Vines Stretch Out Their Tentacles

June 4, 2010.  Friday.

Situation:  Work tonight (I could’ve also worked all day), and decide to take Mway out about 2.  Earlier this morning, Moi’s sister Charlene (also in for the wedding) was sitting outside by the fire pit.  Mway, who had wandered outside, pulled a charred log from the pit and started barking in expectation that Charlene throw it.   I went outside and found another stick, which I threw for Mway until she had her fill.

State of the Path:   See a chipmunk scurry across the path, hear bees buzzing.  Hedge garlic starting to turn yellow and brown.  Even more striking, the multiflora flowers are starting to shed; no longer see the huge globs of white all over the field.  But in flower now are, what is now clear, elderberry bushes: there are a number of them up from the maples and quite a few near the pin oaks.  And these shrubs are definitely different from the others that had similar buds, what for now I must consider red willow shrubs.  Grape vines are stretching their tentacles toward the path, especially near the back hedgerow.  Goldenrod ever higher, blackberry shoots ever taller.  The phlox is disappearing.  I look for wild strawberries but see none.

State of the Creek:  Water lowest I’ve seen it yet this year; large areas of rocks with but a trickle through them.  Yet my trampling feet still scare a frog or two into the water.  Mway wanders into the creek at midpath, and again at the crest of the skating pond.  I look for signs of cattails in the pond, but see nothing – I suspect the pond is very dry right now.

The Fetch:  Bring along a stick found in the music room.  Mway fetches it more times than I care to count.  I’m afraid a couple times she might lose sight of it in the weeds, but she keeps track of it very well.  Play “Put it down” once.  I’m hot, itchy, and sweaty after the walk; time to go into the pool.