Share Your World 7th June 2023

I’m assuming rain is on the way. Thunder has been rolling for the past hour and a bit, though no rain yet. I has rained every day for the past three days, but we had two weeks of unbroken full sun and occasional days of very hot weather — followed by cold weather. And rain. It’s a total weather grab-bag and I’m glad I’m not in the weather business.

Here are this week’s questions:

Do you like to sunbathe on the beach or by a pool?

I don’t sunbathe. I have the kind of skin that not only doesn’t tan, but burns to a crisp in minutes.

Have you ever used a fake tan or a sun bed?

I used a sunbed once when we were going on a Caribbean cruise just so I wouldn’t look the way I always look — like a deathly pale whitey in a bathing suit. I never did it again. Once was enough. I was sure it couldn’t be good for you and I was right.

Have you joined or wanted to join a gym?

I have joined many gyms, but it was entirely so I could use the pool and sometimes, so I could use the hot tub. Out here, though, there are no public pools. There’s one in the gym in Whitinsville, but its hours are completely used up by swimming lessons for local junior and senior high schoolers. Not enough days in the week for the rest of us.

There are places in the river where it is legal to swim but that water is very cold. When I was a kid, I was okay with swimming in cold water, but these days? No. Thanks anyway.

Good health permitting, would you prefer to go hiking or take a walk in the woods?

I never liked hiking and if you live in the northeast, you do NOT go in the woods in the summer. That’s where hordes of mosquitoes live. To them — and there are maybe trillions of them — you look like a four course meal.

Once, when we were camping in Maine, me and one of the guys decided to walk into the woods and see if we could find where the beavers were working. We went about 30 meters along a very narrow trail until we realized we were covered with mosquitoes. It looked like an extra layer of clothing. So Frank (he was the friend) said: “Mosquitoes are slow fliers. Let’s RUN.”

We ran all the way out of the woods and straight off the end of the dock into the lake, clothing and all. You do NOT go into the woods in the summer. The best time for woodland walks are in very early spring when the snow is gone, but before the bugs have really taken over. Or in late November when there are still some occasional warm days. The leaves are gone as are most of the bugs. Then all you have to worry about are the wolf spiders (they are huge). They build little mound houses in the woods and wait for something — like a mouse or small bird — to come by. Yes, they eat birds and small rodents. Really big and out of an arachnophobes’ nightmare.

I used to do a lot of walking in Israel and Boston. One year I climbed Mt. Gilead to see the wild iris blooming. In England, I climbed down Land’s End. And of course strolled around all the earthworks and ruined castles and walked the old city walls in Jerusalem (you can’t do that anymore). I didn’t consider it hiking. That’s just how you got around.

Garry and I walked everywhere in Boston, but we lived in Beacon Hill, so if we had two decent parking spaces, we didn’t move a car until it was “alternate side of the street” changeover day. I suppose you could call it hiking, but it was just how we got around. When I think of hiking, I’m thinking big heavy backpacks, solid boots and lots of bug repellant.

As for gratitude:

They sing and make me happy.

Categories: #Birds, #gallery, #Photography, #SYW, Anecdote, bluebirds, Goldfinch, Humor

Tags: #Photography, birds, Hiking, humor, Marilyn Armstrong, paths, sunbathing