Going Turtle

Like my good friend the turtle, I've pretty much been in my shell as of late. Blogging and reading blogs has taken not just a back seat but pretty much the third row seat of late. I've been so disheartened by what's been going on in the political arena that I've crawled inside to wait until the danger's past and everyone's gone away.

Obviously that hasn't happened, but I'm peeking out anyway.

We didn't get much snow this Winter so Mother Nature decided to give it back to us late Spring. Anyone who lives in the Northeast knows that we've been getting plenty of rain from the second half of May on through June. To give everyone an idea, our area has received 50% more rain than what we average in June. I think NYC had it's second rainiest June on record.

So you can say we've been soggy. I think that's why we had a rare turtle sighting in June. And he was a big one too. I'd say his shell was a foot long. Anyway, he was about 500 feet away from the local pond and uphill. I have no idea why he wandered away from it. I guess that since things were so wet he decided to have a look around the neighborhood.


I'm not a fan of using product on my lawn (or my hair). I don't want a monochromatic lawn made up of monolithic grass. I prefer diversity. Sure the dandelions are annoying, but they go away. And all the variety of grasses means that if part of the lawn starts to go, some other strain will move in.

But more importantly, I've got well water. What doesn't get metabolized by the plants trickles down to the aquifer. "Hey kids! Have a glass of 1,2,3 methylhexylchlorobutyldi-isocyanate." Well, not really, but you get my point.

As a result, seeds drift in on the wind (or out some critter's butt) and germinate in my herbicide free yard. Those berries in the picture are wild strawberries. They're spreading throughout my yard and have really thrived this year. If I'd gotten off my butt and sent out the picture sooner to my friends (thanks again Bob and Matt), I probably would've been able to harvest enough to make a jam (they sell kits now in my local hardware store) or make some kind of dessert.

Better luck next year, I suppose. In the meantime, the lawn mower makes a detour and competitors gets weeded out.


There's a small creek that runs behind my house. It's usually only wet in the Spring, when the snow melts. So, with all the rain, it hasn't gone dry yet. The frogs are loving it. They had orgies every night.

My son has gone crazy with bugs. Only entomologists (and little boys) show total fascination with every creepy crawly and buzzing annoyance out there. I think my wife anticipated this and thus bought me Kaufman's "Field Guide to Insects of North America." Thanks to Alex, and this book, I know more about insects than I ever cared to know.

But it's helped me to not panic at the sight of this underneath my deck:

Why not panic at the sight of a melon-sized hornet's nest? Oh because if you leave them alone, they won't waste their stingers on you. They'd much rather use it on prey (various caterpillars).

Still, the wife wants it gone. I'll see if I can postpone it until Fall or Winter. The book says that nests are only used for one season. The Queen moves on and everyone else dies. Hmmmmm, there's a message hidden in that factoid.

Other projects: I've built a garden box (more on that in a future post) and I'm in the midst of turning our bedroom closet into a walk in.

Well, there's another thunderstorm in the area. I better post this before a lightning bolt fries something (phone line got hit last month). Be seeing you.

\_/
DED



P.S.: For those of you wondering about 1971, I haven't forgotten. It was a tough year to figure out but I think it's set now. Hope to get to it soon.