Thursday, March 08, 2012

Oddities

Yesterday! Oh WOW, what a gorgeous day!

The sun was shining, it was calm, nice and warm for an early March Day. So warm in fact that for the first time in 2012, I was outside, running errands, keeping appointments, even walking the dog  -without wearing my heavy winter coat! Amazing, huh? (Especially considering I tend to freeze at the drop of a hat and a degree down on the thermometer.

But didn't happen like that yesterday as I was comfy in my jeans, a long sleeve turtleneck under my knit sweater!

And when I went to walk the dog, camera in hand, I even got a couple pictures of some things that struck me as being just a trifle odd along the way too.

Here's the first thing I photographed that really hit me as a strange sight initially.

Sam and I walked down towards Peale and as we were going down the first little grade of a hill -just before the first bridge over Moravian Run -I saw something off to the side of the road ahead and it sure as heck looked like it was electrified and twinkling at me!

I couldn't imagine what on earth that might be with the gold lights seeming to be sparkling but when we got up closer I could then see what it was.

Someone had dumped two Christmas trees -or a small tree plus part of another tree -along the road and both of them still had tinsel attached to them. The one with a goodly amount of gold tinsel -thanks to the sunlight and the way the rays were hitting it -sure did look so pretty, so sparkly and bright. The smaller tree section of branches had old silver tinsel on it which didn't give the same glistening effect from the sunshine.

I thought about using the video feature on my camera to see if it would show the twinkling effect but then decided folks will think I'm crazy enough by posting picture of dead Christmas trees that I claim to have seen winking at me!

On our way back home I stopped to take a picture of this!
This big old hornet's (or wasp's) nest is hanging at the tip of a branch on a big old tree down on the side lot that used to belong to my Great Uncle Erik. I've noticed it there before but for some reason or other didn't take a shot of it till just yesterday though. A couple years back we had a nest like that on the side of the house here, just above the sun porch. The funny thing was that I never noticed it when it was being used and the bees or wasps were buzzing around, in and out, of it. Not until it was dead did I see it! Wonder why that was?

The picture of the nest though became something sort of prophetic though early last night though.

Maya and I had gone out to church to attend the Lenten service for this week and also, to have a chance to say a last goodbye to Pastor Carrie and her Mom, DeLee as they will be pulling out of Grassflat sometime today, as soon as the moving van gets all Pastor's furniture and belongings loaded up. They'll be head north and west -up to Baldwin, Wisconsin where Pastor will begin work as the minister at the Lutheran church there. So sorry to see her leave but we're all really happy for her at the same time as it will make it so much easier for her to slip away and visit with her family more frequently. So much easier it is to drive 3 hours as opposed to a 15-hour trip, isn't it?

But anyway, when Maya and I got back home, Kurtis met us at the front door, holding out his little hand to me and announcing "I got stung by a bee, Gram!"

Not sure which it was -a hornet or a wasp -but they manage somehow to get in the attic in the fall and pretty much are dormant there until warm days must wake them up slightly and then, now and again, one will slip through the ceiling door-flap to the attic and invade the downstairs of the house. They don't usually fly around -mostly creep and crawl and seem a bit sluggish but, probably like I am when I have to get up before I'm really ready to wake up and get moving, they're probably a tad grouchy. I'm figuring that's how Kurtis came to get stung on the joint of his thumb.

Mandy told me when it happened, she mixed up a little paste of baking soda and water and put that on his hand to help draw the pain out and as she was doing that for him, he looked up at her and said -in his most sincere but sad voice -"It's not the end of the world, is it?"

No Kurtis, it sure isn't quite that bad but those doggone bees and wasps sure can hurt a little guy (or a big one too) when they land and sting, can't they?

And now -here it is, Thursday morning and because I didn't sleep all that well last night -woke up at least three times where it was a struggle to fall back to sleep so now, I'm still a tad on the drowsy side and truth be told, feeling a bit like a grouchy hornet who was awakened before it had enough rest to take on the world today! I'm thinking a nice little nap this morning will be just the ticket for me!

Here's hoping your day begins with your having plenty of restful sleep last night and you're feeling replenished and refreshed!

Nap time, then a walk with the dog before the rain hits that we're supposed to see sometime this afternoon.

3 comments:

Maggie May said...

I normally get annoyed with people who dump things, but I guess Christmas trees will rot down into the land. I did wonder what it was at first.
That was quite a big hornets nest. I wouldn't like to grapple with them!
Poor Kurtis and strange that he should get stung just when you'd taken a photo of that nest. Very strange!
Maggie X

Nuts in May

Unknown said...

Poor Kurtis. Those stings do hurt!

terri said...

That picture of the hornets' nest is a beauty! Really! I'd put that one in a frame. Very artistic.

Baldwin, Wisconsin is only about a half hour from me. I have cousins who live there and I pass through when I take Kacey to or from school. Funny to think your Pastor Carrie will now be in MY vicinity. Really is a small world, isn't it?