I laughed when Ellin wrote that the weather is perfect for outside. “Not too hot, not too cold, and the bugs aren’t in full attack mode.” Or something to that effect. People who don’t live here don’t “get” the bugs.
We don’t just have insects. We have hordes of insects with jaws and stingers. Tiny ones that get into your eyes and ears and clothing.
The trees will darken as summer progresses
Evil ones that carry disease and vicious ones that requires trips to the doctor and antibiotics. And of course, the slithery ones that eat your trees for breakfast, lunch, and dinner until they are naked. The trees are naked. The bugs are furry and itchy.
This year, so far, the bugs are “normal.” I see no evidence of returning gypsy moth caterpillars and I just hope that we are back to normal again. Nothing more vicious than mosquitoes and flies seem to be out there, discounting the ever-present ants, of course.
So this is our forest. It has come into bloom. Yesterday, actually. You could pretty much watch the leaves unfurl. It’s not quite summer, so I think we are going to get a week or two of actual spring! Amazing! We deserve it after our last, endless winter.
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Categories: #Flowers, #foliage, #gallery, #Photography, woodland, Woods
SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
Looks beautiful in spite of the greedy bugs!
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Thing is, you can’t see the bugs until they have found YOU. It’s one of the things I really don’t like about them.
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It looks lovely. We learned when we moved here last year that the bugs rule, period. There is almost no such thing as ‘indoors’, since they come in, over, under, whatever little gaps there may be in the house, even though I am leaving plastic sheeting up on the majority of the windows (since I am really nice and don’t want bugs to stick to the sticky stuff and die–) I almost fell over when we pulled out the dryer lint screen to clean and a spider a couple-few inches long came out, alive. Holymoley. No, I didn’t kill it, but was glad we sleep in a different room, and I pretended we wouldn’t see it again. Bugs–majorform of life on earth other than even smaller stuff–
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I actually think — and I believe I’ve heard this to be true — that there are trillions more insects than people in this world. But why do they all live on OUR property? Okay, they obviously live on yours, too. Ever since Garry got bitten by a brown recluse, he has had a greater respect for our multi-legged pals, with and without wings. I deal with them better outside. Just — not in my house. Stay in your part of the world and I’ll stay in mine.
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I say lots of encouragement that they are welcome OUTSIDE the house.
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Outside. Except the poison spiders and destructive caterpillars. They can just go away and never return.
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I had a big fat live tick on my clothing this February, even though the weather had been cold enough to kill anything and almost knocked me off. I had thought that the reason so many bugs and mold thrive is due to lack of serious winter conditions like we always used to have, so I thought that we in iceland-Woodstock area would be fine–
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Ticks have some serious survival instinct. I give my dogs medication for heartworm all year round because of that and they wear tick collars right up through January.
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I was also amazed at the survival ability of the cockropach and its ability to live for 45 minutes with the head cut off, due to different brain centers in the body–I’d have to research more, but they have my survival odds beat all to heck.
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Your trees are further along than ours, Mariyn. We only have buds. Maybe in a few more days they sill show.
Leslie
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They went from tiny buds to full leaves in like three days. It was amazing. You could literally watch them unfold.
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That’s often the way…
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Oh my, that is beautiful. And I do love the descriptions. You’re a talented writer!
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I have to admit it’s pretty easy to write about things with which I am so familiar. I don’t have to do a lot of research and thinking. The good thing is that I wrote this, took the pictures, processed the pictures, and had it posted in less than half an hour. I think that might be a record.
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I don’t think I’ve ever gotten anything up that quickly more than once or twice and not without panic. 😂
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Normally, neither do I — but I had a dentist appointment and I was out of time! Amazing what necessity can do for you.
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Haha, indeed!
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Here’s hoping the “bug” population isn’t overwhelming. I HATE bugs! ALL bugs! Last year they cut down the forest next door (they are building homes) so replace bugs with hammering sawing, etc. Anyway, we were thus inundated with every flying bug and spider you could imagine. It was horrible going outside because every time you walked through the door another spider web crossed it or landed on you and the spiders were quite big. Fortunately, they must have all found new homes because the bug population hasn’t shown up enforce so far and there are only one or two spiders! 🙂 yay!
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You missed our two year full throttle invasion by the Gypsy moth caterpillars. They ate ALL THE LEAVES from every hardwood tree in our woods. It was hideous. And then there was the year Garry got bitten by a brown recluse. Yikes.
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Looks and feels like early March. Ugh.
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Bugs, bugs, bugs. Adios, bad hombres!
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