Rush Report: Rabbit, Squirrel, Brambles, Etc.

May 13, 2010.  Thursday.

Situation:   I limit my work today to that which I have to do tonight (tomorrow I may have to work day and night and may not even have time for a walk; we’ll see), and take May out about 1:30 for a leisurely walk.  However, when I get back, Moi, home from her work this morning, points out to me that the Boy has received a notice of an impending bench warrant because he failed to pay a fine this month, and I’ll have to take care of this before work tonight, so my report of my walk, unlike the walk itself, will not be so leisurely.

State of the Path:  Mway and I both see rabbit in back yard.  See squirrel going up a tree behind the walled garden.  Take side path along old orchard.  A lot of the blackberry brambles remain flattened from the winter; wonder if they’ll spring up in this area like they usually do.  Down at the creek, figure there must be more black walnut trees down here than I realized.  Hard to tell, because so many of the trees are tall and it’s hard to see their leaves.  Take side path by skating pond, clutching the honeysuckle branches to keep my balance as I jump the feed channel.  See more phlox – but we don’t get as much as I see these days, say, along road sides.

State of the Creek:  Water a little higher.  Coming toward the big maple, hear pecking sound.  As I get closer, pecking stops.  But after looking for sometime, spy my redbellied friend among leaves on a high branch.  Flitting about the shrubs, a female cardinal, who seems to be trying to get the attention of the woodpecker.

The Fetch:  With smaller stick, a well chewed one I found in the living room today, more fetches than I care to count.  As she spins around between fetches, Mway’s heedless about what she might trample on, including the stick that once had fungus on it, still lying in the clearing, that gets bounced around beneath her paws.

Call Them Morrow's for Now

April 28, 2010.  Wednesday.

Situation:  Moi and I both work today; I also work tonight.  I take Mway out shortly after Moi leaves, around 8:15.

State of the Path:  Last night I felt I made a great deal of progress toward identifying the shrubs on our land, but as I walk along today I see there’s much more to learn.  There seems to be one prevalent shrub, which might be the Morrow’s, but along the old orchard and in the area of the monkey vines and the boxelders, there seems to be a few shrubs of another type of honeysuckle that clusters right next to what I’ll call for now the Morrow’s.  Then down by the creek, among the big trees, where the Morrow’s crowd around the trunks of the trees, I spot a honeysuckle closest to bug land, which seems to be sporting pink flowers.  It’s cold this morning so the flowers are somewhat closed, and I hope on a warmer day to clear up my confusion.  Throughout bug land, there is yet another type of shrub: this might be what Moi has been calling Russian olive, but again I’m not quite sure.

State of the Creek:  Running slowly, quietly, and brown today.

The Fetch:  When I reach the clearing, Mway has wandered down through the field, and I have to call her to come up to the clearing.  Today I have the gnarled stick, which yesterday I thought to myself I like as much as the “pro-quality” stick I used for so many weeks: its gnarls are enjoyable to grip, and the burl makes the stick fly through the air nicely.  But on about the fifth toss the stick, stressed by Mway chomping on it, breaks apart into two pieces.  The half-piece that Mway brings back to me is just a little bit too small for me to enjoy throwing.