going sideways

The news lately has not been very promising. Suddenly I feel as though I've been jettisoned back into the COVID era and the horror of those 4 years.

I decided to stop looking at the news for now and just go do my own thing.

I donned a long sleeved shirt sprayed with Buggins, long lightweight pants, gloves with the fingers cut out, and a head net.

I was ready to get out to my happy place even if it meant dealing with T-Rex Skeeters and swarms of gnats.

I also needed to check in on the mules to see how the girls were doing since they were staying out in the woods.

They've been spending a lot of time in the Buckthorn Woods. Yes, they are invasive trees and are horrible to have. I'm going to leave them to the next person who wants to live here. For now, they provide a great shady area for the girls to hang out. It even feels cooler under the canopy.

The air was quite still, but still cool enough since it was only about 7AM. I made my way down the trails to the creek. I wanted to see how the new rains had affected the creek. 

Water! Slow moving beautiful sounding water. Once again the water flows gently through our rather messy creek bottom.

Over the past few years, so many trees have tumbled over crisscrossing the steep banks. Negotiating the bottom takes quite a bit of balance and determination. Sometimes it includes a bit of creative climbing and careful steps when the rocks are wet and mossy.

I brought Glenda, a Lego minifigure along and a couple of Lego creatures. I just knew that between the dappled light and the water, I'd find something that would tease my imagination.

My other favorite thing to do in the creek is look for iron concretions. While climbing around in the dry runs [which are wet] I spotted quite a few and felt like I'd hit the jackpot. These rocks always add textured interest to my succulent garden.

I stuck those in a sack I brought with and sat down on one of the wet rocks just to watch the sun shine through the trees onto the water. It felt so peaceful and comforting. Yes, the bugs were there and they buzzed my head net, but I was able to mostly ignore them.

I took a few shots of Glenda doing Glenda Things. She seems to be an expert at finding and rescuing creatures. Yes, you can actually see well enough through a No-Seeum Head net to take photos!

I'm sure she was as surprised as I was that she found an Iguana in Wisconsin. But since this is a Lego Imaginative play time. It could be anywhere, right?

She heard of a Dove that was lost and so she went searching and calling for it.

Imagine her joy at finding it!

The colors and light that come through the canopy of mixed hardwoods here is so beautiful. It takes an effort to get to and move around. But the journey is well worth it. It isn't grand or spectacular, but in its small way, it is stunning.

Here is a shot with Glenda in the middle of the stream. Yes, I had to build a place for her to stand on a flat rock in the water. Three or four times she tipped over and threatened to gently float away....

But that is the real fun of it all. A difficult hike with all sorts of challenges to get to a spot that feels like my private space in nature.

When things cool off, I'm going to have to bring a little saw to this spot and cut a path through the newly downed trees. With all the rain we've had the soil is saturated and trees on the banks are just letting go. Eventually the trees rot and break up and then are washed downstream in a large flash flood, but that hasn't happened in years.

I had fun and even though I got hot, I enjoyed myself. However, next time I need to spray some Buggins on my legs ... and rear end. Dang Skeeters bit me right on the Bum through my lightweight pants!

Oh well. It was a great place to get sidetracked and enjoy the beautiful outdoors despite the monster Insects...

Today is all about, hurry up and wait. The Home 02 People are going to come 'sometime after noon'. So maybe I'll go do something silly inside to entertain myself.

How about some space adventures???

👋

Welcome June with Bugs!

And there it is. The first day of June. 

Welcome those pesky gnats too. I don't welcome them but since they are part of our natural world here I learn to deal with them.

First off, stop using scented shampoos, deodorant, and lotions. Anything that smells nice is a bug attractant. I stopped using scented laundry soap and dryer sheets long time ago. 

Some of my secret anti - gnat and bug preps are as follows. Wash your face before going outside with the old Noxema face cream stuff. It stinks and smells like Eucalyptus. Gnats hate it. Brush your teeth and rinse with brown yucky mouthwash.

Gnats and bug love the smell of carbon dioxide, they are attracted to your breath when you exhale.

Think about carrying a tiny sample bottle of the stuff and rinsing your mouth as you hike.

I use a couple of different bug repellents. The cheapest is Absorbine Jr. it is down right nasty smelling! But put it on your hat and dab it all over. Just be aware that it will feel like it is heating up if you are working in the sun! 

Menthol is its main ingredient, you SO do not want to put this on your face or under your eyes as it will irritate them!

I used some the other day on the back of my neck. I felt it was on fire when I started to sweat and then realized that the product was simply doing what it was supposed to do. Warm things up.

Bugg. I had three different varieties of Bugg. The blue bottle is not available right now because one of their ingredients is not available. I use the green for gnats and it smells good too.

These are a bit more pricey than brand name bug spray like Off, but easy to carry in a cargo pants pocket and spritz as needed. 

Herbel Armor. This is an old bottle that came in a lotion. Caution, this stuff will even repel husbands. It stinks, but if you wish to keep bugs away? This works well. I use it sparingly and I do not share it. The cost for 8 oz of the stuff is pretty pricey. But, it does work well. I'll be picking some up at the local Food Co-op again this year. I see the 8 oz family size is about $20 on Amazon. Yikes! I should be able to purchase this for $8.99 in town.

Shop local when you can, right?

If all else fails, you can purchase like I have some essential oils and dribble some geranium oil, peppermint, and citronella on an old hat and kerchief.  The whole purpose of keeping those nasty bugs away is to cover your scent.

When it is really bad, I use Vicks Vapo Rub on my ears. Yuck. But the gnats and 'skeeters stay off. 

With skeeters, gnats, and flies, in the summer, I still enjoy getting out in the woods and shooting photos.

In the thick underbrush 'bug juice' is necessary.  

Part of the allure of winter is no bugs.  

Without Proper Prep, I wouldn't last on some days in the woods and be able to enjoy a nice hike.

On ticks. 

Well, I change my clothes when I get back home and hang out my woodsey clothes outside on the porch and do a check and wash up because I smell like Eucalyptus, Menthol and other strong scents. 

I also use some of these essential oils mixed with Witch Hazel for the mules. I have experimented over the years and found that homemade sprays work about as well as the expensive stuff. Which is to say.

Not very well.

Morning

I finally got out this morning and parked at my sunrise spot.

I have hesitated and not gone most mornings because ... well, Rich had his stroke early morning. Had I been gone at work or had I gone for an extended outing of sunrise photos, well...
the story would be different now.

I was happy I went as it seems today will be rainy. Well, that is what the weather folks say.

The gnats were horrid though.

I tried a long exposure combination and you should have seen my arms swatting at the gnats trying to get into my ears and into my brain...ewww...

I'm sure if anyone could have seen me they would have thought that I lost my itty bitty mind.

And maybe I have and maybe I haven't.

I rushed through what is normally about an hour of watching the sun come up and enjoying the views.

But I still had a beautiful quiet time.

And everything was fine when I got home.