Thursday, May 5, 2011

May

Not to belabor the weather issue, but I do need to document what's going on here.  Seemingly overnight the trees are filling in with various shades of green.  This is no doubt due to all the rain we've been getting almost every day.  Today is the first day in May that the sun has come out, and it looks like it will be raining again tomorrow and again for several days after that.  I thought April was the "showers" month!  But I'm not complaining.

It is also still quite cold - this morning a mere 35 degrees.  John was so anxious to take his bike to work on this first sunny day that he bundled up and braved the 2 miles that he has to drive to work.  He says, and I quote: "Made it to work with the right index finger numb with the beginning stages of frostbite."

Anyway, it's warming up.   I'm not complaining about the cold, either.  We've had so many years of continuous hot and hotter, perpetual sunshine in Florida that I exult in the 30 degree mornings.)

My stick forest (Knob Hill Park) has turned into a springtime paradise.
There are lots of daffodils and violets, as well as the "umbrella plant" that is taking over the forest floor.
Also some other neat little flowers ...
We ran into several silk webs, with plenty of worms in them ...
Jubilee was thrilled with being outside and free to explore to her heart's content.  She picked up a lot of scents, but I had to force her away from this pursuit ...
It was a glorious day for simply being in and looking at the world. 

8 comments:

  1. Light rain every day here, too, but there are trees in blossom -- magnolias and fruit trees -- and the canopy of my street is a lovely spring green. The day lilies have poked through in the garden in front of my place. Still cool here, too. Nice to see the earth covered with vibrantly green grass. I hope it is sunnier next week because I hope to go to the faculty barbecue at my old college and they cancel that if there is rain.

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  2. I hope that you get a sunny day for the barbecue, Barbara!

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  3. P.S. I hate tent caterpillars! Yuck.

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  4. Oh no. Is there something I don't know about "tent caterpillars" (you mean those little worms on the silk webs, right?)?

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  5. ok, I get it. Just read about the tent caterpillar and see that it is indeed the silk worms that I saw. I guess the big problem is de-foliation? But they must serve some kind of purpose in the long run, no?

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  6. Birds eat them. They also drop onto you and cover the sidewalks and paths. Yuck. No silk from these creepy-crawlies -- just moths. Defoliation can be serious, if there is a large infestation of tent caterpillars.

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  7. JOhn seems to think that these creatures might have some part to play in solving our energy crisis. Just the fact that those nests generate heat 50 deg F. above the surrounding temperatures! Maybe if we could put them to work like this, they could be taken off the streets!

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  8. They are seasonal and one would have to employ much energy to keep them in an environment in which they build those tents in trees where they can access food.

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