I Love To Go A Gardening
Growing Our Life in Northern Michigan
The Mystery of the Missing Cucumbers
At the beginning of summer, I was absolutely craving cucumbers so we bought a couple plants. All summer long, I have been waiting for cucumbers to ripen. When one ripened, I would carefully carry it into the kitchen, cut it into slices, sprinkle the slices with salt and pepper, and savor each delicious mouthful.
Every few days I’d walk out to the garden to see if any more had ripened. Sometimes I felt a bit confused because I thought there had been more growing than I found. I thought, “Huh. I must have miscounted.” I was just thinking this morning that I was very disappointed in the number of cucumbers we had this year.
Then I discovered that I have not been miscounting at all. I happened to glance out of our bedroom window this afternoon and saw the criminal mastermind and her two apprentices.
While I watched, the deer also ate our sunflower plant. Not a huge loss because there wasn’t even a flower on it yet, and there’s not enough time left this summer for there to be one, but still….I suppose that at least we can find the vulnerabilities in our garden and try to tighten up security for next year.
This is likely the same doe who warned me away from her fawns when I encountered them at Rabbit Meadow at the end of June. This is the clearest view I have had of the fawns. I love watching the deer…even if they steal from the garden.
While I was out in the garden this afternoon, I discovered a few more thieves. I had to laugh when I saw them. They think they are being so sneaky, but they are really quite bumbling and obvious.
Why is it that the “beneficial” critters are ugly and scary like Shelob, and the thieves are so adorable that I have to resist hugging them and giving them everything they want?
To Be Or Not To Be
I’m a member of a homestead group in which members share about their “little slice of heaven” and ask for and give advice. Last night someone (I can’t remember who) shared a photo of his leg where he (or she?) had been bitten by a spider. It looked like a large, nasty bruise. Another person shared a similar photo of a spider bite, which was taken after days of antibiotics because the bite had gotten infected. The likely suspect was a wolf spider, which they both believed had bit them at night as they lay in their beds. One of them said that he (or she) could see the marks of the spider’s fangs. EEEEEKKKKK! I lay in bed staring terrified into the darkness, and I began to have a dialogue with myself about the fate of Shelob, much like Gollum did when he debated with himself over whether to kill the “nasty hobbitses.”
People say that Wolf Spiders are nonaggressive, nonthreatening but Shelob’s very existence terrifies me. I hates them. I hates her.
Shelob is staying in her hole but can I trust her to remain there? What if she leaves and gets into the house, crawls onto the bed, and bites me! I can’t forget what the photos of the wolf spider bites looked like–or that one person said there were fang marks! Fangs! Like a vampire or a werewolf!
People say that wolf spiders are beneficial and eat “bad” insects. But exactly who determines which creepy-crawlies are “good” and which are “bad”? Shelob looks pretty villainous to me. What terrible things are out there that are worse than her so that she is good in comparison???
I decided in the dark of night that as soon as EJ left for work the next morning, I would kill Shelob. All I would have to do is pour a little toxic potion (like half a bottle) into the hole. Then she would be dead, and so (I hopefully assumed) would her egg sack be, and I wouldn’t have to fear her or her millions of children. EJ reminded me last night that Shelob will die soon anyway–in the autumn. He was trying to reassure me that I didn’t need to kill her, but I thought that “What did it matter if I killed her? All I would be doing is ending her life a little sooner.”
I felt like both Sam and Frodo arguing over Gollum’s fate. Gollum reminds me of Shelob. He even looks like a spider. Sometimes I am determined that Shelob should die, other times I think that now that I’ve seen her, for some reason, I pity her.
Despite my night-time decision to kill Shelob, when I went out to release the ducks and chickens from their coop this morning, I stopped at her lair. Shelob had done more repair work so that the entrance was built up like a chimney. And there was something white-ish lining the entrance. Is she using some sort of webbing to shore up the entrance so it doesn’t crumble? This is rather interesting. I have a unique opportunity to observe a creature in nature. Ok, so I will honor our Non-Agression Pact and let Shelob live. Today…today she lives.
I wonder if I would have been so eager to moved up North if I had known that there were very scary spiders up here. I wondered how far north a person would have to move before it became too cold for spiders to exist? Or does even the cold arctic have spiders–ferocious abominable snow spiders?
I decided that I would still have moved to Northern Michigan because this area is magical. There is so much to love–the forests, and lakes, and flowers, and deer, and turkeys, and rabbits, and much, much more. This morning I noticed dew-covered dandelions gone to seed, and grass covered with dew, and a pretty yellow flower. I enjoyed watching the rouen ducks splashing in their pool. (Click on photos to appreciate the detail.)
Every Eden has a snake, every superhero has his nemesis, and every Enchanted Forest has a giant spider. That’s just the way it is.
After EJ and JJ left for work this morning, I went out to the garage and found the orange extension cord. I snaked it through the little garage window and into the coop, and plugged in the Christmas lights. I have three strands of Christmas lights, but after making sure that they all worked, I kept only one plugged in–the one lighting the chicken side of the coop. The chickens laid only four eggs yesterday, so I wanted to see if they will lay more with extra light. They laid six eggs today, but I don’t know if it was the result of the lights.
The temperatures dropped low enough over night that I definitely needed a sweatshirt this morning. Brrrr. It warmed up some, but was still rather cool-ish. I liked it. It was absolutely perfect weather for mowing the lawn. When I mowed close to Shelob’s lair, I think the vibration of the mower and the grass bits blowing into her hole disturbed her because she poked her head out. “Don’t you dare come out. Don’t you dare,” I warned. She didn’t.
Our Non-aggression Pact seems to be holding for another day.
Please pray for the people experiencing Hurricane Harvey’s fury.
Non-Aggression Pact
I thought about Shelob, the monstrous spider, all day yesterday. I was born and raised and have lived in Michigan all my life, and never have I seen spiders as big as the ones I’ve found up here in Northern Michigan. The spiders downstate scared me, the large wolf spiders in the north are terrifying, and Shelob is so big that she is beyond horrifying.
Still, by late afternoon I had decided that maybe I wouldn’t kill Shelob because in the three summers we have lived here in the Enchanted Forest, I have not seen any sign whatsoever of Shelob or her relatives. I never suspected that she even existed until I flooded her home. It would indicate that she is not aggressive. In fact, I’m the one that invaded her space, not the other way around. So if she stays out of sight and doesn’t threaten my space, maybe we can co-exist. JJ stated, “So you are making a Nonaggression Pact with her.” Exactly.
But last night, I lay in bed with wide eyes, remembering…Not only did some of my family watch scary Saturday movies of monstrous giant spiders terrorizing a community, not only did giant villainous spiders attack innocent dwarves traveling through Enchanted Forests, but there was a period in which detective/crime shows all seemed to have episodes in which a Bad Guy would place or send a tarantula in a box to a victim he wanted to threaten. The tarantula always got out of the box, and it always sloooowly crawled across the bed toward the unsuspecting sleeping victim. It traumatized me for a lifetime. Last night in the dark I thought, “Oh, yikes, if I woke up to find Shelob sloooowly crawling across the bed toward me, I would freaking lose my mind.
This morning I told EJ that I really wasn’t sure if I could allow Shelob to live. EJ said, “Will it help to remember that cooler weather is coming and she will die soon?” Yeah, but her children will live on. I will never forget how she popped out of her hole and landed with a thud on the grass. Never. I’m still traumatized by Shelob. Every stick is a snake, every fluff of dog hair scurrying across the floor (Danny sheds a lot) is a spider, every hole is a lair, and everything I don’t see is something in hiding waiting to pounce.
Every time I’ve gone out to the duck pen, I’ve checked the hole and it is definitely as small as it was before I flooded it. I really don’t know how that HUGE spider can get out of that little hole to nab her prey. I found an old garden sign and I wrote Shelob’s name on it and stuck it in the ground hear her hole–mostly just for a laugh, but also so I won’t forget it’s there and accidentally walk too close. I meant to stick it closer to the hole, but it took all my courage to place it where I did.
I think Shelob’s life hangs by a thread. Our Non-aggression Pact has to be renewed daily.
Yesterday EJ said that he had the Suburban’s window open and he felt something go into his ear as he was driving home from work. After supper he got a Q-tip rubbed it in his ear and pulled out a ladybug. Ugh. That reminded me that when JJ went to his doctor last year, the doctor told him that in the other exam room they had just pulled out a spider that had crawled into a kid’s ear. Yikes!
Last night Michigan’s Upper Peninsula was so cold that they had frost. We didn’t get that cold last night, although it was definitely sweatshirt weather today. Areas in Northern Michigan could get frost tonight. We don’t seem to be in the bull’s-eye area, but that’s not saying that we couldn’t get it. I’m not sure what it would do to our garden. Most of our tomatoes are still green, the cabbage hasn’t formed heads yet, there’s baby zucchini and squash not big enough to pick, and I haven’t harvested all my herbs. I put a couple of things in the dehydrators today, and then one dehydrator quit working. I need more time to harvest before any frost hits.
I also began freezing some of the chicken eggs in case the chickens stop laying in the winter. I found only four chicken eggs today. I hope they aren’t slacking off already!
Please pray for the people in Texas as Hurricane Harvey moves in. I have a dear friend down there. I’m rather concerned about her.
Shelob’s Lair
When EJ got home from work yesterday, he opened our bedroom window. As soon as I saw that it was opened, I closed it again. Sometimes he grumbles a bit that I shut the windows at night. He would at least like to keep our bedroom window open. Last year we replaced three of our windows, but our bedroom has one of the two windows that need still replacing. The screens don’t fit tightly and there’s a small gap at the bottom. I close it because I don’t want insects crawling in at night. After reading that Wolf Spiders are active at night, and with a giant Wolf Spider’s lair just a few feet from our bedroom window, I feel completely justified in closing the window at night.
I have been suffering from residual fear since my encounter with the scary spider yesterday. Terror has coiled in my stomach and tensed all my muscles. If I see, hear, or feel anything unexpected–a clump of dirt, a wisp of pet hair drifting across the floor–I jump like a scared cat. Occasionally–like yesterday evening–I go through the house spraying spider spray anywhere I think might hide spiders.
I think spiders stir up deep fears, which may be why so many horror stories and fairy tales feature spiders. I remember the Saturday afternoon horror movies of my childhood in which a giant spider would terrorize a community. I never liked horror/monster movies and avoided them if I could, but I had older siblings who watched them. Enchanted Forests always have big scary spiders–like the spiders Bilbo and the dwarves became entangled with in The Hobbit. And there’s Shelob, the huge spider that almost killed Frodo in The Lord of the Rings:
“But still, she [Shelob] was there, who was there before Sauron, and before the first stone of Barad-dûr; and she served none but herself, drinking the blood of Elves and Men, bloated and grown fat with endless brooding on her feasts, weaving webs of shadow; for all living things were her food, and her vomit darkness.“—The Two Towers, Lord of the Rings
This morning when I walked out to the coop to release the ducks and chickens, I took a flashlight with me even though it was light enough not to need one. I swept its light back and forth in front of me, hoping to see and avoid the spider if she was out there. She was large enough for a person to trip over. She was large enough that a person could put a leash on her and take her for a walk if they wanted to, although I think only evil villains would want to. I shared her photo in the bug identification group at Facebook and a few people said she was beautiful. I think that only people who have gone over to the Dark Side would find such a monster beautiful. Their secret “real” names are probably something like “Maleficient,” “Cruella,” “Sauron,” or “The Wicked Witch of the West.”
I decided to call the spider Shelob. I didn’t see any movement in the grass this morning. After I let the ducks and chickens out of the coop, I went over to look at the hole of Shelob’s lair. I seem to have developed some sort of a horrified attraction to it. In fact, I am now watching apprehensively for holes–any and all holes–on our property. There is a fist-sized hole at the base of one of the rock dams I built along the driveway. I’m staying well away from it. If a little finger-sized hole can contain a spider as large as Shelob, can you imagine what could lurk in a fist-sized hole?
I have gone out to look at the hole to Shelob’s lair several times throughout the day. I can see the indentation where the hole had flooded and caved in, but it’s filling in, and the hole itself is growing smaller and smaller, back to what it was before I flooded it yesterday. I’m sure that Shelob has returned home and is repairing her lair.
This presents me with a moral dilemma: Do I kill Shelob or let her live?
I have no reluctance about killing spiders. In fact, yesterday I moved the bird bath from near the big rocks over to the flower garden near the house. After I moved it, I found a tiny Black Widow spider on it. I went right into the house, grabbed JJ’s handheld bug zapper racket, and killed it without any hesitation. I had always read that Michigan had Black Widows, but I never saw one until we moved north. I never suspected Michigan had tarantula-sized spiders either until we moved north. I would think we’d have fewer scary insects in the colder north, not more.
I don’t why I feel hesitant about killing Shelob. I can’t believe I’m not going right out there and immediately spraying her lair with my death spray. She is huge, ugly, and scary like a tarantula. Knowing she exists is terrifying. Spiders have millions of babies. Knowing she will reproduce others of her kind is absolutely horrifying.
But it’s always been my policy, that if a spider (or other creepy crawly) is in my territory–which includes my body, personal space, and house–then it will die. I’ve always left them alone if they were in their own territory, which is outside and not on or near me, and if they are not a poisonous, venomous threat. In the three summers that we’ve lived in Northern Michigan, I’ve never seen any sign of a spider that size, including after I noticed the hole. So maybe I shouldn’t kill her. I probably shouldn’t have given the spider a name because it makes her seem more personable so it feels as if I would be murdering E.T. or something. Or maybe every hero needs an arch-enemy.
What do you think? Feel free to share your reasons for your decision as well.
Dr. Frankenstein’s Monster
Yesterday was very humid–I think it might have been the hottest day this summer. A storm moved in about 8 p.m. It was a little early, but I went out to put the poultry to bed before the storm got too bad. The chickens all went into the coop themselves when it began to storm so all I had to do was shut their little door. The ducks stayed out in the rain until I herded them into the coop. They might not mind the rain, but I didn’t want to be out in pouring rain.
The storm cooled everything down so that the temperatures today were in the 60s. It felt more like late September than late August! That doesn’t bother me–I prefer jeans and sweatshirt weather. It rained a little bit at around 10 a.m., but other than that we just had dark dramatic clouds lumbering across the sky through much of the day. They made the day dimmer than what we experienced during the eclipse.
This morning I went outside to work on the injured wire deer. With it laying on the table, I felt a bit like Dr. Frankenstein putting together his monster. I successfully put the deer together although I had some pieces left over. I think they were merely part of a stand to hold the leaping deer up, but I suspect some of the pieces were missing because I couldn’t make sense of any of them. None of them logically fit together. Oh, well.
After I got the deer fixed up, I released it into the wild. It happily leaped off into the Enchanted Forest. I felt very satisfied.
Putting together the pieces of the deer this morning made me feel a bit like Dr. Frankenstein. But then this afternoon I saw Frankenstein’s monster for real. It scared me so much that I trembled and I almost had a heart attack.
You know how in the scary movies, someone hears a strange noise or sees something weird and he/she walks toward it to investigate? And you, the watcher, knowing that it’s a terrible monster or serial killer lurking in the shadows, want to shout a warning: “Don’t! Danger! Run!”
My story is something like that.
For weeks I’ve been seeing a hole in the ground not far from the gate to the duck pen. I’ve been wondering what lived in it. A snake? A spider? A cicada? An unusual insect? Nothing? Whatever it was–if it was anything–it had to be relatively small because the hole was just the diameter of my finger. Nothing to worry about.
This afternoon when I went out to gather eggs and refill water buckets, I noticed the hole again and my curiosity overcame me.
Someone should have been there to warn: “Don’t! Danger! Run!”
I had the garden hose in my hand and, standing a couple feet away just to be safe, I directed the stream of water at the hole. The hole filled and crumbled into a bigger hole, and water began to geyser up into the air.
Suddenly, up popped a body…a very large ugly body. It was the largest, ugliest spider I had ever seen. It made the large wolf spiders I’ve seen look small and cute. (Not really–wolf spiders will never be cute.) I just about had heart failure. I began to tremble and felt like fainting, vomiting, and pooping my pants all at the same time. I ran into the house for the spider spray–and my camera.
As I walked through the garage, I was filled with indecision: The spider was outside, not in the house. Maybe I shouldn’t spray it. What if an animal I liked–wild or domesticated–ate its toxic dead body and died? I left the bottle of spray in the garage and went outside.
When the spider had popped out of the hole, it had landed on its back. When I got back outside, I saw it turn itself over. It was ALIIIIIVE!
YIKES!
It began to crawl towards the house. That does it! I took a photo of it and then ran into the garage and grabbed the bottle of spray.
When I got back outside, it was gone! I fearfully looked around, but it had disappeared! Vanished! The only thing worse than a spider I see is one that I know is there but can’t find!
YIKES!
I went up to our bedroom window and sprayed. Then I ran inside the house to the bedroom window, and sprayed again from the inside. Then I shut and locked the window.
Enchanted Forests always have wonderful, magical things it them. But they also always have evil giant spiders in them. Always.
When I told my horror story to my guys, they laughed at me. They are no comfort–no comfort at all. I texted my friend, who recommended that we burn our house down and start over from scratch. She totally gets it.
I’m trying to find the identity of the spider so I know just how much more terrified of it to be. Is it going to shoot venom at me? Or wrap me in its web and hang me from the trees? (Where is Bilbo’s “sting” when I need it?). Will it latch onto my head and suck out my brains?
I’m asking a bug identification group at Facebook if they know what it is. I’ll post what it is when I find out. Some guesses are a Burrowing Wolf Spider or a Carolina Wolf Spider. I read that the Carolina Wolf Spider is “the largest ‘wolf spider’ in North America. Females reach 22-35 millimeters in body length. Their leg span is greater still. This spider may hunt actively at night, or wait in ambush at the mouth of its burrow, where it hides during the day. Adult males may wander indoors during mating season.”
About wolf spiders, in general, I read:
Wolf spiders or lycosids are fairly common predators that feed on large insects and other spiders. They are not known to be aggressive, but they will bite in self-defense if handled roughly. Their venom is not particularly dangerous.
Most lycosids do not construct snares (webs) but hunt their prey on the move like wolves do (hence their common name). Some live in burrows in the ground and ambush their prey as it crawls past the opening of the burrow. Wolf spiders are usually a shock to people who are unfamiliar with them because of their large size and some have mistaken them for an escaped pet tarantula. Others are concerned that they might be the brown recluse spider which is not known to occur in Michigan. Most wolf spiders hunt at night but occasionally they can be found during the day. Female wolf spiders carry their young on their backs for a considerable time after they hatch. Wolf spiders normally enter the house near ground level and are normally encountered in basements, crawlspaces, and breezeways. These spiders occur in very low numbers, and usually homeowners encounter only one or two of them.
Yeah, they look like tarantulas. They are freaking terrifying! And who, seriously, “handles” a huge ugly wolf spider, roughly or not????
YIKES!
Eclipse 2017 – Northern Michigan
Today was THE day. The BIG day. The day that the solar eclipse traveled across the USA.
We weren’t anywhere near the full path in Northern Michigan, but we were supposed to be able to see about 75% of it. At first very cloudy skies were forecasted–like 80-90% cloud cover–but as the day neared, the forecast changed. I don’t know if technically we had partly cloudy skies or partly sunny skies, or mostly sunny–and I didn’t risk looking at the sky so I don’t actually know how many clouds we had–but I know we had far fewer clouds than originally forecast.
I had learned that a person could see the eclipse using a colander. The sun shining through the colander on a white piece of paper would act sort of like a pinhole viewer. EJ told me where I could find a couple old colanders in the garage, so I went searching for them and found them. I got some white paper from Ms. Pennyweather, which is what we call our secretary (the desk, not the person). I set the colander and paper up in the sun on the deck. The light from the holes blinked off and on, dim then bright, as clouds moved across the sky. I watched and watched the light from the colander, but I never did see any sign of the eclipse. I did think the pattern of light through the colander was interesting.
I know many people were concerned that the eclipse might damage the eyes of their animals, and if they were concerned, there was certainly no harm in keeping their pets inside. However, I have lived through the 1979 eclipse and many other partial eclipses, and I never even heard a rumor that the eclipse could hurt animals. I would think that it would be big news if it did because there would be hundreds (or thousands) of blind wildlife crashing about. So I wasn’t worried about my animals. On hot and humid days like today, I keep the coop doors open for air circulation. I thought that shutting my birds up in a stifling coop would cause them more suffering than damage from the eclipse. I did go check on the ducks and chickens a couple of times to see if the eclipse would make them act strangely, but I saw no change in their behavior.
I’ve seen awesome photos of the eclipse that other Michiganders took, but I didn’t want to risk ruining my camera by trying to get a photo of it. EJ actually got a photo with his phone through a welding lens at work. However, the only thing that I, myself, noticed was the light getting dimmer for a bit–but no more than it usually does on a cloudy day in Michigan. We get a lot of cloudy days because of the Great Lakes.
Although I saw little signs of the eclipse, I did watch it on NASA’s live stream on Facebook. I set my laptop near the window so I could hear it through the open window while I sat out on the deck. However, during the full eclipse in other areas, I came inside to watch it…and to cool off.
It was awesome to watch the beautiful eclipse and I was almost envious of those who actually got to experience it. I say “almost envious” because I wasn’t seriously envious. Sometimes I’m in the right place to view celestial events, and sometimes I am not–that’s just the way it is. I’m glad all those people got to experience it. And although I often see memes at Facebook that say, “I’m glad I grew up in a world without technology,” the truth is that without technology, I would not have been able to experience even secondhand the awesome eclipse. I was just glad for technology that allowed me to see it on-line.
I have always loved to witness “historic events” and the eclipse certainly was historic. Even though I didn’t get to witness the eclipse firsthand, I can tell stories to my someday grandchildren of what I know of the event–my own memories as well as the stories my friend who lives in Oregon in the path of the eclipse shared. For several months she has been posting on Facebook information about the eclipse–such as that campgrounds and motels were booked solid for months, that authorities were warning residents to stock up on gas and necessities because of the expected thousands expected to flood into the area, that there were people from all over the world visiting the area, and there were miles-long traffic jams. It was very interesting.
Speaking of historic eclipses, today I came across a video on Facebook of Walter Cronkite, the CBS news anchor who I grew up watching, reporting on the last solar eclipse in 1979. It was fun to see it:
A Michigan weather Facebook page just shared that 2024 is going to be an even better eclipse show for those of us in Michigan than this year’s because the majority of Michigan will see 90-98% of totality. That’s cool and something to look forward to!
Chasing After Butterflies…
Today I chased after butterflies….both figuratively and literally and maybe even metaphorically.
I had trouble getting motivated this morning. I’d start a task, and then get distracted and side-tracked. I usually make the bed while the cats are eating their canned food, which I divide among them in the morning. However, I forgot today so Timmy was sleeping on the bed when I went to make it. Then it took me about 20 minutes to make the bed because Timmy woke up and was being so cute that I had to keep pausing to give him lovings.
I finally got some laundry washed and took it out to hang on the clothesline. The day was perfect for drying clothes outside–sunny and breezy. I love hanging the clothes outside because our Enchanted Forest is so beautiful and peaceful.
I had just started hanging up clothes when I saw two Monarch Butterflies playing tag near the butterfly bush, so I left the basket of wet clothes near the clothesline and wandered over to take a video. The butterflies twirted around so quickly that it was difficult to keep them in view, but I did manage to capture them on video:
I went back to hanging up the clothes, but had to stop whenever the butterflies flew near to take another video. They fluttered off, so I went back to hanging clothes, but then I saw some interesting mushrooms, so I stopped to photo them. I actually found several different types of interesting mushrooms throughout the day:
Between loads of laundry, I sat on our little park bench near the deck and took Christmas lights off the wire deer that the previous owner left behind.
While I was taking off the Christmas lights, I happened to glance down and see an interesting spiderweb. It looked sort of metallic. I stopped taking the lights off the deer and took a photo of the spider web. I thought it was amazing–although I’ve got to wonder what kind of spider weaves metallic webs???
I went back to taking Christmas lights off the deer. I heard EJ hammering near the clothesline, so I got up to peek at what he was doing. He was building me a platform to hold the laundry baskets. I took photos of him. He protested, but I reminded him that he is my muse, my inspiration. I love taking photos of him:
After I finished taking the lights off the deer, I took my red stool, a hammer, and some nails out to the coop and hung the Christmas lights inside. I’ve read that one of the factors that cause chickens to stop laying eggs in the winter is the lack of light. So I thought I’d hang up Christmas lights to see if it’s true. At the very least, it will provide a festive light for me. While I was hanging the lights, I noticed one hen looking in at another hen in the nesting box. I thought it was cute so I stopped and took a photo.
While I was hanging Christmas lights, EJ got out our folding table and filleted the fish he caught yesterday. Then he went inside and cooked the fish and made a side dish of zucchini, squash, tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese, all of which came from our garden. Well, except for the cheese. It was very, very delicious. There wasn’t much left of the fish after supper. Well, there was actually enough leftover that EJ said he will make a chowder tomorrow. He knows more about cooking fish than I do.
EJ was going to throw the wire deer away after I took off the lights, but I had grown rather fond of them so I suggested to him that we could put one deer at the bottom of our driveway with our house numbers on it. He thought that was a good idea. Meanwhile, I put one of the two deer up on the hill near the big rocks in our front yard. I think the deer looks regal.
The second deer needs its back legs fastened more securely. I laid him on the folding table that EJ had left out as if it was a deer he was getting ready to cut up. I didn’t tell him about it because I thought it would be funny for him to unexpectedly find the deer on the table. He did come into the house a bit later laughing over it.
When EJ was filleting the fish, he threw the tail to the ducks and the head to the chickens. I went out later and found the head lying untouched in the chicken pen. I told EJ that I didn’t think the chickens liked it…so he went out and put it on the ledge inside the ducks’ little pool. I looked out the window later and the fish head was still there and the ducks were standing at the opposite end of the pool. I thought, “Ducks are water birds and they eat fish. What kind of ducks are you that you aren’t eating the fish?” I mean, I think wild ducks eat whole fish–they hardly wait for someone to fillet it for them. EJ went out and buried the fish head in the garden.
I went with EJ while he buried the fish head and afterwards we wandered through the meadow alongside the driveway. I was searching for interesting insects among the milkweed that I could photo while EJ went ahead and wandered through Deer Valley. When we rejoined each other on the driveway, he told me that he picked up some boards that he was going to drag up to the hill to burn and found a nest of little snakes underneath them. There were about four pencil-long snakes. He believes they were garter snakes. He put the boards back down and left them. I would have taken photos of them, but I didn’t want to get too close to a nest of snakes.
Near the bottom of the driveway, we saw the grass all flattened down in Rabbit Meadow where deer have lain. Cool!
We continued on, and around the curve EJ suddenly exclaimed, “Look! Those are Brown Thrashers!” EJ has seen Brown Thrashers before, but these are the very first ones that I have seen. There were about five of them. That makes, uh, about seven or eight (I’ve lost count) new birds I’ve seen this summer! I am thrilled! I took lots of photos. I wasn’t sure any of them would turn out because the birds were easily spooked so we kept back and I zoomed way in with my camera. Some were blurry but I did get a few good photos.
We often see a little rabbit just past the pine trees at the entrance to our neighbor’s driveway, so we snuck quietly to see if we could see him this evening. I couldn’t resist: As we sneaked, I whispered to EJ, “Shhhh! Be vwery, vwery, qwiet.” We did see the little rabbit just where we expected. We watched him for a bit and I took photos. He (or she) was about teenager-sized and was very cute. I was able to zoom in and get closeups. In some of the photos I can see the details of his ears.
Despite all my literal, figurative, and maybe even metaphorical chasing of butterflies that I did today, I got all my tasks done: bed made, laundry washed, Christmas lights in the coop hung, dishes washed, carpets vacuumed. Plus, we had lots of fun and saw many interesting things. It was a very good day in the Enchanted Forest.
To See The World In A Grain of Sand…
Yesterday was a very cloudy, rainy day. The clouds were not dramatic storm clouds. They were gray, glowering clouds that dimmed the daylight, making it feel more like twilight. It rained off and on, sometimes lightly, sometimes heavily, but never pouring buckets. I took my umbrella when I walked down to the mailbox, which is a good thing because it started to rain heavier when I stepped out the door. I think my umbrella is beautiful, and I like walking in the rain, and I had fun taking photos of the scenery from underneath my umbrella. I am easily entertained.
EJ was invited to go fishing on the bay today with some guys from work. It was actually a company tournament involving teams on six boats. EJ decided to go, although part of him was a little anxious because you never know whether you are going to hang out with a group of really nice guys or be stuck on a boat with a bunch of jerks. At his company downstate, many of his co-workers went to the bar after work and EJ never cared to join them. I prayed all day that the guys would be decent guys and that EJ would have a lot of fun. I was relieved when he came home early this afternoon and said he had a great time. He brought with him a good-sized fish, although he says that it was small compared to the fish the others had caught. EJ had charged his camera to take with him, but then he forgot it. Bummer. I did get this photo of EJ’s catch when he got home. He was going to cook the fish tonight, but he got a late start so we decided to have fish for dinner tomorrow.
With EJ gone fishing and JJ at work, I had a very quiet and relaxing Saturday at home. I read, crocheted, and watched Netflix. Other than take care of the ducks and chickens, the most strenuous thing I did was walked down to the mailbox for the mail. Today it was very sunny, although there is a slight autumn coolness in the air. I have trouble remembering that it’s only mid-August because it feels more like September.
When I walk down the driveway, I sometimes focus on enjoying the wildflowers. Other times I focus on the birds, listen and watching for both familiar and unfamiliar birds. Sometimes I try to walk extra quietly to see if I can spot deer, turkeys, or little rabbits. Other times I pay close attention to insects. I take photos of anything beautiful, interesting, or new.
Today I focused on insects. I found a few interesting ones, like this one. I got two photos of it. I do not know what it is.
After awhile, I switched my focus to what I call “anthills,” although I am not sure if they are technically called anthills. We have these anthills all over our property so sometimes I imagine that our hill must be hollow with ant tunnels. I see large, medium, small, and teeny-tiny ants, as well as ants that are black, and some that are red, and even some that are both black and red.
Some of the anthills are built up quite tall. Today I stooped down to take photos of them. I thought they looked like miniature pyramids or tiny sculptures. I thought they were amazing.
I also took note of the pattern the rain made in the sand as it ran down the hill. I like seeing the beautiful designs in sand, or mud, or water, or fire. Like these, some of which I took today and some last summer:
As I photoed the anthills today, a poem by William Blake kept running through my mind:
“To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.”
Life in Hidden Places
Somehow, the week has zoomed by and it’s already over.
Tuesday was JJ’s day off from work and we were busy. We both had errands to do so we combined our tasks and went together. Our first stop was at the grocery store. JJ’s park ranger job is winding down for the season and he needs to find another job. After much thought, he decided to try to get his old job back. He liked it well enough and it’s close to home, which is a benefit in the winter. I waited in the Buggy (our name for the Xterra) while he went in to talk to the manager. He returned with a smile on his face. The manager said he could certainly return. Five of his co-workers told him they were glad he was coming back. He begins as soon as his ranger job ends–I think in early September.
Our next errand was to the farm store. I needed to get poultry feed, straw, and cat food. JJ helped me load everything the back of the Buggy.
Our last errand was to the college bookstore so JJ could get his books for the fall semester. Well, actually, one of his co-workers at the park suggested that he find out what books he needed and then buy them at Amazon, which is what he did. At the bookstore he searched for the titles and ISBN numbers of his books and then, using his phone, he bought them from Amazon as I drove us home. He calculated that his books would have cost him more than $400 at the bookstore, but he got them for just over $200 from Amazon. A huge savings.
I waited in the Buggy while JJ was in the bookstore. I had brought along my crocheting to help me pass the time. I recently bought a book filled with patterns for cute little toilet paper roll holders and I’ve been busy this week making several of them to sell at Teric’s Treasures, my Etsy store. Here are the ones I’ve made so far:
I’ve also begun working on two pairs of Fingerless Dragon Gloves for my friend in Australia. She is my very first international customer. She chose one pair to be made with Dragonfly Unforgettable Yarn and the other pair with Lakeside Unforgettable Wave Yarn. Both are very pretty. I discovered that the Unforgettable Wave Yarn is a slightly thicker yarn so it takes more yarn to make it–slightly more than a skein for each glove rather than one skein for two gloves. The glove will be thicker but also warmer than the other. I really enjoy making these gloves.
In addition to running errands and crocheting, I have done my regular chores. I mowed the lawn and did laundry on Wednesday, which was the last sunny day before more rain moved in. After I mowed the lawn, I considered practicing golfing on our little homemade golf course. Ok, we only have one “hole” so far, but I am washing cans after I empty them so we can expand our course. EJ had left the golf balls in the “hole” and I changed my mind about practicing when I found a critter had taken up residence in the “hole.” No way was I going to put my hand down there.
I try to take my camera with me whenever I go outside because there’s no telling what I will see. I love watching for–and capturing with my camera–beautiful flowers, interesting insects, or awesome wildlife. Besides the spider on the golf balls, I’ve seen a young rabbit hiding in the grass at the bottom of the driveway several times when I’ve walked down to get the mail. One day as I walked to get the mail, I surprised–and was surprised by–a chipmunk that scurried into the grass. Another day I saw a long slug in the driveway, and I also watched a bug carry a dead spider. I’ve watched a long line of ants marching from one side of the driveway to another. And, of course, I’ve identified new birds that I’ve never seen before. It’s all interesting. It’s like playing a Hidden Pictures game, trying to spot life in hidden places.
This morning EJ walked out the door to go to work, but then he called out to me and pointed down. I looked, and there was a young garter snake stretched out on the porch. He (she?) was just over a foot long. The morning was cool and rainy so I suspect he had crawled there for warmth? He wasn’t moving, so I felt brave enough to take some photos. I was concerned that the snake would go after the chicken and duck eggs, but EJ said garter snakes eat insects, not eggs. The snake really was quite pretty in a reptilian sort of way. I’m ok with snakes as long as they aren’t dangerous and keep their distance.
I am friends with the Michigan Audubon page at Facebook. Several days ago they posted that they were looking for roosting sites of chimney swifts so they could monitor them. At our old place downstate, we lived a block from an old school that had been converted into apartments. Every autumn, we would watch hundreds of chimney swifts circling the school and diving into the chimney to roost. It was an exciting experience that I looked forward to every year. I shared the information with Michigan Audubon and put a marker on their map. A woman from the organization emailed me, and I sent them a video I had taken of the chimney swifts. She replied, “Would you mind if we shared your video on our social media pages or website? We don’t have much footage from Michigan roosts and I think it’s very inspiring!” I thought that was cool, and I said “yes,” of course. Here is my video:
I love living in Northern Michigan and I honestly don’t miss much from downstate. However, I do miss watching the Chimney Swifts.
Life in the Enchanted Forest
I’ve begun drying my herbs. I actually think I almost began drying too late and I should have begun earlier in the summer but it’s difficult to even think about drying when the weather is summer hot, especially because I use dehydrators, which tend to heat up the house. I know that herbs can be dried without dehydrators by hanging them up, but I don’t really know how to do it and I don’t feel I have the setup for it. Dehydrators let me get the herbs dried much quicker without fuss. I set up the dehydrators on the kitchen table but after a couple of days, I realized that I could move them and their heat to the bench in the entrance hallway. The hallway is an unheated addition that connects the kitchen to the garage.
Saturday night was cloudless so EJ and I went outside to watch the Perseids meteorite shower. We sat in the dark, each sipping a glass of wine as we chatted. Our night-time conversation was punctuated with exclamations of “Ohhh! There’s one! Did you see it? Yes, I saw it too! Wow!” We saw quite a few bright meteorites pulling tails of light behind them. I didn’t bother trying to photo or video them because I am not skilled at night photography and I wanted my focus to be enjoying the drama in the sky, not on my camera. EJ and I have always both enjoy celestial events. We marveled that years ago, before we ever knew each other, we were both out watching the same lunar eclipse. There’s something romantic about our awareness that at this point in time we were both looking at the same moon at the same time not knowing that someday we would meet and marry. It almost feels timey wimey, wibbly wobbly in a Doctor Who-ish sort of way.
We had planned to watch the meteorites for hours, but as the moon rose, its light erased the stars so we finally went back inside about 12:30 a.m. The night was rather cool, with temperatures expected to dip in to the 50s or 40s. We wore sweaters and wrapped ourselves in blankets. Although it is only mid-August, the temperatures are cooler in the morning and evenings, the goldenrod are beginning to flower, and the tree behind the magic box at the end of the driveway is already changing colors. The season is changing from summer to autumn. I love autumn and winter, but I’m not quite ready for them. I feel as if I just barely got used to summer.
With the feeling of autumn increasing, we are beginning to think about preparing for winter–planning what tasks we need to get accomplished.
Friday I looked out our bedroom window and saw the ducks all following one of the ducks who had something in its mouth. I guessed that it might be a mouse, which didn’t bother me because although they are cute, mice get into food and spread disease. Later I went outside to see if I could find the remains. I didn’t find a mouse. I found a flattened remains of a toad. That made me sad because I like toads. I hoped it wasn’t the toad that I had encountered in the rock pile last week. RIP little toad.
Friday evening EJ and I decided to take a walk down the driveway. As we left the house, I heard the upset cries of blue jays. It sounded as if there were many of them, although it’s hard to tell because they were hidden by the forest. Blue Jays tend to be the “town criers” of the forest, warning the woodland community of strangers and danger. EJ and I speculated at what the danger could be–it’s too late in the year for the Blue Jays to be upset over another bird robbing the nest. Could it be a bear? Or…? We have many, many berry bushes on our property, and I’m surprised that we haven’t seen any bears gorging on the berries to prepare for winter.
Saturday afternoon we watched the turkey family meander out of the forest on the other side of the driveway. The turkey flock consists of seven babies guarded by two adult females. As I watched, I saw a third adult come out of the forest a short distance away. I didn’t notice whether the third turkey was a male or female because I was too busy watching the drama unfold: When one of the females saw the third turkey, she challenged it and chased it away. By the time I thought to video it, the turkeys were moving out of sight down the driveway.
All this drama–of ducks, and blue jays, and turkeys made me ponder that there is life and death drama happening all the time all the time–birds, reptiles, insects, wildlife, humans, all struggling to survive. I don’t have any conclusions to draw from this other than that it happens, and I’m (mostly) unaware of it.
Yesterday evening EJ burned the last of the scrap wood in the burning barrel. We sat outside to keep an eye on the fire until it burned down. We sat near the duck pen and watched the ducks in their pen as well as the fire. It was quite peaceful. I never mow right up close to the fence so the ducks (or chickens) can reach through and eat some of the grass. EJ happened to be watching one of the ducks when an egg suddenly tumbled out of her body. The ducks usually lay eggs without much fuss and not always in a nest. In contrast, the chickens always lay eggs in the nesting box, and they loudly cluck when they do so.
EJ buys old golf clubs and balls at thrift shops or yard sales. He likes to “golf” on our property. He hits them down the property, leaves them where they lie, and then on another day hit them back up toward the house. I prefer putt-putt golf rather than hitting the balls long-distances. Yesterday EJ got an empty can, poked holes in it for drainage, and set it in the ground so we could enjoy hitting the balls into it. We plan to put a few of them around the yard, and maybe eventually build obstacles, so we go miniature golfing on our property, just for fun.
I finally met our nearest neighbor who shares our driveway late last week. This is his vacation home, so he and his wife are only at the house now and then in the summer and not at all during the winter. He was trimming the branches off a tree when I walked down to get the mail. We chatted a couple of minutes before parting ways. EJ met this neighbor last summer and discovered that the guy used to work with EJ’s Dad and play cards with him on their lunch breaks. Small world.
Rain, Rain, And Other Things
I started to write this post on Saturday evening, but EJ and I decided to have a campfire out in our yard instead. I’m only now finding the time to continue my interrupted post. In fact, I have repeatedly tried to work on this post over the last few days and hours.
We had rain, rain, and more rain for three days–Wednesday through Friday. I think the first day it rained the hardest and caused the most erosion in our driveway. On Thursday we officially had 1.23 inches of rain in our area. That same day there was also an EF0 tornado just a few miles away from us.
The chickens stayed in their coop while the heavy rain fell, but the ducks stayed out in the rain and played in the mud. I think that one of the rouen ducks was wanting to be a Mama–she sat on four eggs in the doghouse in the garden all afternoon. She was still there in the evening when I went out to put them all to bed in their coop. I nudged her on her way and took the eggs and she has been ok since then.
Sunday EJ and I spent the afternoon working at organizing the garage. We made a tremendous amount of progress. It’s a daunting task, but we make progress each time we tackle it.
The days are getting noticeable shorter on both ends. My routine had been to let the ducks and chickens out of their coop as soon as I got up in the mornings at 6 a.m. Now it’s dark at that time, so I have to wait to let the birds out until almost 6:30 a.m. This morning when I went out, Sassy was crowing but all the chickens were all still roosting on their perch in the coop. The ducks rushed out as soon as I opened the coop doors, even though it was not quite fully light. It’s hard to believe that it will soon be autumn…and then winter.
I’m not sure what the original problem with the Suburban was, but when we picked it from the repair shop last week, the brakes made a noise that they hadn’t made before. So late Sunday afternoon we dropped it off at the repair shop again, which meant that I had to drop EJ off at work Monday morning and pick him up at the end of his shift. Part of me thinks, “Ugh, it’s such a hassle to drive into the city twice a day,” even though I gladly and unhesitantly do it for EJ. The other part of me thoroughly enjoys the drive through the beautiful countryside. Every time I see the beauty around me–which is all the time–I am thankful that we live here.
The problem with the sub was minor, and we were able to pick it up later on Monday. I drove to EJ’s company to pick him up and we drove right to the repair shop. EJ took the scenic route to the shop. Actually, every route is scenic…I guess I should say he took a different-than-usual scenic route. The shop didn’t charge us for the work, which I think was fair, and which I was hoping they would do.
This morning I mowed the lawn. After the three days of rain, the grass had really grown long. When I mowed near the chickens, they all followed me back and forth on their side of the fence. Chickens always rush up to me whenever they see me, which makes me feel very loved by them. 🙂
The turkeys continue to bring their babies up to the house every now and then. It’s really fun watching the little ones grow.
I’ve been working on crocheting new items for my Etsy store. One of the items is Fingerless Dragon Gloves. I made them with Dragonfly Red Heart Unforgettable Yarn. I think they are very beautiful. I’ve already sold my first pair to one of my Facebook friends, and another friend wants to buy a couple pairs as well. You can order them at my Etsy store, Teric’s Treasures.
I’m also working on a couple of other projects, which I will share when I complete them.
Stormy Anniversary
We usually keep informed about the weather because….well, we really enjoy watching the weather. Knowing the forecasts helps me decide what to wear for the day, or whether or not I should water the garden, or whether to expect severe storms. When I was younger, the forecasts weren’t all that reliable, but as meteorologists have gained more knowledge, I think they have gotten more skilled at forecasting.
I didn’t see anything in the forecast for rain last night, but I woke in the night and heard rain on the roof and saw a flash of lightning before I fell back to sleep. This morning when I went out to let the chickens and ducks out of their coop, I found about 2.5 inches in the bucket I use to refill the chicken’s water bowl. I always dump out the water at night and hang it on one of the posts, so know that’s how much rain we actually got. Wow.
The rain was so heavy that it washed out some of our driveway up near the top of the hill. This afternoon I worked to fill in the gullies that the rain had made. We could use more stones for the driveway, but we will have to make do until we get more money. I have mostly won my battle with erosion but the steep driveway couldn’t handle the 2.5 inches of rain.
After I filled in the gullies, I built more rock dams. I built them on the slope of the hill near the clothesline, thinking that the rain must be coming from there. However, EJ later said that the heavy rain pours off the roof of the house, hits the pavement in front of the garage, and rushes down the driveway. He wants to put in gutters and rain spouts there to prevent that. We are adding that to our List of Things to Do and Buy.
We have a pile of potato stones that we bought from the gravel guy our first summer at our house. They are called “potato stones” because the stones that are the size of potatoes. I use them to build the little dams. Since I was building dams not far from the rock pile today, I didn’t get out the wheelbarrow. Instead, I filled an empty kitty litter bucket with rocks and carried the short distance to where I was building the dams. As I was scooping up the rocks, I felt something unrock-like in my hands. I looked down and I was holding a very large toad that had hidden among the rocks. Oops. I carefully put him back down, and went into the house for my camera. When I returned, the poor thing was so scared that he peed. I told him (or her?) that I wouldn’t hurt him, and I went around to the other side of the pile to get rocks so I wouldn’t disturb him.
Today is the second anniversary of a very bad storm in Northern Michigan. I read at the National Weather Service Facebook page that the 2015 storm was the “costliest severe thunderstorm event in northern Michigan recorded history! Widespread wind damage and large hail during the nearly 10 hour event was estimated to have caused roughly 82 million dollars in total losses.” The storm occurred just a couple of months after we moved here. Here is a video of the storm that I took:
I’m really glad that we didn’t get a storm like that today!
Numbers Six and Seven
We still didn’t have the Suburban back from the repair shop so I had to take him to work again this morning. Well, actually he drives to work and I drive back home. I get home just in time to hand JJ the keys and he goes off to work. When he got home from work, he handed me the keys and I went to pick up EJ.
The repair shop called EJ to let him know that the Sub was ready. EJ was hoping to get out of work at his normal time, but the end of the month is always very busy for him because his company tries to get all the month’s shipping out. I didn’t really mind waiting because I had brought things to do–a book and crocheting and some ice tea.
The only problem with EJ getting out later is that we had to zoom to the repair shop to pick up the sub before it closed. We made it with 20 minutes to spare. Although I really enjoy the scenery, I’m kind of glad I don’t have to take EJ to and from work every day.
I spent the morning burning the scrap wood EJ had set aside. He worked at organizing the garage again yesterday. All the contents of the basement and garage in the old house were jammed into the garage as we moved up here. EJ has been sorting through everything, organizing his tools, burning what can be burned, and throwing out useless junk. Fortunately, his company has a large dumpster for the employees to drop off their junk (for free!), so EJ keeps taking loads in. He is really making progress in the garage. I help when I can….like burning scraps of wood.
Saturday when EJ and I drove JJ to work, we saw the Ospreys and Eastern Kingbirds. Later that evening, we saw another unfamiliar bird on the chair on our deck. We learned it was an Eastern Phoebe. That made SIX new birds that I have seen in July!
Tonight I was doing dishes and saw a little brown bird in our flower garden. I grabbed my camera, but it flew to another part of the garden. While I was trying to locate it, I saw a beautiful blue bird. It was gorgeous! I almost got a photo of it, but it flew off a second before I pushed the button on the camera. I looked it up, and it was an Indigo Bunting. I suspect the brown bird was the female Indigo Bunting. That is SEVEN new birds I’ve seen in July!
I’m having fun.
Birdwatching at the Park
The suburban is still in the repair shop.
We took JJ to work this morning so that if the repair shop told us that the suburban was done, we could go pick it up. They didn’t call, which means that Monday I will have to drive EJ to work in the morning and pick him up later in the afternoon.
JJ has two parks that he is responsible for. One is a small park with a baseball field and the other is the large campground on the lake several miles further on.
We drove JJ first to the small park where he emptied trashcans and did whatever else he had to do. I didn’t pay much attention to what our son was doing because my focus was on the pair of ospreys. They had made a nest on the top of one of the baseball field’s light poles. One osprey was in the nest and the other was sitting on one of the other poles. JJ said that if anyone enters the ball field, the ospreys swoop overhead. We didn’t have time to see that–JJ had to get to the campground. JJ also told us that the county had built a post specifically for the ospreys to build their nest on, but it is shorter than the lightposts so the ospreys ignore it. Because of the nest, the light is never turned on.
After JJ finished his tasks at the small park, we drove on to the large campground and dropped him off at his ranger station. Before we parted ways, I asked him where to look for the Petoskey stones and ant lions that he says are in the park. He gave us a few general directions.
EJ parked in the parking lot and we wandered the beautiful campground. We didn’t find any Petoskey stones or ant lions, but we did see a flock of unfamiliar birds. We took photos and when we got home, we searched for their identity and learned that they are Eastern Kingbirds. Cool! Including the Ospreys and Kingbirds, I have seen five birds that I’ve never seen before this month. I told EJ that we should visit some of the prime birdwatching places in the area. I said that before we know it, we will be getting up at dawn, dressed in khaki shorts and pith helmets with binoculars around our necks. But, seriously, it’s immense fun discovering new birds.
As we wandered the campground, we also found some lichen. It looked like foam under the trees. Close up, the lichen was beautiful, like lacy coral.
We also saw other beautiful scenery.
The route to the campground is filled with orchards–mostly cherry, but some apple as well. There are miles and miles and miles of orchards. The cherry trees were heavy with ripe cherries. I tried to take photos, but it’s difficult to take good photos while we are driving along.
This afternoon we had to go pick JJ up from work. He said they were super busy today–about as busy as they were during the July 4th weekend. EJ theorized that people were getting their last days of vacation in. There are not very many weekends left before the school year starts.
On the drive home, EJ and JJ were quite sure that a bird soaring overhead was probably a bald eagle. I tried to take a photo, but I wasn’t quick enough. By the time I got my camera ready, we were down the road and the eagle had flown behind some trees. I have seen bald eagles in the wild before, but not in Northern Michigan.
EJ and I agreed that our next adventure will be to a birdwatching place.
Oncology Results
Today was a loonnng day.
I didn’t sleep very well last night because I was anxious and praying so much for JJ.
I had to take EJ to work again early this morning. Again, it’s always a pleasure to drive anywhere around here because it’s so beautiful. We saw the turkey flock at the bottom of the driveway as we started off. After I dropped EJ off, I stopped at TSC because I was low on chicken feed. When I got home, I took a nap because I was so tired.
At 1:30 p.m., JJ and I set off for his oncology appointment. We contemplated running away, but we decided we probably should keep the appointment. We had to drive through an area where a festival was taking place and the traffic was absolutely horrible. I think we waited at one stoplight for about 15-20 minutes because the line of cars was so long. But finally we made it to the cancer center with time to spare.
JJ is 22-years-old and while he wants me to go to medical appointments with him, he prefers to go in to the exam rooms himself, which is fine with me. So I waited in the reception area for him to return. I told him that if the news was bad, however, I really wanted him to send someone to get me so we could discuss with the doctor what would happen next. I prayed and prayed as I waited, hoping that no nurse would come to take me to JJ.
There are “markers” in the blood that indicate the presence of cancer. Apparently 1.0 is normal and means “no cancer.” If the numbers rise to 6.0, however, cancer is probably present and the oncologist looks for the source. JJ learned during his last few oncology appointments that his numbers were rising again. The oncologist told him at his previous appointment that the number was 4.9, which is only about one point away from 6. That is why we dreaded this particular visit so much.
It’s kind of difficult to describe what it feels like when an oncology appointment approaches. Before cancer, it’s like we never expected anything like cancer to happen. I mean, we know that bad things can happen, but things like cancer were not really a reality for us. In October 2013 when JJ first told us about the lump he had noticed, we were like, “Well, it’s probably nothing.” We took him to the doctor, and she told us to get him immediately to the hospital. We still thought that, well, it’s a lump, but it’s probably benign. And then we found out that it was a malignant mass–in fact, JJ had three different types of cancer cells in him, one of which was a type that didn’t respond well to treatment. So after the battle with cancer, we now know that bad things can happen, and we always dread oncology appointments.
JJ returned from the exam room all smiles. “All good!” he said. Actually, he first told me that he would have to have his gall bladder removed. I lightly slapped his shoulder and said, “No. Don’t mess with me!” Then he told me that his cancer marker number had fallen to 1.2!!! I attribute this to all the prayers being prayed for him. We were so relieved that we were weak! Whew!
We left the cancer center at 3:30 p.m. and we had to pick EJ up from work at 5:30 p.m. It wasn’t worth battling all the traffic to go home and then come back, so we stayed in town. JJ ordered Chinese takeout and we went to pick it up. He discovered that there was no silverware in the bag so he put it aside to eat at home. We still had a lot of time to kill. We discussed a few things we could do, but we finally decided to drive to EJ’s company and wait. We parked in a lot next to the airport so we could watch the airplanes take off and land. I read a book and JJ did stuff on his smart phone. After an hour, we drove across the street to the building where EJ works and waited for about 45 minutes. It was rather interesting watching the activity–shipping trucks arriving to take finished products away. We saw EJ busy on the forklift.
It was about 6 p.m. before EJ got in the car for the drive home. EJ said that he had told all his co-workers about JJ’s good results. It had been a long day so we told him that we were going to Culver’s to celebrate JJ’s good oncology report. Culver’s was quite busy and we were all tired so we just ordered “to go.” JJ and I gobbled our food in the car while EJ drove us home. He ate his at home.
We got home about 7 p.m. We did our chores–EJ fed the pets and set up the coffee machine for tomorrow while I went out and gathered eggs. We are exhausted, but very, very relieved and thankful.
Thank you, everyone, for your prayers.
I Love To Go A Gardening 