Nervous Storm Watchers…But We’re Ready!

  Last evening we sat out by the fire having a Happy Hour and toasting Den’s birthday.  The wind came up a little and you could see the dreaded pollen dust blowing through the air.  Our formerly black GMC is covered with a yellowish fur, as is everything else here…including Den’s eyelashes.

This is what this stuff looks like after I wiped off our little table…yuk!

(Are those wrinkles in my fingers?? Oh my God, they’re EVERYWHERE!!)

Dennis finally gave in and traded his gas permeable bifocal contact lenses for his bifocal glasses. (Those contact lenses have to feel like junks of glass  in your eyes under GOOD conditions!) The glasses you see him wearing here are probably 15 years old…Obviously, glasses have gotten much smaller since then…but we wouldn’t want to get new, oh no.  He tries to look so tough, but cannot scare me…I know his wily ways…

Dennis cooked our ribs outside, in his glasses, and they were great. (The ribs, not the glasses..) All in all, I would say he had a nice, non-eventful birthday, getting calls on his cell phone from all 3 kids and numerous friends.  He is much loved.

  I tried to amuse myself by standing beside a tall pine tree and shooting straight up the trunk to the sky…not so sure it turned out as I had hoped.  I think that all I accomplished was acquiring a stiff neck.

..Notice the TONS of pinecones on the tree at the right.  Every once in a while one will come down and pop you in the head…I tell you, if you wanted to make a pinecone Xmas wreath, there are a gazillion on the ground!

This morning dawned, but we  didn’t see it. Not only because we are in the trees, but because the sun never peeked out here until much later. We woke up to a cloudy, humid, dreary day. The temps stayed at 63 degrees all night long, and there was a fine mist in the air. If you mix the mist with the pollen, you have something that resembles Split Pea Soup.

   We had some coffee and a couple of Jimmy Jone’s donated Engish Muffins, which were great.  On our walk this morning, we walked by Jimmy’s camper . We wanted to return the kindness of our food donations, so we picked up some cheese salsa and chips at WalMart for them, and included some of my world famous rib rub.  Jimmy was still snoring, but his wife, Elaine, was outside, so we left our food gifts with her… and she assured us they would enjoy them.  She also commented that severe storms were predicted for this evening…Thanks for reminding us….We had better make sure we’re ready, be prepared, as the Girls Scouts say …Firewood under cover?, check!…Weather radio tuned in?, check!…..Internet dish lashed down?, check!…..Supper that doesn’t require grilling outside?, check!  OK, I guess we ARE ready …oh ..We almost forgot.…Staying in close proximity of the shower house?,… check, check and double check!! Whew!

  I need to mention that there are some college students here as part of a class field trip. They are working with the Forest Service and I think they are learning tree and soil identification.  There must be 30 or more of them and they walk around with clip boards, digging, clipping and looking closely at every green thing they can find. They look very impressive.  On our walk we found where they had made a hole and taken some soil samples..

  In my next life, if I can’t come back as a German barmaid, I want to be a Forest Ranger…

  There is a path through the woods that goes down by the lake, and we like to take it…However, now path actually goes INTO the lake.  I ventured down it for a short distance to where there is a little bridge that I have always loved.

Just beyond the end of the trail in this photo you need a canoe to continue on the path.  I wish this darn flooding would go down so we could revisit this, one of our favorite paths through the Clear Spring woods.

  Most of the afternoon was spent vacuuming and dusting up yellow dust in our camper.  Dennis has stayed inside most of the day, refusing to trade his contact lenses for his stylish glasses.  I would bet you, though, that if he wants to sit by the campfire tonight, he will change his stubborn mind and don his spectacles.  When it was misting this morning, we sat outside under the tongue of the HitchHiker and had our second cup of coffee..But the wind came up suddenly, and that ended that venture.

  I did finally outwit the squirrels who had eaten enough of my sunflower seed to sprout sunflowers from their little squirrel behinds.  I filled the feeder with safflower seed and, after refusing to pay the sunflower seed dinner check, they turned up their little noses and retreated down the tree.  Now, this leaves the seed to the Jays, Cardinals, and Titmouse birds, who seem to have a more gourmet pallet than the rodents.

This little guy is a Tufted Titmouse…Yes, that IS his real name and not an alias..He had his feathers ruffled by the wind at his dinner today, but he a was a trooper and kept eating…

  OK, it is now almost 4PM, the radar shows some big storms have been passing North of us and into Oklahoma..I really hope they stay there.  Dinner tonight is a Freschetta frozen cheese pizza that I have doctored with our own sausage and ground turkey..We might be eating while the camper is rocking and rolling with the wind, but at least Den doesn’t have to tie down the Smokey Joe and cook under the awning with his “goggles” on!! Ha Ha!! More tomorrow.