Two days ago, in anticipation of a long-expected turn to legitimate spring weather, Desiree purchased a couple raspberry bush starts.
Yesterday
a huge blizzard side-swiped us.
A
timing coincidence?
I
have my doubts.
Our
Latest Blizzard at Work
—Mitchell
Hegman
Yesterday, I picked up litter along the first quarter-mile of Lake Helena Drive extending south from the causeway The number of beer cans I collected astounded me. I considered counting the cans once I arrive back home and separated them for recycling, but I quicky realized the large number would serve only to further irritate me.
I found
nothing of value along the roadway.
Just
cans and bottles.
One
50-foot section of road yielded piles of Coors cans. The work of a serial litterbug.
Now,
nearly 24 hours beyond collecting the litter, I am far more disappointed and hurt
than I am angry.
My
Collection of Trash
—Mitchell
Hegman
I lost my wedding band.
I
lost it the same day I collected litter from alongside Lake Helena Drive. The band has slipped off my finger on a few previous
occasions while I was doing such things as digging in the ground to plant
something or washing dishes.
Logic
suggested I lost the band while collecting cans and bottles from the barrow pit
and immediate area beyond the roadway.
Yesterday,
following that logic I, Desiree, and my mountain neighbors Patrick and Mary
scoured the half-mile stretch of road I cleaned. Patrick and I used metal detectors. The girls kicked along beside us.
After
two hours of thoroughly surveying my entire path, we came up with no more than a
rusty pair of pliers, a handful of electrical fittings, and more aluminum cans.
I am
literally uncomfortable without the ring on my finger. My hand feels strange in a way I cannot
describe.
Lake
Helena and Patrick Alongside the Road
Patrick
Working His Detector
—Mitchell
Hegman
I recently shared a post about sawing sections from the trunks of a few juniper trees (per Desiree’s instructions) for use in an upcoming project of hers.
Well,
it turns out we are talking about many projects.
Posted
is a photograph of the beginnings of one such project.
I don’t
know exactly what it is yet and Desiree has not yet started finishing the wood,
but I like it.
Finally,
I tossed the fiber material on the branches just because I could. In the end Desiree figures tumbled glass in
the design.
Unknown
Project
—Mitchell
Hegman
I think having a generous neighbor is largely a good thing. I mean, a neighbor who brings you a decent bottle of single malt Scotch or maybe provides a free dinner now and then is nothing to squawk about.
But
there might be a few lines we don’t want to see crossed in the realm of giving.
Maybe
a neighbor giving you an outside plant that turns out to be an invasive species
isn’t so great. You may similarly have
room to question a neighbor giving you a kitten produced by their psycho barn
cat.
And
then we have this. The other morning my
neighbor, Kevin, arrived at my door and gave a machete to Desiree.
And
she seemed weirdly happy about it.
What is that?
Desiree
With Her Machete and Kevin in Sinister Light
—Mitchell
Hegman
Yesterday, we celebrated the arrival of spring in the form of my first bluebird sighting.
Today,
we mark something a bit less auspicious.
While traipsing about in some of last year’s tall grasses just off Lake
Helena Drive picking up winter’s array of litter (mostly aluminum cans), the
fist wood tick of the season attached itself to my collection bag.
I’m
going to say this out loud: “Wood ticks suck.”
End
of blog.
The
Tick
—Mitchell
Hegman
I finally spotted my first bluebird of the year – a pair of them, actually. Their signature scissoring, veering flight pattern first garnered my attention. Soon enough, they started sizing up the bluebird house I planted just off my driveway.
I
hope they make that their summer home and raise a brood of little ones there.
Only
one thing is certain, spring has officially arrived here at my northern prairie
home, carried on the wings of a pair of songbirds.
—Mitchell
Hegman
