May 27, 2016 It's Official ~ Bug Season is Here!

It's that time of the year when the wild flowers are blooming ~ baby animals are being born ~ new life is  springing up all over the place.  It is so nice to wander about and observe all that is happening around us.   Unfortunately, with that pleasure comes the little black flies ~ to soon be followed by the mosquitoes.   I just don't have a lot of patience with bugs anymore.   Not like I ever had a lot.........

I have been out and about this week, trying to avoid them.  Some of these are on the shore of Lake Superior ~ such as the ones above ~ bird's eye primroses.  I have always thought these were such pretty little flowers.  They are pretty dainty.  They are also really taking hold in some of the places I used to find one or two plants.  There are now lots of them ~ which is why you see a large group above instead of a close up of one plant.   I am so pleased.   It's always nice to see some of life's pleasures expanding their ranges and spaces rather than disappearing.

Of course, Miss Betsy always enjoys our wanderings ~ whether by Lake Superior or back in the brush.   I think our trips in the brush are done, as far as the extended wanderings, for a bit.  On Monday we were over east ~ around beaver ponds and just moseying all over the place.   It was a sunny day with a good breeze until the storm clouds moved in.  So, to start the black flies weren't bothering.  However, with the heat of the last few days also came the ticks.  They really came out.  I looked down and they were crawling up both legs as fast as their little legs would go ~ lots and lots of them.  I got to the creek crossing and picked and pitched a heck of a batch.  When I got home, the jeans came off as did the socks.  I turned everything inside out too.  You wouldn't believe all the ticks!  It's been a couple of years since we had ticks in that kind of numbers over there.   It was just about the time I like to hike into one of my favorite ~ mostly unknown ~ water falls.  WELL.......that isn't going to happen any time soon now.   I have been bitten a few too many times by ticks, that I managed to miss.   So far, I have been lucky.  One never knows when that luck runs out.   And ........ I know for a fact some of the tick borne diseases aren't pleasant.   So ~ sometimes, better safe than sorry.

To end ~ here is one of the more difficult flowers of Spring to photograph.  Ginger.  No shortage of that around anyway.  They are definitely an interesting plant.   Too bad they aren't more useful, since there is an abundance of them.   I did harvest a bunch of nice fiddleheads again this Spring tho.  They are always tasty.  Spring has sprung ~ enjoy it!