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| May apple |
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| Variegated Blue Bell |
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| Jack in the pulpit |
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| Vernal Pool |
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| Columbine |
Well, Memorial Day Weekend is here, and we are on the cusp of summer. Its been a strange spring, in more ways than one. The unusually warm winter was followed by an usually cool spring. Temps held steady in the 50's and 60's for weeks, pretty cloudy overall too. Our last frost warning was in May which was also unusual. I've been trying to grow tomatoes and basil in pots, and nighttime temperatures kept dipping into the 30's several times after April 15th, so I had to bring all my plants inside often. Tomorrow, I believe, summer will finally be here as we have a week straight of temperatures finally in the 80's and upper 70's.
These days, I haven't been hiking much. As I mentioned before, there are still lots of people heading into my neighborhood woods, and the hiking trail there has become very popular during this pandemic. It's an interesting scene, the times I have gone in. There's a steady stream of hikers, families, mountain bikers, trail runners. People sitting on creek beaches, people fishing, people sitting on rocks in the creek reading books, children wading in the water. I've never seen this in my lifetime.
I tend to go in when the weather is crappy, or its raining. Then the numbers are down. At one point I was hiking the deer trail, away from the main route which worked great, until I found a deer tick embedded in my leg. I didn't want to catch lyme's disease on top of everything else going on, so I stopped doing that. Mostly I walk through the neighborhood now.
Otherwise, the woods have been coming to life. The summertime toad chorus just began yesterday. The wildflowers have been great, everything is greening real good now. The mountain laurel are just starting to pop, and this week will be their primetime. It looks like it will be quite a blooming show this year too. I plan on checking it out this week sometime...
I've been thinking about hiking a lot more than actually hiking recently, too. Too many trails where you really can't keep distances, and then we've had about a week of early curfews. Going to try to psych up for a weekend hike, though.
ReplyDeleteAbout a week ago, on one of my many nights of my laying in bed and not falling asleep, for some reason, I thought of my tick spoon. Hadn't seen it in years, but it suddenly occurred to me that it was in a camera bag, with a camera I haven't used since I went DSLR, about 8 years ago or so. My wife found her first "tick spoon" at a vet's place when she lived in Delaware, and got me one when I came back from a hike in Rubio Canyon with an embedded tick. Used it once or twice more for Rubio Canyon ticks, and maybe once while I was in Kentucky. Really handy, effective, and easy to use, if you can see the tick. If they're in your back, you'd need some help, of course! I think I'll move it into one of my dslr camera bags, while I'm thinking of it.
Anyway, if you're worried about ticks, I'd say google "tick spoon." :D
Hey Skyhiker, I actually carry one in my hiking first aid kit, although can't say I've ever used it. Also have a tweezers in there that I've always used for ticks when backpacking. A bit redundant, I guess. Maybe I'll have to try it out one of these times...
ReplyDeleteThe spoon has a notch so you can be sure to catch the mouth when you lift it out. No chance of squeezing them or breaking their mouth off like if you try to tweeze them out. Removing them successfully within the first day (which is a long time!) is supposed to minimize your chances of getting Lyme disease, while squeezing them or breaking off their mouth can result in more "backflow" from the tick, and an increased risk of infection. After my one experience trying to tweeze one out, yeah, the spoon was definitely better!
ReplyDelete