Monday, March 16, 2009

It’s Mud Season!

                 indexspring

   Spring is getting closer now here in Maine. I have seen the five foot snow banks shrink down to one and two feet and less in some areas. It really seems like it has been a long winter for some of us. I am just beginning to get outside on my deck and enjoy the warm sun on my face. Once I step off that deck though, it is all mud…..big, deep, trenches of mud! When my kids were younger it used to drive me crazy! I would constantly tell them to wipe their feet or take off their shoes! Now, I have little tiny paw prints of mud from Obie and Baby…. and for some reason they just don’t listen to me telling them to wipe, before entering. They have trained me well in many ways….they know how to get over on me. They refuse to come back inside unless they see some visible sign of a treat. They seem to have figured out the difference between a “pretend” treat and the real deal. Through snow and rain and hail and wind storms, there they stand, at the bottom of the deck stairs, with that “I’m not climbing up there for that” look in their eyes. All those treats they have learned to get from yours truly, have added up to a lot of extra pounds this winter. Especially for Obie…my Jack Russell….or as we like to call him Russell Terror, ObieWanKinobi, Obie Dyer and Oricle……..??….don’t ask…..my husband came up with that one. So….it’s now my job to leash him up and take him out in the mud, minus the treats. As soon as we get back inside, he wants to go back out, so he can come back in again with the little treat routine. I’m hip to that and he now knows it. His treat begging and pleading has rubbed off onto Baby (our cat) and she pulls the same scam….or at least tries to. She’s not quite as good at it as he is. She gives up easily or gets distracted by his incessant pleas and finds something else to do. No doubt, she has CADD…..(Cat Attention Deficit Disorder) but I have never had her on medication.:)

   Soon, she will be trying to climb trees again and catch birds, and he will be out bothering our neighbors and their cats and both will be wandering around Blueberry Plains on the hunt. You know what that means don’t you? Tick patrol! Oh yes….we have spring ticks here. My brother, who lives in Nashville was teasing me about ticks, because he knows how much I hate them! I get the heebie jeebies when I see one. It just freaks me out. My brother, after sufficiently making me squirm about it says…. “Oh Debbie, down south we have Chiggers, and I think they are worse!” Well, I never heard of a Chigger before. Some of you southerners may know what this is but I had to look it up. Here is what I found…..

Chiggers            Now I don’t feel so bad about the ticks! Yuck! I guess we all have an insect or two that we dislike. I am deathly afraid of lunar moths and I hate to admit it but the baby ones too.image All that fluttering about in my face and hair…..I am getting nervous just writing about it. Butterflies…..are beautiful and I can almost let them come near me but I’m not quite there. My husband is the butterfly whisperer. They land on him and sit there sunning themselves…..opening their wings and closing them….just stopping by for a nice visit….it’s all very strange. Me…..they know to keep their distance and they know I like to watch them from afar. Another bug that makes my skin crawl is the giant tomato Hornworm….image I get these on my tomatoes every year. I have to pick them off with a stick and destroy them or they crawl back up the plants and eat the leaves and tomatoes until there is nothing left. They are a very gross caterpillar that turns into….guess what?….yup….a giant moth! No wonder I hate them!

   So….the season of mud and bugs is upon us and I guess it is time to face my fears. Who knows….if I work hard enough at it, I may also become a whisperer…..the tick/moth/hornworm whisperer? Wish me luck.:)

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

nICE TO SEE YOU BLOGGING AGAIN i FEARED THE BUGS HAD CARRIED YOU OFF. HAHAHA
i GUESS WE GOTTA LIKE THE MUD CAUSE IT BRINGS THE SPRING. gOOD LUCK TEACHING YOUR OLD DOG NEW TRICKS.

Wsprsweetly Of Cottages said...

Dear Debbie,
The moth looks...similar to a Fairy in a lovely long dress. Interesting...
I don't blame you are all for not liking that ugly tomatoe worm. Yuk. Creepy crawling things don't appeal to me either..so you are not alone. Um..ok...good luck? echhhh...
Interesting post. :)
Mona

Kathleen said...

Hi Debbie! My drive way is fast becoming a mud hole. Help! I had to laugh, about the names that have evolved for your dog. This is a long stadning tradition in my family. My Florida sister has a dog named Dolly Madison. Her other names include, Diva Dog, Dolly Llama, Dolly Dog, Miss Madison, and so on. My stepfather used to rename his grandchildren names he thought they should have...Too funny. My siamese has a slew of names that I am just too embarassed to say. BUGS...oh how I hate bugs. And here in the North Woods we have giant black flies and mosquitos. I think that tomato bug is one of the worst I have ever seen. Happy St Pat's Day girlfriend! Kathleen

Debbie said...

Hi Mona...yes you are correct about that moth. I sure picked a pretty one didn't I? The ones that flitter around our security lights are usually much uglier with hairy bodies! Some are as big as my hand. The hornworms were bad last year. Thanks Mona...

Debbie said...

Hi Kathleen...ditto on the flies and mosquitos! That's why my favorite season is fall up here. Those names are adorable...I love it! My husband reminded me that another name he calls Obie is Hydrochloric Acid...don't ask where that came from?! Thanks for writing my friend...hugs back to you...Debbie

Far Side of Fifty said...

Hey! I hate the ticks too..soon they will be out..and Chance gets his share of them..even with the tick stuff as a prevenative..he doesn't wipe his feet either..but we are mainly sand so it vacumes up easy:)

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