the small white blooms on something. Blooms look similar to blackberry blooms, which are all over the place, but wasn't blackberry. I also saw a cute tiny black bug in the center of a blackberry bloom, so I missed two good ones. Other than the two kinds of white blooms and some little undergrowth that barely had any purple on it, I didn't notice any other flowery things.

I did see the oldest couple I have ever seen there, near the top meadowy area, so they had to hike UP to get there. I was impressed.

Later at home I found a tiny tick on me. This is a little early. I hope Ed didn't get any. He better not, because this year I'm using Frontline Plus, which is supposed to kill ticks. Products I used in the past did not include ticks, and the when Ed gets 2 ticks in one hike I stop taking him until October.

Tomorrow there's a Turkey Mt planning meeting at the park board, and I'll be going. It will be my first. I won't be speaking up, but I'll probably take notes, being the dork that I am.

Rainy Weekend

2010-04-18T16:54:00.001-05:00

I've still been taking Eddie to the dog park often, and am happy to report that he now runs off to join dogs as soon as I unleash him. He doesn't come check in with me as often, and he now spends more time with dogs than with other people.

Yesterday Eddie and I picked up Aaron's aunt and we drove to OKC to see the new house. They closed on Friday, and don't have anything moved in yet, and with the day-long rain, didn't get anything moved yesterday. The house is wonderful, and on 5.25 acres. The A squares can't wait to be fully living there. The B squares will probably visit next weekend.

During the past week I have taken some pics around the yard.

My 4x4 'garden' from last year. I suppose I'll work it up and try growing banana peppers again

I noticed for the first time these itsy bitsy weed flowers the other day. Maybe Cranky will know what they are

This is what the bitsies look like from ground level

Cranky IDd the these as violets without benefit of the stalk and leaves. Impressive!

We Saw the Dogs

2010-04-03T20:05:00.002-05:00

Yesterday during my lunch I went to see one of the 2 dogs I was interested in adopting. She was very sweet and I liked her, but I wasn't smitten. Today Ed and I picked up my mom and went to see the other dog, and he was pretty darn cute. Except for his coloring, he's like a miniature Ed with his ears and tail and stance, and his personality is stunningly similar. So of course they didn't like each other. Only one alpha dog at a time, please. So I'll keep looking.

Later Ed and I went to the dog park, and there were barely 40, if that many, dogs. Today was a perfect weather day, and I bet folks assumed the park would be too muddy due to our harsh rains yesterday. Because the park is on a slope it wasn't muddy at all, but there were streams of dead clumpy grass wiggling throughout, the way it does from a hard rain.

I mowed this evening, and in my pre-mowing ritual I found a small garter snake under the old wagon. It stayed put while I got the camera, and even posed when I picked it up. While holding Miss Snakey up for her pose, I held the camera with the heavy lens in only one hand. I took a good number of shots, so of course I'm going to include one here.

Teeny white bloom on a grassy weed

Teeny lavender bloom

Wild strawberry bloom

She was about 12 -13 inches long, and looked healthy

Best one-handed pic I could get of her tongue flick

Scale pattern on the snakey

Morning Colors

2010-04-01T21:11:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I viewed online some dogs up for adoption, and I like 2 of them. I'm going to visit one tomorrow during lunch and the other one on Saturday. On Sat I'll be taking Ed and my mom with me to visit. I'm still not sure I'm ready to get another one, but I'm starting the process just in case.

I got to sleep a little later this morning and went out back with Eddie. The colors were wonderful and I just had to take some pics.

Is this henbit? Like all kids, I've always loved it

The little redbud transplant has its first blooms ever!

Dandelion, they are plentiful

Don't know what, but there was one trio in the yard

My first jonquil or daff was here for the recent snow storm

Mark was trolling in the compound

After approving all my pics, Ed went into trance mode

Eddie Can Play

2010-03-28T21:56:00.000-05:00

Ed and I now go to the dog park so often, and I see so many funny and interesting things, that I can't even write about it. But today was different. Today, Eddie finally began to play with other dogs.

He ran with, chased, and was chased by all kinds of dogs. And when a thug would bully a more timid dog into submission on the ground Eddie would haul ass to get over there and bark at and challenge the thug. Other owners noticed what he was doing, too.

Since our first day, Ed has 'not liked' a few dogs instantly. And for those dogs he does not like, if they want to come over to my bench or table for a pat on the head, Eddie blocks them away. He does this for any dog he doesn't like for any other person sitting at my bench or table. Luckily, though, he approves of most dogs and allows them to come get a little pat or two.

I'm feeling it, and really resisting the urge... I'm wanting another dog. A smallish dog, with shortish hair. One that is sweet and obedient and does not need 3 yrs of dog training at the local training club. And I'm already thinking of names. Uh-oh

Calorie Counting

2010-03-21T19:24:00.000-05:00

I awoke to snow for the 2nd day. It didn't snow as much or for as long, but still. 71 degrees on Fri, snowing on Sat and Sun, 60 tomorrow and 70 on Tuesday. Crazy.

I have felt it coming for some time, and this morning while still in bed I decided today would be the day I began counting calories. My daily goal is 1500-1600 cals, and to move more. For Christmas I asked for and received the Biggest Loser Wii game, and after a wee wii lesson from Carcass B I began the BL journey. The light warm-up, routine, and cool down, totaling 30 minutes, took me 125 minutes. My routine included several rests and a laying/lying-down DS Lite session.

Since that experience I had not touched the Wii BL "game" again. I hated it. Today I decided I would do something active, extra, every single day, and decided to try the "game" again. It took me 10 minutes to find it, as my daughter had every single wii game and disc in the wrong cases. Then it took me 8 minutes to figure out how to get it started.

I again chose the light routine, and was determined to NOT STOP TO REST. I'm proud to admit I made it all the way through, excluding the cool down. I know that's not officially all the way through, but the part I completed was done with no breaks. I had a dog on one side of me and a cat on the other during the entire "game", and when I had to lay on the floor the cat nosed all around my face and I couldn't swat him away.

At the end, I was given congratulations because I had burned 28 calories. 28 calories? Are you kidding? I could have burned more by going out and picking up Ed's poop. I could have burned more if I had had a good poop myself. Right now I am still tired and hurt a little. I hope I rarely have to resort to this "game" for my activity.

At caloriesperhour.com I calculated I would burn about twice as many cals per hour of hiking over an hour of walking. Now that we're on DST I will have time to get in at least an hour at TM after work, on good days. At my weight I can burn a good 400-700 cals per hour, depending on my route and speed. That certainly beats 28 cals for 18 min on the "game", plus it doesn't make me angry. The next time I want to complain about screaming kids and their ineffective parents, I'll just remember that I could be doing the "game". That should calm me down.

I'm through eating for the day, and according to my careful calculations, have consumed approximately 1218 cals, so am having 200 cals worth of real Sprite. I have been off Pepsi since Jan. 5th (which also happens to be the day I first played the "game") and have used small ice and some Sprite to help. And after making a commitment to eat better and move more, the Sprite just doesn't taste quite as good. But I'm drinking it anyway.

71 degrees --> SNOW

2010-03-20T20:08:00.000-05:00

71 degrees around 4 pm yesterday, and today I awoke to snow, a lot of snow. It snowed til around 2:30 pm or so, and covered everything. Here is a pic of the backyard around 11 am:

Although the roads weren't bad due to warmth yesterday, I stayed unshowered and holed up all day -- because I could!

Finally... Something Interesting

2010-03-19T21:36:00.001-05:00

Ed and I went to TM again on Thursday and had a nice strolling-along-the-mountaintop time. I've noticed that the deeper I go, the less bratty the kids are. Too bad we have to wade through them from the parking lot on for a while. The ones that can make it out a ways are either more mature or tuckered out. We saw nothing special.

We also went to the dog park on Wed and Thurs. Ed played a little ball with me, and for the most part stuck close.

Today we went to TM and went half-way up the craggy top, then hooked right on the yellow trail. I noticed about 1/4 way up that I had left my hiking pole in the back seat, so I had to be more careful. I saw my first and 2nd butterflies, both goatweed leafwings, 2 skimmers (like small dragonflies) and one fly. The mountain is getting active!

We went as far as the rock-climbing boulders then turned around. It was 71 degrees today, full sun, and hot. There were lots of bikers, hikers, dogs, and families. I did find a treasure today -- a rock with fossils that I brought back with me, thanks to the fact that I was not burdened by my hiking pole.

The fossils look like hinged clam shells or nuts or seeds

After getting home, I mowed the front for the first time then took Ed to the dog park again. I would estimate about 100 dogs there. Really, I'm not exaggerating. Poor Eddie, he's really kind of a sissy. He ventures out and wants to be playful, but he keeps running back to me. One big bully dog made Ed sqeal like a little girl once while we were playing ball. I had noticed that dog bullying others earlier. Today I got quite a bit of slobber and general stank on me. My clothes have already been washed.

I felt like I had to do all these things today - TM, mow, and dog park - because tomorrow it is supposed to snow 4-8 inches. Yes, 71 today, snowstorm tomorrow. It can't stick because it was so warm today, but it's still exciting.

First TM Hike of '10

2010-03-16T18:44:00.000-05:00

Ed and I had our 1st hike this year, just over an hour. I was all dorked out with a pole and double water waist-pack. Eddie + pole = no camera. And I'm glad I didn't take my camera, because there wasn't one thing to photo.

We went up the blue to the upper, then headed for Rock City before we were thwarted by too much mud. We saw some teens creating a mud ramp new bike run along the NS gate trail and off to the east. I hope it's safer than the crazy ramps over on the west side.

Although I took 800 mg preventive ibuprofen, by hip was stiff and burning early on. It never got worse, and I was thankful.

I started thinking on the trail about how when I don't see really interesting things, like cool new bugs or reptiles, whatever I do see turns out to be the most interesting. Sometimes that's as lame as tent caterpillars or roly polies. And I thought, what happens when I don't even see those? What then becomes the most interesting thing on the trail? Today, the most interesting thing, other than the teens, were the sloggy muddy spots in the trail. But we had a great time anyway.

Dog Park... Again!

2010-03-15T23:14:00.000-05:00

Ed and I went to the park for the 3rd consecutive day. He acted the same today as the other days, never quite playing with the dogs and always coming back every little bit to check in. He pooped twice, but I brought only one bag. At least now I know to check for defects.

There were about 15 dogs in the small dog section. I noticed those little ones have a lot more scuffles than the large dogs.

I must have had his leash clipped to the wrong ring, because as we entered the park a big dog came up and Eddie pulled hard towards it, snapping the leash off. One tag landed near my feet, but I didn't find the other tag until we were leaving. Somehow it had flung way over yonder.

Tomorrow we head for the mountain.

Dog Park Fun

2010-03-14T16:27:00.006-05:00

This afternoon Ed and I went back to the dog park. I followed him around until he pooped, which was 6 minutes into our time. I used my own bag. I had a stroke of genius this morning and thought wouldn't it be great if I briskly walked all around the park while Ed played. I couldn't find the pedometer, but thought I'd have fun anyway.

View of part of the park

It would have been fun walking around and watching the dogs run and play, but I felt like a spectacle so eventually sat on a bench. It'll take me a few times to feel more comfortable there. After I chose my spot I showed Eddie where I would be hanging out so he could check back in now and then, and he did.

Today there were more dogs and people - I'd estimate between 50-65 dogs, and the small dog park had about 12-15 little dogs. The little dogs had a little brawl with lots of high-pitched squealing and yelping, and a bunch of the big dogs thundered over to the fence to watch. A little later a few of the big dogs had their own brawl. Ed was not involved.

Bench-clearing brawl

I thought Ed had made a friend with little Rusty, but instead of playing with Rusty, Eddie went over to Rusty's owners standing there and got up close and kept blocking Rusty getting to them. We puzzled over that, then I called Ed and we moved on.

Eddie meeting Rusty

Ed meeting a golden retriever

I enjoyed my time, but it seems like Eddie is not settled in. He roams around and once in a while acts like he is going to play with another dog, then he moves on. He seems to prefer going up to the other people and getting attention.

Eddie and I were model citizens, but I did witness some more lawlessness: a man smoking in the park; two more underage people; and two boys playing catch with a football (not playing catch with other people is a posted rule.) Where are the police when you need them?

I'm a criminal

2010-03-13T19:49:00.006-06:00

Today I finally took Ed to the nearby dog park. After parking we headed to the fenced in area, and I quickly counted at least 41 people in there, and about that many dogs. It's a huge area and I was determined to introduce Eddie. Other than relatives, he has not mixed with dogs since his dog-school days. As we approached the gate to the ante-room, I looked for posted rules and found only "No children under 12", "no food, treats, drinks, or smoking" and "pick up the poop" (I'm paraphrasing.) So we entered with confidence.

Ed sniffed around the fencing area, and within 65 seconds he pooped. I read the rules, so I went over and grabbed a plastic bag from the container, reached my hand in the bag, picked up all the little poopy pieces (they were anxiety poopy pieces, which are always a little wetter, smellier, and messier.) I pulled my hand clutching the poopy pieces which were now all mushed together back through the bag so I could neatly tie the bag and properly dispose of it. Uhm, evidently my bag was defective.

I realized my finger felt wet. I didn't want to look, but I did, and of course messy smeary anxiety poop was all over my middle finger. OK, what to do? Thankfully I was wearing jeans,
so I cleaned my finger off best I could, leaving only a small amount jammed under my fingernail. And BTW... there were LOTS of poopy piles in the area where Ed did his business. THOSE owners cannot follow rules.

By this time Ed was way down yonder running beside a couple of dogs. I kept walking along, kind of following him and hovering as he curiously sashayed from group to group. He visited a lot of people, sometimes putting his feet up on them to get them to pet him. I think he was nervous because he couldn't see me. Once in a while he came close enough for me to call his name and he would come running with glee, get a rub on his head and take off again.

I noticed a few underage people. I also noticed one man with a pile of dogs around him, and saw him slyly slip his hand in his pocket and give something to a couple of the dogs. The lawlessness! Why can't folks follow the rules?

I eventually sat at the end of one of the numerous benches, and once Ed located me he would spend some time away then return in 2-3 minutes to check in with me. After a while another dog owner joined me and I met her dog, Toby. We chatted and watched the dogs and the people. It was a lot of fun. Suddenly a St. Bernard, an especially huge one, came over to visit. He was very friendly, clean and soft, and enjoyed being rubbed. He and a few other dogs kept winding around us and the bench, and then I heard a couple of men hollering "ma'am! MA'AM!" and they were looking and pointing at ME.

I turned my head and saw what was happening... the very tall St. Bernard was christening me, directly on my jacket. By the time I saw it, urine was running down my side onto my jeans. Damage was done, so I had nothing to do but laugh. Bernie's owner came running over with a towel for me to dry off with. A towel, because come to find out this has happened before. The next time Bernie ambled over I stood up.

Finally Ed kept hanging around the bench, climbing on the bench trying to get the other lady to pet him, and he didn't go back out and run or play. I took it as a sign he had enough and we left. My fingers are now scrubbed with a fingernail brush and my jacket and jeans are already washed. And yes we are going back and I'm taking my camera. And my own bag.

Why am I a criminal? On the way out I saw a huge billboard-type sign with all the park rules. And there it was - the next to last rule listing all the types of collars that are not allowed in the park. Ed was wearing one of the forbidden collars. The long list of rules was followed by a statement that rules would be enforced by the Tulsa Police Department. Ed and I skulked to the car.

After-Vacation Hikes

2008-12-13T09:20:00.003-06:00

After a 2 week vacation with my daughter in early November, which included hiking on 11 of the days, I'm officially recuperating. I still need sleep, I'm still not interested in TM, and I'm still paying for the vacation.

Not completely true, as I have been out to TM twice for 2.5 mile hikes. Eddie loved the return to nature, but my heart wasn't in it. Maybe during the winter break...

I was hoping I had it resolved, but I still can't post pics here.

Meandering Mountaintop

2008-10-26T21:05:00.002-05:00

We arrived before 2 and headed straight up. Once on top we wandered all over the connecting trails on the top. Eddie led, and Ann let him choose the direction each time. We finally hooked up with the ridge trail and went north to the turtle head boulder.

We watered Ed, ate some grapes, and Ann climbed the turtle head. She found a lone harvestman and played with it for a while, then found a large leaf-footed or stink bug. She saw it squirt some stank, as she called it, out its back end, then it kept going along on the boulder top. Do bugs pee, separate from their poop? I don't know. She thought it was stank and I told her to bend down and smell it, but she was in a precarious position and couldn't. I think she just didn't want to.

While at the boulders we looked around for a good hiding spot for a geocache, but couldn't find one suitable. The best place, a large crevice/opening at the base in the back of one of the boulders, was guarded by poison oak. No thank you. We also looked for a good hollow while meandering the top, but only one I found, on a fallen, rotting tree trunk, she nixed because she said nobody would want to reach into there looking for it.

We have both registered as users, and she has logged at least 10 finds so far. I don't have any, but haven't tried yet.

Total hike: 3.4 + miles, 2 hrs. I forgot to start the thing until we were part-way up the craggy top, and I stopped the timer when I knew we were stopping, and sometimes forgot to restart it. So these aren't official numbers. We planned to go about 5 miles but my foot was hurting, and my big toes. Now that I'm wearing heel cups I may need 1/2 size larger shoe. I'll go in Thursday before we leave and maybe buy another pair.

Turtle Hike

2008-10-25T21:46:00.003-05:00

Ann and I arrived around 1, parked low and went east. We took the Lo Chi and had a wonderful hike. We saw a box turtle on the trail, her first, my fifth, and we admired her for a while. It has been kind of chilly for them to be out. Mine have been getting deeper and deeper in their overwinter hibernating holes, only coming out when it is warm enough. When we stopped to look at her she closed up tight and we wanted to make sure she was unharmed, so we decided to return on the same route to see if she had left the spot where we put her. I marked her spot on my Garmin, the first time I have done that.

So we hiked as far north as possible, even going down to the tracks and continuing north for a while. We finally headed back, and I pulled up her location, and we were just walking along and talking when my Garmin set off its alarm. We had arrived at the turtle spot. She wasn't there and we looked all around. That was good news. I love my Garmin.

Ann saw a couple of tiny young lizards, we saw some grasshoppers, including one like last week with the very loud click-clicks and bright yellow wings, a couple of nice butterflies, and a katydid. What we didn't see were fields of Pennsylvania leatherwings, like we did in Oct. of last year. We went through the same field area and there was nothing of note.

When we were returning to the turtle spot, we were happily going along and chatting when Ann suddenly shushed me. Off to the east, in a small clearing between us and the tracks, was a young man doing kung fu moves. There is a term for practicing moves by yourself but I can't remember what it is called. No, it wasn't Tai Chi, it was definitely Kung Fu. I wish I'd had my camera. He had to walk a long ways to get there, and I'm guessing he does it for solitude. Hope we during ruin his moment.

Eddie led the entire hike, as usual. I was extra tired toward the end, so instead of heading up to the craggy top and continuing we looped around the blue/yellow near the lot.

Total hike was 2.74 miles, 1hr 30 min. We gave Ed water twice and sat and snacked on apples.

Opossum Hike

2008-10-19T21:25:00.002-05:00

This afternoon Eddie and I arrived about 4 ish. The lot was full, we got the last spot, and there were cars parked around the edge. We took the craggy trail straight to the top. I didn't have any hike in mind other than meandering around the mountaintop. Today we came across more hikers/strollers than bikers, and lots of dogs.

While we were going north on the ridge trail we met a couple and the man was carrying their dog. It was smallish, maybe 20-25 lbs, but certainly not a little lap dog. I said, "Awww, did somebody poop out?" and they mumbled yes, he wore out. I thought it a bit strange that a dog that big was being carried, and he was being carried high, with his head/face tucked on the man's shoulder nestled in his neck. The man's hand was on the back of the dog's head, the way a baby is carried.

Just a few minutes later Eddie spied something off the trail so I stopped and looked. Eddie was on full alert, and I finally saw it: a possum! But something was wrong. It was standing there like a taxidermied exhibit. I stood there. It stood there, not twitching a muscle. It was really weird. Then I noticed something was wrong - it had severe head and facial injuries which looked to be very fresh. It looked like some skin had been pulled off and the blood was very red and wet. It finally trembled a little, turned, and slowly and painfully walked away. It looked to be in shock. I know its injuries are so severe that it will die.

And I wonder if that couple's dog, who did not have a leash on him, had run off the trail and wrestled with it. Maybe the dog was also injured, which makes sense the way it was being carried.

I noted on my Garmin where I was and I'll go back next weekend and see if I notice an odor. As long it's going to die anyway, which makes me sad because of its injuries, I might as well try to get another skull for my little collection.

And OF COURSE I didn't have my camera. Just like I didn't have it when I saw the raccoon, the baby lizards, the 2 eastern velvet ants, 3 of the box turtles... I'm thinking of buying a small camera to carry with me on all hikes for occassions like these... ... Nah, I don't want to spend the money.

I wore my Montrails with the pro heel cups, and had taken a preventive naproxen before leaving. My plantar fascia was a bit tender but certainly under control. I started feeling rubbing on my left instep, though. I now have a peely blistery area there, but not too bad. A bandaid should be enough. I was wearing regular socks because all my balegas were in the wash when I left. All 5 pair in the washer at once. I think they make a difference. These regular socks felt awful. I guess I'm going to have to go buy even more special socks.

Let's see, I have now purchased... 20 pair! And now daughter B wants a pair for Christmas, too. No one could have ever convinced me that any sock could be so special.

Total hike: 2.86 miles, 1 hr, 21 min. I did end up meandering around the top, and it's fun to see my trail on my Garmin Training Center map. Did I ever mention how much I love my Garmin?

Leisurely Photo Hike

2008-10-18T19:47:00.004-05:00

I met a friend at noon and we took the blue to the upper, then headed north on the tadpole. Our goal: butterfly photos. She currently has a painful knee, so when we arrived at the first steep grade drop we decided to turn around and head west. We got a few pics along the tadpole.

We crossed just north of the upper and noticed a huge wasp nest in a dead tree. Stopped for some shots then continued on to the gate and headed north. There were a few butterflies along that trail, then we took the 3rd left. We stopped to look at the 3rd of the 3 lakes, and went on to Rock City where we lounged on the resting wall for quite a while. We saw a large butterfly that I believe to be a red spotted purple admiral, but it eluded us. Of course.

I showed her the circular big boulder area and the crazy scary bike ramps on the west. I couldn't believe it, because people have been adding on to them! We would love to see some riders there.

We looped around, headed towards the gate, then back down to the lower. Total hike: 3.9 miles, 3 hrs 42 min. We took a lot of time standing and composing, focusing, and waiting for a good shot. I didn't turn the timer off during any of our stops, so my Garmin says we averaged 1.1 mph. Heee.

I got a few shots of new things: true katydid, american field cricket, reakirts blue, another blue-like cutie that I can't ID, and a big brown, oily, yellow-winged grasshopper. We also got some time with a common buckeye, pearl crescent, and red-banded hairstreak, as well as various other things.

Some pics from this hike are in an album on Hooly's Facebook.

This was my first hike/walk since the plantar fasciitis episode. I took preventive 800 mg ibuprofen and it still was noticeably sore. At about 3 hrs I had to take 600 mg more. In the parking lot I started favoring my right foot. I wore my Asics and my new Tuli's pro heel cups. We leave for vacation in less than 2 weeks and I'm thinking of getting a corticosteroid shot in that heel. After months of planning it would be frustrating and disappointing to not get to do all of our hikes because of my stupid heel.

Even though I hated my CrocsRx Relief for the first few days, they really feel good now. In fact, I've had them on since I got home, I've played outside with the dogs a few times, and my foot is feeling pretty good. Maybe the Crocs are OK.

5+ Miles

2008-10-12T21:11:00.003-05:00

This hike was from Sunday, Oct. 5th, the day following my last post. We got there before 10, had Ed with us, and went up the craggy top. That has been my favorite way to the top since the first time I took it, and now it's A's favorite, too. We continued north until just before the spider, then hooked a sharp left U-turn and headed south on the trail system just east of the tadpole.

There were no other people through this part and it was wonderful. The paths are rocky (ie: 'technical') and we had to really keep our eyes on the ground. We continued to what would be the 1st pond on the right (from the upper), watched a baby slider on a log and in the water, then crossed the upper to the west side.

A little after the gate, at about the 3-mile point, I noticed the bottom of my foot was sore with each step. That would be my right foot, the same one that had some achilles trouble 3 weeks back. It wasn't bad, certainly didn't make me limp or anything, so I thought nothing of it. A few minutes later, with one innocent step, the pain was sharp and excruciating. I had to stop and wait, hobble a little until the sharpness waned, then decided to continue. I favored that foot for the remaining hike.

We took the 3rd left and made the big loop that goes by Rock City. We (and by 'we' I mean "I", rested on a boulder, watered Eddie, and chatted all about A2's Christmas gift. When we got up to continue I had to start the hobbling all over again, but made it to the end without becoming a spectacle.

Total hike was 5.25 miles and 2 hr, 16 min. The time is just for the hiking part. I paused the timer during my foot episode and each time we stopped to water Eddie.

My foot hurt the rest of the day and on Monday morning I couldn't walk to the bathroom. I crawled to get some Ibuprofen, then crawled back to bed for 30 minutes while it took effect. I knew then what was wrong. 20 years ago I had a huge heel spur and plantar fasciitis on my left foot and ended up having surgery, which I swore I would never do again. Back then I had some intermittent problems with my right foot, had a couple of corticosteroid injections, wore Tuli's heel cups, and got over it. It happened again about 6 or 7 years ago.

I ordered a couple more pair of Tuli's, one of those little rocking calf-stretching thingies (because I love them) and a pair of those repulsive Crocs, the RX line 'Relief' for, among other things, plantar fasciitis. I wanted those to wear when I first get up, while getting ready for work or just hanging around the house.

I got the CrocsRx yesterday and hate them. Well, today they aren't that bad, and I've worn them all day, but my good shoes with heel cups are significantly better.

So... I haven't been walking or hiking for a full week. And we just had a spectacular weekend. Phooey. At least I don't have a heel spur. But I did find some migrating monarchs and got a bunch of good pics.

Nothing Special Hike

2008-10-04T17:13:00.003-05:00

A and I planned to hike this morning at 8:30. I knew it wouldn't happen that way, so I didn't even bother to set the alarm. She called about 9, said she just woke up from a dream where she called me and I was already out hiking "because we were supposed to leave at 8:30." In fact, I was still in bed!

We got out there maybe around 10:15 and went up to the craggy top. It was the first time she had taken that route and she liked it. We continued north and rested for a while at the turtle-head rock. I wore my waist pack instead of the backpack, and it was at the rock that I realized I didn't have any water for Ed. We looked for a little dip in one of the boulders but found nothing suitable. I felt bad, but at least it was cool. While resting and chatting we decided to hook around at the spider and return via the tadpole. It has a couple of viscious uphill parts in the full open sun. But it was cloudy and breezy this morning so we decided to do it.

When we got to the spider we veered off to the left, and just before we hooked to the tadpole we realized the sun was out. Looking at the sky we predicted it would stay out, as most of the clouds had blown by. We weren't having that, so we turned around and returned on the lower yellow, the Ho Chi.

Other than a few harvestmen, we saw nothing remarkable. Only one butterfly at the end. For once I was satisfied that I had not taken my camera with me. As a bonus, we met 3 bikers while heading to the turtle-head rock, 2 young guys and a really old guy. It was the same old guy I say on the west side in the spring (or sometime.) He's got to be in his 70s, and A and I marveled at him.

Total hike was 3.64 miles, 1 hr 35 min. We had lots of stopping for bikers and joggers. We also met more hikers than usual. And since they are really just meandering around out of curiosity near the trailhead, I can't even call them hikers. More like strollers.

This afternoon we went to the shoe store and my friend's daughter fitted A with some cool trail shoes. She plans on wearing them around the house for the rest of the day to make sure they are right, then wear them on our hike tomorrow. Tomorrow I'm aiming for 5 miles.

Phooey on the Garmin

2008-09-21T21:23:00.002-05:00

Long story short: after charging the Garmin I got one 19-minute walk out of it, and on the next walk the battery was low and it quit.

Full story: On 9-15 I took a TM hike and the Garmin ran out of juice about 3 minutes into it. I hooked it up to charge, then looked through the book to see how long to charge it. When I opened the box the book said to charge for 3 hrs for the initial charge. Does that mean I charge it 3 hrs each time? No where did it specify, so I charged it for 3 hrs.

Tonight I decided to take the heinous hill hood route, and the Garmin went out about 1/2 way through. Now I'm thinking that the Garmin was shipped already charged, and through sitting on a shelf it lost a bit. That's why the book said the initial charge should be 3 hrs. Maybe a full charge should be longer. So tonight I'll charge it overnight. The book doesn't say, but that's what I'm doing.

All weekend I've felt tired and blah-y. Don't know why. I intentionally have laid off the walking/hiking/elliptical because of the achilles soreness on my right foot. I read that once you have a definite achilles problem you're likely to always have it. I'll attribute it to my Garmin, which was causing me to walk faster and faster. I'm competitive that way. So now I laid off and tonight I took the walk leisurely. No soreness.

On a funny (sad) note, I decided I'd wear my well-worn MBTs tonight. I haven't worn them since I got my new shoes from Rachael. I put my left on and stood on it and took a few steps. There was just too much turning in of my ankle (over pronation) to my liking, so I changed into my Asics. It's amazing, but my foot does not pronate as much with it. Yes, I know, that's the WHOLE idea.

Losing My Freedom

2008-09-15T21:21:00.002-05:00

All day today I couldn't wait to get out to TM. I made good time and Ed and I were parked and starting about 5:30. The Garmin was really slow locating satellites, and it finally said *low battery*, then found some satellites and off we went.

I set the Garmin to do the 5-mile (aka 3.82 mile) loop, but taking my favorite craggy shortcut straight up to the top. I wanted to use my virtual partner. At 1 min, 27 sec Eddie stopped to poop. He is very polite and steps off the trail, then I get a stick and fling it into the depths of the woods. I used to take plastic bags, pick it up, tie it to my backpack, etc. But soon realized every other dog poops out there, and most of them right smack dab ON THE TRAIL. So I consider myself and Eddie polite and considerate.

Anyway, the next time I looked at my Garmin was about 1/2 way up the crag, and it was off! By *low battery* , it apparently means *battery will last about 5 more minutes*. I was so disappointed, and it really took the steam out of my step. My mind began regrouping, and I decided I would still take the same route because I knew its exact length and I could still record it in my Training Center on the computer. Then I thought I would meander along the top of the mountain, since I couldn't watch my Garmin. Then I decided to go to the north end of the ridge and hitch a left loop, returning on the dreaded tadpole. In other words, without my Garmin I feel free to go where ever I want without a solid plan. With my Garmin I'm wanting to compete with myself or the "marked" trail. I'm sure as I get more experience with it I'll get back to going anywhere I want, but for now I feel like I'm locked in and losing my hiking freedom.

I was still trying to decide which route to take when my achilles tendon began bothering me. I can't remember if I mentioned it, but yesterday while wearing my Vasques my right tendon began to hurt. That had never happened before. Then last night I took a hood walk in my shoes and there was no soreness. Today, somehow, I accidently put those same shoes (semi-trail) on again instead of my real trail shoes.

So my sore tendon made my decision for me. Part way, maybe 1/2 way along the ridge, I turned left into the mountain top and meandered my way back on the lovely, largely level, non-technical tangle of trails. Very soon the soreness waned and I finished in fine form. But I'm skipping the hood walk tonight, and probably for the next couple of days.

The only thing I would have bothered taken a pic of was a little fat toady. He probably was a taddie in the spring or early summer.

Total hike, about 50 min, and about 2 miles. All estimated, unfortunately. My Garmin is charging right now.

Technical Trail

2008-09-14T21:47:00.002-05:00

I parked low and began about 3:30. I didn't take Eddie because I expected the trails to be too muddy and I don't have a cover on my back seat right now. The few muddy spots were small and navigable except for one. That one was such a mess that I had to take off my boots after returning to my car.

There were lots of cars in the lot so I decided not to take the full yellow. Instead I went a little west, then followed the trail just to the east of the Tadpole all the way north and looped around on the ridge trail. I had forgotten how technical that particular trail is. Hey, if cyclists can call it technical then so can a hiker!

Shortly past the turtle-head boulder I took a left down to the tarantula trail. It also has substantial technical areas. In fact, toward the south there was an area where the trail had collapsed in a muddy slide. Thankfully that area is so rocky that folks kept the trail going. I was glad I had my Leki with me, as it enabled me to work my way down, through, and around the area. The last time I was there was in March '08 with L, and it wasn't like that then.

I briefly spoke with a man and his young son who asked if they were on the right trail. I saw a 3 or 4 other groups of hikers, heard a couple more, but not once had to stop or step off the trail to let anyone pass. It was WONDERFUL.

Things I could have taken photos of if I'd taken my camera, which I almost did:
1) a cute baby ring-necked snake. It was about 5 - 51/2 inches long and stopped and posed for me! I didn't pick it up because I was afraid of snake ass, and I didn't have a squirt bottle or sweat rag with me to clean up.
2) another eastern velvet ant; boy that's disappointing!
3) a red-spotted purple admiral. I could have taken several good shots of it, and I don't have a pic of one yet. The only other red-spotted I've seen on TM was last year, and it was dead.
4) the area where the tarantula trail had collapsed - but it will be there next time!

Today as I was getting ready to leave for the hike, I realized how many choices I have:
1) hydration backpack, or double-bottle waistpack, or carry water
2) Leki or not
3) Eddie or not
4) hiking boots 1, hiking boots 2, or my new trail shoes
5) camera or not (and then I have to choose which lens)
6) Garmin or not. OK, that's not really a choice. I love using it!
7) sweat rag or not - I would always choose to take it, but sometimes I forget

For this hike I chose no camera, hiking boots 2 (best for mud), Leki (because of mud and thank goodness I had it), no Eddie (because of mud), and waistpack. I feel all dorked out with the Leki, waistpack, and boots, but then I feel the same way with the backpack.

Total hike was 3.51 miles, 1 hr, 43 min, with an average speed of 2.1 mph. The slowness was due to the 'technical' nature.

And because today's hike was so slow, I just took an evening hike in the hood: 1.61 mi, 29 min, 18.18 ave pace. My ave pace goal is 15, which is 4 mph. I would like to reach that by '09.

Temps have been coolish here. Tonight it's about 60. I got a little warm while on TM this afternoon, but made it without a sweat rag and w/o using my t-shirt as a sweat rag. If I'd remember to take one, though, I would have used it.

Raining All Day

2008-09-13T22:15:00.004-05:00

The rain continued today, sometimes pretty forceful. I went to the Fitness Center and did lower body weights, then 10 min on the tread climber and 10 on the elliptical. I had planned on doing 30 min of combined cardio. Well, phooey!

Afterwards I went to my newly-discovered shoe/sock store to get a pair of those fabulous socks for my girl cousins, and you know what? I am obviously too stupid to live. I bought 7 pair, 3 of them black (only one pair was for a man.) When I told A that I was going to mail a pair to everyone she said nobody would want black, not even the man, and black would be stupid and wrong. Those weren't her exact words, but she clearly conveyed her contempt. Sigh. Tomorrow I'll take the black ones back and exchange for white.

And I guess that makes me stupid because I have 2 pair of the black ones and I love them! But then, I had to stop wearing my Doc Marten sandals a few years ago because I found out I wasn't supposed to wear them with white socks. Or any socks. I happen to like wearing socks with my sandals. Whoever makes up all these fashion rules needs to retire. And leave the country. And never speak or write again.

Hood Loop Again

2008-09-11T21:02:00.003-05:00

It's been rainy now for a couple of days, and thanks to Ike it will rain for 3 more. I'm glad that's all we'll see of him. This evening it wasn't quite precipitating, but the atmosphere is so heavy with moisture I had rivulets running across my skin. If there could be one huge, dense cobby web heavy with dew, I was walking through it - nothing actually coming down yet I was colliding with water drops.

My intention was to take the 1.05 loop twice. I was going to try tapping the lap button on first return to my porch then heading out again. I don't know how that will work while racing myself. I was hoofing it (for me) and beating my 2nd time by 100ft at the .64 mark, but my lower back was getting tight (and I had taken a couple of preventive ibuprofen - just not early enough) so I relaxed my pace slightly. I stopped after one loop and beat my 1st time, but I didn't even notice if/how much I beat my 2nd time. I was scrolling through the different pages and trying to figure out new stuff that I forgot about that until just now. Since it's all turned off and put away I'll just be content to know that I sweated, stiffened, fogged my glasses and felt good.

I'm having thoughts of beginning to *jog* here and there. I've done it on TM a few times and really enjoyed it. I'm not ready to yet, but I'm thinking I may end up building to that. Maybe that will start to develop when we get back from our vacation.

I Beat My Virtual Partner

2008-09-10T21:39:00.002-05:00

Last night I used my new Garmin to take the same 1.05 mile route I established on... Sunday, maybe? These last few days have run together and I've forgotten to mention some noteworthy things on the blog.

Anyway, I set my Garmin to do the same course and I walked with my virtual partner. Eddie and I were ahead the entire route, and ended up beating her by 271 feet. I didn't feel like we kept up any racey kind of pace, just normal walking. Uhh, as I recall I do believe I stopped under just about every streetlight on the night I set the course. I had to! I wanted to see what was going on with the Garmin! It has a backlight, which I used a few times last night, but I don't want to use up the battery sooner than need be. Last night I didn't spend so much time under the lights, and that probably explains why I beat it. Unfortunately I'm very competitive, so I will keep trying to beat my new times.

It's been drizzly all afternoon and evening, and even now, so I don't want to go out. Yes, I'm a big cheap baby. But not too cheap, because I did go to the fitness center and did upper body weights and 25 minutes of elliptical. The WHOLE time I was on the ellip I was thinking about how much fun and almost effortless TM seems compared to the fitness center. And because I stay out there hiking for at least 1 1/2 hrs usually, even better for me.

I'm hoping to walk the hood tomorrow night, maybe even 2 laps!

5 mi = 3.82 mi

2008-09-09T20:06:00.002-05:00

I sneaked out of work a whole 16 minutes early today to get a jump-start at TM. Ed and I arrived, parked low, and began just after 5. This evening we took the full, no short-cut version of the 5-mile loop. Twasn't. But now I remember why I like the short-cut so much: the uphill agony doesn't last as long. It's more severe, but it's more important that it doesn't last as long.

Yesterday the forecast called for today's temps to be 10 degrees cooler, but the first hour was really hot and sweaty. Camera-wise, the only remarkable thing today was 2 harvestmen tangoing. Or maybe one killed the other and was carrying it as a trophy. Or maybe the mate died and the one was carrying it back for proper respects. Or maybe they were mating and one was in control and only looked to be carrying the other one. Anyway, their funny bodies and tangle of legs would have made a nice photo.

I just began hiking again last Friday, and I've noticed the harvestmen (aka daddy longlegs when I was a kid) are scampering all across the trails everywhere. Also the cicadas are out full-force, and I find a good number dead on their backs in the trail. Since I like to NOT think about people while hiking, I've spent some time thinking about the dead cicadas, and I've come up with some possible explanations:

1) they are so plentiful right now that as they die naturally they fall all over the place, therefore some on the trails
2) birds are nabbing them, struggling, then dropping them, but by that time the cicada is injured and thus dies
3) some kind of insect-prey, like a tachinid fly, is laying eggs on them so the larvae can worm their way inside then eat the guts until the cicada dies
4) little woodsy gnomes are shooting them with teeny arrows, they fall, then the gnomes eat off the face and feast on the insides

Today I was making a point to keep up my pace and make good time, so next time I take this route I could use my new virtual partner for competition. Stopping to give Eddie water is normal; Eddie pooping is normal; stepping off and waiting at the side of the trail for others to pass me is normal. But today, at 2.67 miles, a bicyclist stopped, inquired about Eddie's breed, then began a conversation that lasted between 20-25 minutes. I KNEW I should have stopped the timer, but I thought it would just be a couple of sentences then off we go.

The man has been riding there for 24 years and was full of information about different areas, different trails, annual trends, etc. I learned quite a bit so I wasn't frustrated with losing so much time. I'll just have to set my pace next time. After standing still for so long my muscles cooled down and I had to rev up again. It wasn't so bad. It was all shady, a little cool, and a tad breezy. Completely and perfectly lovely. I practically sauntered back.

Total hike, with stops, was 2 hrs, 4 minutes. Oh, it's dark now. I think I'll take out trash, get my tomorrow's lunch ready, then put on my Garmin and take the 1.05 neighborhood loop!

3rd Consecutive Loop

2008-09-07T21:11:00.002-05:00

I charged and tried out my new Garmin last night with 2 loops around the block. Today while writing my hiking notes I decided to go back out to TM and take the same craggy loop I took Fri and Sat. So with Ed, no pole, backpack and Garmin I set out.

It took me a bit to get the Garmin started right, and I can't even remember how far up the trailhead I was before it was all set. Not too far, though. I went straight to the top then joined the 5 mile loop. I came across only 3 or 4 bikers but LOTS of hikers and joggers with dogs. We must have met 12 or so dogs on the trail - some on lead, others not. Grrrr.

At about the same place as yesterday, somehow I spied another baby lizard. It wiggled off to the side faster than the one yesterday, but it hasn't yet honed it's hiding skills. It's teeny back legs and tail were sticking out from beneath the small piece of debris. I rustled it and it wiggled on a little further and stopped. Like yesterday I easily picked it up and held it in my palm. But unlike yesterday, today I feared I killed it. It was completely flopped on its back and didn't even move a toe. I touched and prodded it with my finger, blew on it, scrunched my palm together, and nothing.

I turned it onto its stomach and it was completely limp. I didn't know how I could have hurt it. I stood with it a while and could barely see its teeny tiny eyes. They were open. It was limp in my hand, let me move it about, and its eyes were open. I marveled at the tiniest, cutest toes I have ever seen, then put my palm by the ground and tickled its tail. It moved! I gave it a little nudge and it scurried off. I have had/held/played with lizards quite a bit but I'd never had one play 'possum on me before. Hognosed snake, yes, but lizard? Not until today. Of course I was relieved.

Even stopping with the lizard, stopping twice for Eddie to drink (which requires removal of backpack, getting out his bowl and water bottle, etc.) and waiting for him to poop, pee, pee, pee, poop, pee, pee, pee, pee, pee, pee, and stepping off trail for others to pass, I still beat my Friday time by 1 minute!

The Garmin said my official distance was 3.41 miles and time was 1 hr, 34 min. Next time I'll make sure I get it set correctly in the parking lot, I'll take the long, regular route the whole way and see how long it is.

The Garmin is really cool. At home I looked at the map of the route and other stuff from the hike. I read more in the manual, and got so excited that tonight I took a neighborhood walk with it (and Eddie, too.) My walk was 1.05 miles from my porch back to my porch. 21 minutes, so about 3 mi/hr, which right now is what my goal is. So far my lower back is holding up just fine. Maybe my new shoes make a difference. I'm also concentrating on keeping my stride just a wee bit shorter than I'd naturally go.

So now I've walked on concrete in the hood several times with no resultant spasms. I will gradually increase my distance as I prepare for our vacation.

Hydration backpack - $60
Leki - $75
New trail shoes - $90
New socks - $10 (they are soooo worth it!)
Garmin - $200
Partaking in one of life's best pleasures - you know the drill!

Saturday - No Camera... Again!

2008-09-07T16:11:00.002-05:00

I didn't take Ed, didn't take my pole, and didn't wear my backpack. Instead I wore my new double-bottle waist pack. It's OK. During the first 30 minutes I thought it might be putting extra strain on my lower back/hip, but later I didn't even notice it. Of course, the longer I went the less weight I carried because of drinking the water!

I took the exact route as Friday evening. Again there were no pipevines at the top of the craggy trail, but I did see an eastern tiger swallowtail - the yellow and black kind. If I'd had my camera I would have stood around and waited for a landing. We are still having a bit cooler weather than usual because of Gustav (I guess) and I saw several other butterflies out. Bonus, though, as I saw a velvet ant again. It wasn't quite as large as the one I saw earlier in the summer by the upper, but my whole life = 0, and in one summer I see 2! No camera, though.

I reached the loop turn in 40 minutes. On my way back I spied an itsy bitsy new hatchling lizard, probably a skink, on the trail. It stayed in one spot and I gently picked it up and held it in my palm for a few seconds. It was soooo cute. I've never before seen a new lizard. The body was about 3/4 inch long. I set it down off to the side and it slowly sashayed away. No camera!

Total hike was 1 hr, 32 minutes... 3 minutes quicker than Friday.

Today is Sunday, I got my birthday/Christmas gift yesterday from my mom. It's a Garmin distance watch. More about it later, but now I'm getting ready to take the same hike with my new Garmin!

Friday After Work Hike

2008-09-07T15:33:00.003-05:00

I'm behind in noting my hikes: today is Sunday. Friday was completely lovely. I had an early morning meeting at a location near TM, and drove by it on my way back to my regular workplace. I wanted to stop and hike so badly I hurt. By afternoon it was a bit warmer but still nice enough to take an evening hike. I hurried home, got ready, got Eddie ready and we were there at 5:32. We parked low and took the regular 5-mile.

I went straight to the top, using my favorite way, then joined up with the ridge trail. The place where the pipevine swallowtails were having fun in the springtime was empty, but on ahead for a long stretch the blue damselflies were plentiful and busy.

The prehistoric turtle head is always a wonderful sight, and as I passed it I had to turn around and admire it again. It was 43 minutes at the turn of the loop and the skyline was clear and pretty. The return was pleasant, and I took the normal way back to the trailhead (as opposed to my shortcut like I did on the way up.)

In the low part, on the last bit of trail going east before turning south, I was suprised by a raccoon that was walking across the trail just a few yards ahead of me. Likewise, it was surprised by us and took a leap onto the trunk of the nearest tree. The tree had a pretty small diameter and the raccoon was clumsily trying to get higher. Ed and I got a good, long, clear look at it for quite a while, but dang, I didn't have my camera! After about a minute I knew we needed to go on. The tree was so skinny the raccoon really didn't want to go up much higher, so one of us had to act. I wondered if raccoons ever attacked by jumping down on something out of a tree. I've never heard of that, but I was sure thinking it and became a little wary about walking right under it when it wasn't even up very high. I could have reached up with my hiking pole and touched it.

Eddie and I went under it and after several yards turned around to watch it. It apparently wasn't coming down until we were long gone, so we headed on to the car.

Total hike was 1hr, 35 min. I got picked up a salad and something for my mom and went to her house. Ed and I didn't get home until after 10.

Lazy Machine Hogs

2008-09-03T21:24:00.003-05:00

Several weeks ago when it became too hot to hike, I started using the fitness center more regularly. As like any place else in our society, most people are courteous and respectful. Then we have those few...

I'm certainly not an expert, but everything I've read about weight lifting says if you are going to do more than one set of an exercise you should wait between 30-60 seconds between. I've NEVER seen it recommended that you wait longer than a minute. Evidently everyone hasn't read the books, especially the man who was hogging the leg press this evening.

I began with a 5-minute warm-up on the elliptical before doing my lower body weights. I prefer to start with the leg press because it works the most muscles (so I believe but I could be wrong - and yes, I know squats are best but I feel awkward and fearful of my back so I don't do them. Yet.) So while I was on the elliptical I peered under the obstructions and noticed a man on the leg press. He was just sitting. I stayed on the elliptical an extra minute, hoping he would finish. Still sitting. I continued one more minute, but he still sat there.

Not a big deal, I began with the ad/abductors, which is right next to the leg press so I could jump up and move over as soon as he finished. Well, I did 6 sets of 12 reps on THAT machine and he was still sitting. I did notice him regain consciousness twice and do a few quick leg thrusts, but mostly he was sitting all scrunched up with his feet remaining on the plate.

I moved to the quad machine. During my first set the Press Hog got up and left, but before I could untrap myself another man briskly walked over and began using it. He had been waiting, too. I looked to see where the press hog had gone and he was slowly ambling toward the lobby, sweet as his assy legs could carry him. Ass.

It didn't bother me that another person hopped on the press, because he got down to business then moved on. I know it doesn't really hurt me any but I enjoy doing the weights in a certain order. It feels right. Narcissistic, dis-courteous asses are repugnant. When I was a child I created a cure for those kind of people, and some day I may write about it. Since my method is science fiction it could never work, but it didn't stop me from dreaming...

Walking on Concrete

2008-09-02T21:42:00.003-05:00

Last night I up and decided to take a neighborhood walk with my new hybrids (trail+running on pavement shoes). Because I have bad history with concrete I walked only 3 blocks worth and felt OK. This morning I felt the dreaded twinge-ing in my lower back that signals trouble. I took 800 mg ibuprofen and went on to work.

While I felt sharp twinges off and on throughout the day it was certainly not unbearable, nor did it worsen. This evening I decided to try my new herbal tincture that is touted as an anti-spasmotic. Hmmm, after about an hour I didn't feel any pains. I played some baseball, cautiously, with Eddie, took care of the turtles... felt OK.

At 9pm I suddenly felt like living dangerously and took Eddie on another concrete walk. This time about the equivalent of 5 blocks, faster than last night and concentrating on short strides. I feel great, and because we're getting ready to have some Gustav rains it was almost cool and blustery. I loved it, and my new shoes, the Asics, are AMAZING!

Instructions on the tincture say I can take some more dropperfuls, so I'll do that and go to bed. And I think I'll take it to work tomorrow - just in case. Gaaahg! I hope it doesn't make me shat, but if it does, that's just more steps on my pedometer as I run to the bathroom! My count for today is 6455. Dang, that makes me feel lazy.

New Shoes

2008-08-31T22:30:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I set out to buy a new pair of trail shoes. Our hiking vacation is coming up in 2 months and I wanted an alternative to my boots. We'll be taking at least 2 long hikes (for us) and wanted to carry shoes in my backpack in case I needed to change while on the trail.

After listening, looking, measuring, and evaluating with a treadmill and video, my friend's daughter, who works there, brought out about 7-9 boxes of trail shoes in my size, some women's and some men's. Because my feet are so big I can wear either, and in some cases only men's. She was very patient as I tried them all on, and there were 2 pair that definitely felt better than the rest. I walked around the store. I stood. I walked some more. I rocked. I stood. I couldn't decide. I bought both.

Yesterday and today I wore one pair, lighter weight trail and running shoes for the moderate pronator, to the fitness center and they are wonderful. My feet didn't scooch back while on the elliptical like my regular shoes do. I love them.

Today A and I went out to TM, parked high and went west, cut across east of the 3 lakes then on to the large frog pond. Out and back, it didn't take long, and my sturdier trail shoes performed great. I believe they handled the rocks and roots better than either of my boots! I haven't been hiking since July 14, so I can't be sure, but that's what I think.

By the end of the short hike I was feeling pressure along the part of my foot that would be the arch if I had one. There is a light red mark there on the inside of each foot. That has happened before with good-supporting shoes, but I think I'll ask to see if that's normal for flat-footed folks. I plan to begin walking more as the weather cools so I want sturdy but flexible shoes.

I've decided to join a little walking workshop class. This week I'll attend an information meeting, then next week the 'class' begins. The goal is to prepare for a 5K walk in mid-November, occuring at the end of our 2-week vacation. Because of the timing I don't know if I'll make that walk, but I'm confident I can handle 5K since I've often hiked 5-8 miles.

My worry is walking on pavement or asphalt. For some reason that tightens my back which can then lead to unbearable, work-missing back spasms. I'm hoping I'll learn to correct my pavement gait to avoid that. But just in case I'll take preventive ibuprofen before walking the 'hoods.

I still can't post pics here, as my computer is still problematic.

Great VAC Day!

2008-07-14T17:27:00.002-05:00

I took a day of vacation today, and set my alarm last night for 5 am, intending to get up at 5:30 and out to TM by 6:30. Before falling asleep I reset my alarm for 7 am, then kept enduring 9-minute snoozes until 8:30. I need to learn to stick with my plan. I thought it would work because on Saturday I did get up at 5:15 am, picked up a friend at 6:10, and started picking thornless blackberries at 6:33 am. We went to Toomey's blackberry farm and it was wonderful. Together we picked about 23 lbs in just under an hour.

Anyway, early didn't work for me today, but I did set a personal best by arriving at TM just before 10. I parked high and headed up the tadpole. I had planned on a photography hike, and nothing else. There wasn't much activity on the tadpole (the one blackberry I found was tart) so I headed back to cross the top to the snake and turtle meadows.

There wasn't much happening in those parts, either. I felt like I took about 20 pics, but I actually had 83, plus the ones I deleted as I took them. At home, after discarding, I ended up with 27, but nothing exciting. Total unexciting hike was 1 1/2 hrs, because I stuck to my plan.

I wanted to post a hiking pics here, but I still can't upload photos, and I know it's my computer because I have other troubles, too. My favorite pic of the day was an older, larger assasin bug nymph, kin to the ones I saw on July 4th (which of course I couldn't post here, but they are on Hooly's Facebook album.)

Holiday Hike

2008-07-04T22:08:00.003-05:00

I'm glad I live where I could choose what I would do today, and I'm glad I live where I could wear what I wore.

I thought I wouldn't hike today, then suddenly decided to, and got a late start for a hot day. I arrived at 10:30, parked low and headed to the top using my new favorite route. Dragonflies, butterflies, and more were in the meadow at the top (now called the turtle meadow) and the next one to the west, now called the snake meadow.

I am pleased with many of my pics from today, but for some reason I can't post them here. For the past 3 days I haven't been able to post pics here, and I don't know if it's the site (probably not) or my computer (probably).

I had not planned to hunt the berries, as I wore shorts and had my camera. But I couldn't stop myself once I reached the tadpole. I headed north, snapping shots here and there and enjoying what was still a nice morning. Then I got to the berries past the 2nd lake on the left. Someone has been going there.

Last year there were no signs of anyone else picking the berries during their season. On Monday evening A and I took a quick jaunt from the upper to check on their status, and ended up picking about 5 cups so she could bake a pie. I had been ill for over a week and that was the first evening I felt good, and I couldn't wait to get out there. Anyway, I noticed trampled trails among the canes, and it wasn't from an animal. Today I found them in different cane areas, too.

So I ended up picking berries as best I could, given my apparel. I was surprised I ended up with 4 C, so now I can bake another pie.

After picking for a while I had to head back south along the tadpole, trudging uphill in full sun, and now it was past noon. I had to stop and break out the emergency gatorade, and I took my last 2 sips of water about 3 minutes from the parking lot. I believe that's only the 2nd time I've used all my water on a hike... and of course I didn't stick to my plan.

Instead of going home and changing for our family luncheon, I drove straight to my mom's, got a cold wet rag, situated the fan and recuperated. She had a great lunch for us and we were all there. Then I promptly had several bouts of diarrhea - I don't if it was related to my recent illness, the heat, or something I ate. Oh well.

Total hike was 2 hrs 25 min, and I will not do that again in July heat. My plan was to stroll and shoot about 1 1/2 hrs. I will also stick to my plan in the future. I'm sure I'll be going out either in the morning or Sunday morning.

I'll post some of the pics on Hooly's facebook album.

Morning Hike

2008-06-15T22:56:00.055-05:00

I decided this morning to check on the blackberries. Eddie was very upset when he saw me get my boots and backpack out then didn't get out his car harness. Poor Eddles.

I arrived at 10:20, parked low and went directly to the tadpole. I took the tadpole north, stopping just before the final trek to the 1st pond on the left. The blackberries are so red I could see them from quite a distance. A few canes were by the trail, and about 4-5 berries were black, juicy and sweet.

I took 109 pics, and wasn't quite finished when my CF card filled up. Total hike was 1 hr, 40 min. I didn't go far, so obviously I spent a lot of time standing around waiting for the wind to die down, a bug to get in a better position, a butterfly to land, etc. I saw a few things I'd never seen, or at least noticed, before today.

Those black ones are now gone!

Hmm. I've never seen one like this before. It's a tarantula, but small, maybe the size of a half-dollar, legs and all. I saw 2 of them.

I've never seen this before, either. My guide says it's a cuckoo wasp - they don't have stingers

The wind gusts kept bending its wings forward, but it kept clutching onto its stick.

This is my 1st pic of an American Lady

I call this the valentine bug because of the heart shape on its back, but it's really a delta flower scarab, so named because of the delta shape on its back!

This is my 1st red admiral at TM

A nicely laid clutch of eggs. I've never seen this before

This bird almost waddled while dragging its tail and wing tips. I thought it was injured, but it did finally fly off a pretty good distance. Cranky tells me it's an indigo bunting. I had never seen one before.

Rule Follower

2008-06-11T21:03:00.003-05:00

I've always been a rule follower and I am sick of that. I can go to sleep at night but otherwise I get nothing for it.

Sunday my mom's car locked up on her. She barely got it into a parking lot, then it wouldn't start. Had to be towed home (it being Sunday) then on Monday towed to her station. Then towed again from there to an engine specialty shop. Her car won't be ready until mid-next week. No problem.

We have an extra car right now and I told her she could use it as long as necessary, and that we'd be right over. The car wouldn't start. I could tell it was the battery, so I got out the jumper cables but before rigging it up wanted to review the sequence. I couldn't find my cheat sheet anywhere, but the book that came with the car was in the glove compartment and it had 2 1/2 pages on jumping. Yea!

I was puzzled when I read that after a,b,c... the last thing I do is clamp the black onto the battery strap (the strap that goes over the battery to keep it in place.) I've jumped before and distinctly remember clamping the black on to something metal in the engine, away from moving parts. I read it 3 times, and following those instructions it said DO NOT CLAMP THE CABLE ONTO ANY OTHER PART OF THE CAR, ONLY THE STRAP. Well OK then.

I hooked it all up and turned the key... uhhhhn uhhhhnn uhhhhhnnnnn. It was the same as when I first tried to start the car. I unhooked, re-read, rehooked, and nothing. So I got Daughter B to help. A 3rd time and still nothing. I wondered about the strap, but being a rule follower I obeyed the rules and didn't try to clamp it on to anything else.

Tuesday I called Pep Boys, where I believed the battery was purchased. Their computers were down all day and they had no way to look it up. I decided the problem must be the old crackledy up jumper cables, and stopped by the Hell Hole (Walmart Supercenter) on my way home from work to buy newer, longer, stronger jumper cables. All they had were thin short cheap little things. But I noticed next to the cables were some battery-jumping charging contraptions.

After standing there and reading over both boxes several times I decided to buy one, took it home, read the rules, plugged in the adapter to charge the contraption so I could charge the car battery. By 9:30pm the contraption was fully charged, but I had to wait 30 minutes (because I follow the rules) after charging to use it. So at 10 pm I took a deep breath and took it to the garage.

The instructions for the contraption said the black clamp would go on a non-moving metal part of the car. Huh. Just what I originally thought. I got a screwdriver and tapped and scraped on the battery strap. It's hard plastic, NOT METAL. No wonder the jumpers didn't work. I decided to keep and use the contraption anyway and hooked it up, the green light came on immediately, I started the car, turned off the contraption and unhooked it. I went for a 30 minute drive to charge the battery a bit more. The drive included a stop at McDonald's drive-thru for a cone and food for my daughter.

Today after work the car started just fine, so I took it to my mom's, we went out to eat and she dropped me off at home.

I'm mad at myself because I allowed my rule-following gene to over-ride my common sense gene, costing me $42 and a trip to the hellhole, plus an extra day of mild angst.

On a good note, all the walking in the hellhole parking lot and self-contained city really upped the step count on the pedometer, and I reached 6,000 yesterday. Today I shot for 7,000 and made it. Right now I'm wearing 7015 steps on my waist! I've drastically upped my steps at work by going out one door, going around the building and in a different door to get to the bathroom or another office, then back out again to get back to my office (when time allows.) This will work until it gets too hot. Or rains. Or I don't have time.

I love my pedometer! I'm pleased with my contraption! Need a boost, anyone?

Photoshop Envy

2008-06-09T20:59:00.004-05:00

Over 2 years ago I took a Photoshop class and purchased Photoshop CS2. And I actually read the pages and pages of licensing agreement jargon as I was installing the CS2 program on my computer. I understood it to say I could install it on other computers I owned. For college use my mom and I had recently given both daughters laptops. They were purchased and registered in my name.

After installing PS on my computer I moved next to daughter B's computer. All went well. Then I began on daughter A's. It wouldn't load. I called Adobe and found out I was allowed to have it on only 2 computers, even if I owned more and they were in my house. So daughter B, who had taken a photography course at a tech center, really did deserve to have it. Wait...

Shortly after arriving at OU for her 1st semester she did something to her computer and had to have help from their tech support to fix it. The 'fixing it' wiped off PS. That was
over 1 1/2 years ago. This past weekend she took photos at a friend's wedding and assumed she could use PS on my computer in order to work the pics. But yesterday something happened to my computer and I've temporarily lost all my programs and files.

She found the original disks and tried loading them on her computer, and it worked. I guess the program recognized her computer as an 'approved' one. So all this time she has been without, and it was so easy to fix. So this evening, as she's working with the photos, I mentioned that I was thinking about getting Photoshop Elements for daughter A.

B stopped working and glared at me. "What is that?" she demanded. "Is it the same as this one?" "No..." I replied, and before I could continue she started spinning and twirling about A getting better and newer stuff than she had. After she settled down I had the chance to explain that she had the full-blown CS2 creative suite, while elements was just part of what the real photoshop could do - just a cheaper, lesser version. Well, OK then.

I guess the rivalry never ends. By the way, I selected their laptops since I was buying them, and I wisely got identical ones. You know what she said then? Guess...

"I always have to get the same thing as A gets! Hmph!"

I don't know why I haven't given up, and I don't know why I'm not in jail.

The Pedometer

2008-06-08T19:05:00.008-05:00

Two Christmases ago I gave each daughter a cheap pedometer. They are young adults yet love more than anything to have cool little stuff in their stockings - it has always been their Christmas day highlight. Seven months later, in July 07, I wanted to use one. Neither daughter could find hers. Neither daughter had used hers.

Fast forward about a year, and by this time we have all lost any mental contact with any pedometers. The evening Sunny was digging a nest to lay eggs, rather than fight mosquitoes throughout the evening while waiting to see if she were going to lay, I got an idea! She was just outside daughter B's bedroom window, and I could just go in there, look out the window and check her status. Wrong!

You've heard of path houses, haven't you? Those people who collect so much stuff, boxes of nothing, boxes that have never been opened, thousands of telephone insulators, old cereal boxes, that kind of stuff? And they have it all sitting around their house, on top of tables, obliterating furniture, making doors impossible to close and such and leaving only a narrow path for navigating the rooms? Well, that was almost the state of my daughter's room. I couldn't even get to the window. Here are some examples of true path houses:

http://www.idexter.com/the_house/01_den.html

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?s=e9744d33e932f0de0ec1d35d23523a44&threadid=830487&perpage=40&pagenumber=1

First I had to kick back piles of clothes, move 2 guitars, remove a broken floor lamp that had the top half dangling on her bed, move a desk chair which caused another pile of clothes and stuff (which were precarious to begin with) to fall in my path, etc. When I finally reached the window it was dark and I couldn't even see Sunny by shining a flashlight out the window.

But I digress. In the midst of reaching the window I spied the pedometer, lying lonely and useless under a pile of something. It still worked! I clipped it on! It was fun!

I wore it, even to work, for 2 days, making sure to take extra steps here and there, marveling at how it could be possible that I took more steps in 50 minutes getting ready for work (and going outside with Eddie and the turtles) than I did during the entire 9 hours I was at work! I became determined to change that.

On the 3rd day I was moving more, going down to other offices more, walking further from my car, etc. Then I went to the bathroom. I forgot I had it clipped on, and somehow the act of unbuttoning/unzipping made the pedometer fly off my pants. I was in the "big stall", the one that a wheel chair could pop wheelies in because it's the size of a small bedroom. In other words, plenty of safe space for the pedometer to fall. But no. It chose to fall in the toilet, an area about 1/40th the size of the stall.

I watched as it rocked down in slow motion, sinking all the way until is was partially hidden by the throat at the depths of the toilet bowl. Then I reached in and got it. Yes, I did, I reached down into a public toilet with my bare hand to retrieve a $4 pedometer!

I dabbed it with wads of toilet paper, wrapped it in a paper towel after washing my hands and arm for about 20 minutes, and carried it back to my office. The LCD screen was blank. Little bubbles of water kept oozing out of unseen crevices as I shook it, squeezed it, and blew on it. Water came out of the crease around the LCD screen, around the crease where the 3 rubber operating buttons were, out of the perimeter crease where the front and back were stuck together.

Then I opened the battery compartment and removed the battery. It was wet. Inside, where the battery sits, was wet. I kept dabbing. I found a tiny screwdriver and removed the 2 screws that appeared to be holding the front and back together. They weren't. I couldn't pry that thing apart, but I blew forcefully in the bit of wedged area where I could lift it up a bit. Toilet water spat out on my desk.

After letting the battery and compartment air dry I put the battery back in. Still no LCD. I waited... still nothing. I pronounced it dead and threw it away.

Later I was telling a co-worker about it and she wanted to see it. I got it out of the waste basket and the LCD was on! I shook it lightly, simulating a gait, and it counted! I clipped it back on and it still works today!

And the broken lamp? It wasn't actually broken, the metal base for the bulb had worked its way out of the pole. I worked on it a bit and got it fixed. My daughter did thank me the next day for fixing her beloved lamp. I didn't say a word about her pedometer. I'm keeping it.

How I Met His Parents

2008-06-06T21:53:00.007-05:00

The day began with a bit of a fright. I couldn't eat all my banana because it was over-ripe so I went out to toss it in for the turtles, who love over-ripe bananas. Elwood, Mark, and Sunny were milling around near the front and were immediately happy to receive banana chunks. I peered around a small tree to find another turtle and saw the frightening thing: Rehab was in one of the water pans upside down! I could tell she had been trying to stick her neck way back to flip over but it couldn't reach the ground because the water pan sat just a bit higher. I rushed in and righted her, saving her life. She looked petulantly at me then ambled off toward a banana chunk. Hmmph!

Sunny's eggs are showing small signs of distress - they're beginning to dent inwards just a smidge. If Rebel still isn't fertile then there's nothing I can do about it.

A month ago my daughter decided it was time for me to meet her boyfriend's parents. We finally all had a plan to meet for dinner at Chili's earlier this week. Somehow I arrived 15 minutes early, sat in my car until I couldn't take it any more (it was about 90 outside) and finally went in.

I told the hostess I was meeting 4 other people who were on their way, and asked if it would be possible to be seated early. She was happy to do so, but when I asked for a table instead of a booth she hesitated and began to scrunch her face to tell me why that wouldn't work. I told her I was meeting my daughter's boyfriend's parents for the first time and that I would feel awkward, you know, in that squished together sort of way, in a booth, and that's why I asked for a table. I then said I would just deal with it in a booth.

She said she thought she could find someone to cover a table in the "can't-sit-here-yet" area and showed me to a table in a great location. Within a couple of minutes a waiter appeared and I first thanked him for agreeing to cover the table. He winked, said she explained the situation to him and he would make sure everything went smoothly! I ordered appetizer chips and water (I'm cheap, I know it, and I'm proud!) and began to wait. And wait. Suddenly I realized I was wringing my hands! But wait, I wasn't nervous. Not me. Not I.

I was by a window and in a few minutes I saw a couple about my age walking toward the entrance. I knew it was them. I began to act all cool and casual, and heard the hostess say, "I think part of your group is already here", and took a deep breath. As soon as they walked into my area the dad said "You must be SallySue!" right behind them was the hostess, and behind the hostess was the waiter, and behind the waiter, peering around a post, was another young lady. They were ALL WATCHING the introductions!

The parents took seats across from me, and I swear I don't know how this happened, but after he was seated the dad somehow managed to knock over the chair on the end and it tumbled and scooted across the floor. He kind of looked at it funny, and bent over to get it upright. The mom didn't bat an eye. I wanted to snicker and make a joke. They acted as if it were no different than picking up a glass of water and taking a sip.

We began a conversation and in just a few minutes my daughter and her boyfriend arrived. The chips finally arrived, 2 baskets of them, and the waiter caught me eye and gave me a thumbs-up that no one else could see. Then he took their drink orders and as he was leaving he turned and gave me another thumbs-up.

We visited, not uncomfortably, but not easily either. The dad picked up a chip and took a bite. And somehow, I was watching this and I don't see how it happened, the remainder of the chip, which was gripped by his thumb and finger, flew out of his hand like a fly ball to center field, in a perfect arc, and landed in the middle of the basket of chips. He stuck his neck out a little and puzzled over the basket, cocked his head and squinted a bit, as if trying to decide if a spider was poisonous or not, then picked up a small piece of chip from the edge of the basket, pulled it out, looked at it, I mean turned it over and looked at it on both sides, then put it in his mouth.

What happened next was even funnier. No one said ANYTHING, no one gave a reaction, smiled, nothing. I was pretty sure the mom saw it, and she just sat there like someone was taking a sip of water. I wanted to roar and talk about it, you know, give a blow-by-blow instant replay, but had to stay there, quiet and stiff in my seat. It took great restraint.

The rest of the short evening was uneventful, except for the waiter catching my eye and giving me the secret thumbs-up every single time he came to the table. He gave the 2 checks to me and to the dad, and we each immediately handed them to our respective children who were paying for dinner. We did get excellent service.

I didn't see my daughter until the following day, and found out she was, indeed, a witness to the flying chip incident. She said it was all she could do not to bust out laughing. We talked about it and can't figure out why everyone just sat there like it was normal. It was hilarious, the way it happened. She thinks maybe stuff like that and the chair are common, so in that family it's just normal. Or maybe they were nervous. We don't know.

At least I've met his parents and I like them just fine. Next time will be easier and more comfortable.

A few shots from this evening:

I don't know what this spotless leaf beetle is, but it likes the dayflowers

It rained this afternoon and I spent some time looking for stretching water on the canna leaves. I didn't find any

More raindrops, this time on a spontaneous redbud

This is the same long-horned grasshopper as the other entries. I swear it is

And a close-up of the little fellow

Backyard Wildlife

2008-06-05T21:44:00.007-05:00

This evening while playing with Eddie I saw the little green metallic fly and the larger orange one. I dashed in to get my camera and I never saw them again. So I took pics of other things playing around the dayflowers.

I had pretty good luck for not using a tripod. I took photos at the top of the retaining wall, which is about 4 ft high.

This is the cute little long-horned grasshopper from the other day. OK, I realize if there's one there can be a dozen or more, but I'm pretending it's the same one. They are especially adept at scurrying around to the opposite side of the leaves to escape the full monty. I cropped it weird like this so you could see how long the "long horns" are. They are sometimes over twice the length of the body.

Stinkbug

I finally got a decently clear shot of neolema. I took many pics last summer, but no matter what the face and eyes are always blurry. I'm pretty pleased with this one, and BONUS! She's grooming!

And I also got a decent shot of the oulema.

This thing was even tinier than the beetles. It might be a hyaline grass bug. Or at least some kind of grass bug.

Here it is in profile

My favorite is this one - a really cute spiderette!

The Eggs Look Good

2008-06-04T20:31:00.006-05:00

So far Sunny's eggs appear to be good. I brushed a little vermiculite off and they are still nice and plump. Her nesting site was all covered and disguised today. What a good mama.

I didn't go out to see the turtles until around 7 this evening, and the only ones up were Twyla and Mark. Twyla was again showing she-man dominance, this time over Rehab, who had bedded down among the thickness of the wild strawberries. Twyla was in position but all clamped up by the time I got to them. I've had box turtles since 1979 and I've never had a female like this.

I had taken some nice chunks of nectarine out to them and gave one to Mark, and put one in front of Rehab and Twyla (who I had moved over several feet.) A little later, noticing the stirring, Blocky had come out of slumber and was sharing Rehab's chunk. Even Twyla had stuck her face out a little and was nibbling on hers. I went back in and got the rest of the chunks and put them in areas where I suspect some of the turtles sleep. After mowing I went back out to clean their water pans and every morsel of nectarine was gone, and all were in bed somewhere!

Today I decided that my goal will be to hike up and down the steepness of TM, from bottom to top, 5 consecutive times. This will be in preparation for a hiking vacation my daughter and I will take in the fall. I told her of the plan and she agreed. I don't know if this means I'll get up early on some weekends and start working towards it, but I do know this: I want to enjoy our vacation and not have to stop and gasp for breath on the inclines. I will have to prepare.

Here are a few pics from TM on 6-3-07:

This is one of about 11 - 13 ponds. It's just east of the tadpole, where the empty turtle nest was that I posted several entries ago.

Going south from the taturmobile, this largish lizard kept running ahead, then looking back at me. Click on the photo for a much larger version

A winding trail on the low part, just north of the lower lot

Sunny Side Up

2008-06-03T21:52:00.005-05:00

Tonight Sunny is preparing to lay eggs. I first noticed her in the very back of the compound about 8 pm, already with a good-sized hole going. It's now close to ten and she's still perfecting the little dirt womb. I'm going to try to stay up and collect them tonight, which means a very groggy morning for me. Waa-waa.

So now a few pics from the evening:

Eddie loves his prized miniature soccer ball

Twyla is just so freakin weird! We rarely get even a glimpse of her. This evening, after the turtles' usual bedtime, she was just sitting here, out in the open, all clamped up tight. FYI, turtles sleep in a somewhat relaxed position, never clamped up. I moved her because this was my path to and from Sunny and I didn't want to stumble over her in the dark. Weird turtle. PS FYI, she doesn't appear to be sick, but then how could I really tell?

Sunny busy with her nest

OK, so I finished this post about 10:05 and went back out for my every-quarter-hour egg check, and she had already laid (lain? I don't know) 4 eggs. She laid 2 more, and I caught the last one with my scissor fingers! Egg catching is fun! I moved Sunny, who was in her egg-laying trance, over to the side, then retrieved the rest of the eggs. They all look good, which means squat. Finally I put Sunny back over her nest so she could finish filling it in.

I slightly covered the eggs and put them on the shelf in the toilet room. I didn't think about taking a pic of them before covering them up, and it's probably a sure thing that these will be the ones that hatch. I'll wait 10 - 12 weeks, 3 months, or 90 days, plus a little longer. I am hopeful.

Hiking Substitutes

2008-06-01T16:36:00.015-05:00

Because of itchy bug bites I will severely limit my summer hiking, going only when I can no longer stand not going. A and I are going on a hiking vacation in the fall, so I'll really have to keep with the workouts at the fitness center to be ready.

Since this blog is basically a way for me to make notes about my hikes, and since I won't be hiking much, I will use it for random thoughts and pics throughout the summer. Regardless of what the calendar or astronomers say, I consider summer to be June, July, and August.

Mark's eggs are not fertile. They all collapsed in on themselves within 3 days. I'll keep watching for the other girls to lay and hope that Rebel is doing his part. Hmmm, Rebel and 5 girls... does that make my turtle area a polygaturtlemist compound? I hope Texas doesn't find out about it.

You can see how all the eggs have a large sunken-in area. Since I know they aren't fertile and I'll be discarding them, I turned them to show their sunken in part

Elwood is my daughter's turtle. Here he is on a retaining wall and eyeing Eddie, who is reaching up to look at him

Sorry about this one - for some reason Elwood gets a bit excited when A. holds him. Here he is just beginning to stick it out. His tail and cloaca area are a bit wet because he, uh, squirted on himself

So many things like the little day flowers! Here is a 2-for-1, and as usual I didn't even notice the extra in the photo because I was concentrating on the slug. It's some kind of assassin bug nymph.

I have never ever been able to get a pic of neolema or oulema with the head and eyes sharp. I was about to discard this pic when I realized it's pooping, and has already left a couple of tiny neolema turds on the leaf. This beetle is about 1/8 inch long and maybe 1 1/2 rice grains in girth. So the poopettes are really tiny.

Tiny, green metallic fly. I think they are pretty. Probably they are really nasty little things. I think the little metallic ones are called dancers

Orangish/bronze metallic fly, about twice the size the of the green one

Small long-horned grasshopper trying to evade the camera, and doing a pretty good job of it!