Vaccinated

One big event of the year down, I'm vaccinated. I got my second shot today, as can be seen by the sticker above the big bug on my shirt.

And that big bug is the star of another big event this year, the emergence of Cicada Brood X, most likely in mid to late May. But some could be emerging even now. 

Like Magnus and the Toad, they spend time underground. Unlike those two they spend seventeen years underground. And they all emerge together. A couple billion or so.

That's a lot of bugs. Pretty cool huh?

💉  🦠  💉  🦠  💉

And if you haven't already, get vaccinated as soon as you can. It is good for you. It is good for me. It is good for everybody.

I Must Be Getting Old ...

Last Wednesday I got the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. And the process was extremely well run. My appointment was for 12:30. I arrived ten minutes early as per the instructions. I was in the post shot waiting area by 12:27. And there were at least one hundred other folks in that waiting area as well. Including, arriving just as I was leaving, my friends Joe and Donna*.

There were signs everywhere, pointing out were to go, what each station was, where to get information. And there were signs stating that photography was not permitted. But on the way out there was this sign.

I did not take a selfie. 

Yep. I'm getting old.

💉  🦠  💉  🦠  💉

Patty has gotten both shots. In a couple weeks I'll have my second, and by the end of April it should be at full strength. If you haven't already sign up to get vaccinated as soon as you can. No only does it help you, but the more people who are vaccinated, the less chance the virus, including new strains, can spread. And the sooner we can all get back to doing the things we enjoy with the people we care about.

💉  🦠  💉  🦠  💉

* At least Joe told me Donna was there, I did not see her.

Skittles

Not all birds we see are in our yard.

Although this would certainly be a very cool yard bird.

A Blue-and-yellow Macaw.

That goes by the name of Skittles.

And likes pizza.

Happy Birthday!

While I was inside working Patty was out and about in the yard.

And she spotted this:

Image courtesy Patty Rehn

A newly emerged Dragonfly. You can see the exoskeleton it emerged form on the rock.

Image courtesy Patty Rehn

Do insects have multiple 'birthdays'? One for each transition?

🎂  🐞  🎂  🐞  🎂

In other news ...

I turned 60 today.

And Patty made me a fantabulous birthday dinner.  With a chocolate chip cheesecake for desert. Very yummy!

Social Distancing ...

... In the age of the internet.

Virtual St. Paddy's Day happy hour with my department.

Be happy. And be well.

Benefits

One of the benefits of hosting the Winter Solstice Bonfire Music Jam with Yule log Ceremony is the left over beer. I have friends with eclectic tastes, and I quite enjoy discovering new brews.

Like this one.

A surprisingly tasty beer made with convenience store coffee. Very satisfying after a morning of yard work on a winter's day.

🍺  🍺  🍺

And if you look closely ...

... portrait of the artist in a beer can.

If You Build It ...

... Will they come?

You are looking at a hand made stick nest inside a chicken wire 'bucket' lined with landscaping fabric. I found the plans on the inter webs.

Great Horned Owls do not make their own nests, instead using those made by raptors, once the raptors are done with them of course. And as we've been hearing these owls calling in our woods we thought it would be nice to have a pair nest in the yard. And as this is the time they are looking for a place to settle down it made sense to install a nest for them now.

🦉  🦉  🦉  🦉  🦉

My luck with these projects has not been great ...

... the Pileated Woodpecker feeder attracts Eastern Grey Squirrels ... the flying squirrel box that housed a bee hive ... Prothonotary Warbler boxen which house mud pipe wasps ... Eastern Bluebird boxen used by Carolina Chickadees ... and of course our bat house which has never housed a bat ...

But as they say, the sixth time's the charm!

🦉  🦉  🦉  🦉  🦉

Here it is installed up in a tree, just waiting for the owls to come.

More of an 'owl's eye view'. I don't know what they are waiting for.

🦉  🦉  🦉  🦉  🦉

It wasn't easy getting it up in the tree.

This is me with the first version of the nest, ready for installation. But it was not to be.

Our ladder didn't reach anywhere near the even the first branch, the one the sticks out to the left of the trunk. So I attempted to pull it up with paracord guidelines (look closely and you can see them in the 'owl's eye view' image). And I almost had it. But the from edge was angled to steeply down, so I tried to tug it up. But one of the lines got snagged and when I pulled the whole thing tipped over and sticks came tumbling down. Thats why you see the sticks tied with green string in the first image, so they wouldn't fall out when putting it up in the tree.

Fortunately my friend Joe, last seen in this blog hiking the Batona Trail with us, had a much longer ladder, and the two of us were able to get it up and secured in place.

So now we wait.

Self Portrait

With Jack-O'- Lantern head.

Happy Halloween!

🎃  🎃  🎃

More Chiggers!

On my feet!

They were even between my toes!

Very itchy! (Who's comfortable now?)

Seems they are contagious.

I picked them off and killed them. Although not before getting my 5x macro lens out!

I think these are actually tick nymphs.

Tiny little things, small as the "." at the end of this sentence.

That gear looking thing in the background is the edge of a US 25¢ piece. They could fit in in the gaps.

So check your pocket change, there may be chiggers hiding in there!

One Down, Two To Go

In my last post about our 'War on Deer' I noted that while the fence was up there was still work to do. Including installing three gates.

Make that two gates, as one has been installed. It took two days, mainly because it was too hot to do it in one.

This is the temporary fence across the 'Wildlife Walk' path. This was coming down.

Shown here is the frame for the gate. I needed to dig a pair of two foot holes which, once the poles were in, I filled with rocks and cement. I got lucky with the left side hole, the first attempt hit a three or four inch diameter root (I didn't bother to dig completely around it). My second attempt went between that root and another large root. The right side hole hit no roots issues.

After letting the concrete set for six plus hours it was hard enough to hang the gate.

Image courtesy Patty Rehn

Let me in!

Image courtesy Patty Rehn

Oh wait, it opens. (Or I could have squeezed between the gate and the trees.)

Finished, the gaps between the gate and trees has been fenced off. No more squeezing.

The deer's view. The fencing is a bit more obvious here.

The gate, a kit ordered from the McGregor Fence Company, is five feet wide and seven feet tall. Curiously, the gate pipes come predrilled while those of the frame are not. Necessitating a trip to Lowes for a 5/16" metal drill bit. Otherwise it was very straightforward to install. I expect the next two to be a bit more involved.

Happy Mom's Day!

This is for my Mom.

She hates squirrels.

Almost as much as she hates computers. So she'll never see this.

But it is the thought that counts.

The Sun Will Come Up Tomorrow ...

... and when it does I will no longer be encumbered by employment.

Keep looking up!

Anticipated Encounter ...

... which fortunately did not occur.

My Dad and I were visiting Yellowstone National Park when we came upon folks lined up along the side of the road. This usually means interesting wildlife. So we joined the throng. And saw this.

But upon closer observation, most of the cameras were pointed to the right of the Moose and her calf.

Alas, I was not in a position to get a photo of what they, and the moose, were looking at.

Many, perhaps most, wildlife photographers are respectful of their subjects, and shoot from a safe distance. But there is always that one that has to get closer. And just outside the frame, hidden from me behind the foliage, is that photographer. Fortunately for him or her, there as a drop-off between them and the moose. One that mama Moose could not scale. Much to the disappointment of the crowd around me, who had their cameras at the ready for the 'when animals attack' moment.

🦌  🏔  🚗  🗺

My brother and I were in Moab, Utah hiking about when my sister called. Dad wanted a 'new' car. My sister was getting a new car. She had an old car to trade in. So we hatched a plan. My three siblings and I would divide the trade in value amongst us, buy the car from my sister, and give it to Dad.

The best part of the plan? I would drive it cross country from my sister's place in Spokane to Dad's place in New Jersey. Dad thought this was a fantabulous plan and asked if he could come along. Thus one fine day in June 2002, with no set agenda, Dad and I headed east.

Here we are at Yellowstone. Somewhere behind me are my life Sandhill Cranes.

The reason I was able to take my time on this cross country trip is that I was unemployed. My prior employer had been purchased by another company and while many of the front line workers continued to be employed with the new owners, the management team, including yours truly, was let go. A situation I find myself in once again, as my company was just bought by another, and it is not clear that everyone will find jobs in the new combined company.

Given that Patty is a teacher and gets the summer off, this may mean another cross country trip. If so, I'll try not to wait seventeen years to blog about it.

Optical Illusion

Here are two pictures taken by Patty as I walked along Coopers Road back to Pakim Pond this past Saturday.

Go ahead and bigafy each image and note my size relative to the fence.

Image courtesy Patty Rehn

First I'm tiny.

Image courtesy Patty Rehn

And then, tall.

What's going on?

Weekend Wanderings ... Pakim Pond

A chilly Saturday but pleasant, a bit of cabin fever, so off we go.

When we arrived there were a few cars in the parking lot, and two people with binoculars in the picnic area. We quietly exited the car as they were looking intently at something in the trees.

Up there somewhere are birds. Or so we were told.

Kinglets, but we didn't see them. In fact, we saw no wildlife whatsoever. For the entire hike. No birds, no beasts, no bugs.

It didn't help the the pond was frozen over. Although it did make for a pretty picture.

After confirming the complete and utter lack of avifauna at the picnic area we started off down the trail.

Well Patty did anyways, as I kept stopping for pictures. It's what I do.

Where'd she go?

This map shows where she, and I, went. Starting at Pakim Pond at the upper left, we headed due east (north is up), then turning southeast (you can just barely make out hints of the trail) until we reached Muddy Road, the white line on the right. We followed that south to Glass House Road. Then southwest to Coopers Road, which we followed back to Pakim Pond. A nice unplanned saunter through the Pines.

🚶‍♀️  🚶‍♂️

Throughout our ramble we came upon remnants of a former world, one of concrete structures long gone and surrounded by forest.

I know not what they were and my search, both in books and on line (albeit brief), came up empty.

Update: I expanded my search and found that the Lebanon Glass Works was in this area. "Glass House Road" was a clue to this:

"The Lebanon Glass Works was established in 1851 and was successful until 1867, when it shut down after depleting the supply of wood necessary for the furnace to operate."

🚶‍♀️  🚶‍♂️

There were signs ...

... some informative ...

... some not so much ...

... some high-tech, for a passing fad ...

... and others meant to last (although I'm not so sure about the bench).

🚶‍♀️  🚶‍♂️

We continued down the trail, which as you can see was rather easy to follow, even though we knew not where it led. We were relaxed and enjoying the scenery.

Eventually we arrived at the end of the trail, which required a slight detour around a water hazard.

Delivering us onto the aforementioned Muddy Road. Which wasn't.

Which took us to Glass House Road. No glass houses were in evidence. And through the gate bringing us to the no hunting zone, note the helpful signs on either side.

Flooded Road perhaps a better name on this day.

And while Patty was wearing her Muck Boots, I was not. And needed to negotiate the rapids ...

... and while there was an anxious moment when I hit an icy spot ...

... I made it across upright, unharmed, and most importantly, dry.

🚶‍♀️  🚶‍♂️

From then on it was smooth sailing (walking) on back to our starting place.

We passed through the camping area where there were crazy people staying in tents! And other slightly less crazy people in cabins.

Image courtesy Patty Rehn

And crazy people out walking in the 20° F weather.

Image courtesy Patty Rehn

🚶‍♀️  🚶‍♂️

And soon enough we were back at the parking lot, in our car, and headed to the warmth of home.

It was a very nice way to spend one's time.