It is now just after 7:00 AM and I have been up for over an hour. I have gone through emails, worked on photos, checked the FB page for various groups that I follow and finished my first cup of coffee. Hubby is still in bed, but the radio alarm is due to go off in minutes as he has invited a visitor to come at 8:30 and check out our oyster rafts as he discusses how oysters improve water quality. It gives hubby a chance to expound on his expertise. He is slowing down in old age and the opportunity to be an expert at his age does not come often. I think this visitor is starting some company for floating oyster rafts driven by solar power...should be interesting.
Then we take a break for lunch and in the afternoon we are both listening to an online seminar given by a university in how to deal with nearby woodlands. We are surrounded by woodlands and interested in ways we can keep them alive and healthy. We had to pay for the course and its six seminars, but the hour can also be applied to our annual education requirement for our Master Gardener's group. I may find interesting things to share on my blog for those who do not have time to take online courses.
The woodlands have changed. I see more woodpeckers and more dying trees. The undergrowth has been eaten away by deer, but the deer have been winnowed by my neighbors hunting across the road! Branches get scattered in high winds making the normal shadows even barer.
I have taken two days of long walks in woods (not ours) and have a bunch of photos of that beauty to post on my other blog. We drove to two state parks that we have never visited in our winter boredom. When I get that done I will link back to here so you can walk with me!
Well, I must go straighten the scattered magazines, piles of receipts on end tables, etc. so that the visitor does not see how we really live!
I'll have to check out your other blog. I didn't know about it but I see the link in the sidebar. I would also hope you might post some of the more interesting and useful tips you might get from that seminar. :-)
ReplyDeleteI gave up trying to hide how I live long ago. reminds me of something I read somewhere...if you want to see the house, make an appointment, if you want to see me, drop by anytime. interesting about the changes you are noticing in your woods. I suppose woods go through natural changes or do you think it is climate change? getting warmer?
ReplyDeleteThat is great about your husband's expertise, and someone learning from him. I wonder if young people do that less these days...maybe society has neglected learning from our experience and wisdom that comes with age. Andrea
ReplyDeleteI have to envy a guy who required an alarm to get up sometime after 7.
ReplyDeleteOur woodlands have changed quite a bit since we moved here 18 years ago. Weather, animal life and a horrible insect, the Spotted Lantern Bug, have played havoc on something that was once so beautiful. The first two I accept, but this foreign, invasive specie that can kill a tree in a single season, is frightening. So far, there is little that can be done to stop them from spreading to other parts.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your work in preserving wild life and wild areas.
ReplyDeleteWow! You got a lot accomplished so early in the morning. I think I was still having breakfast.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that someone who is 'slowing down' can pass on their knowledge to others. I'm sure I've forgotten most of what I ever knew - or maybe I didn't know it in the first place, not sure. I've been having trouble remembering the names of trees and birds lately and that upsets me. But just being in the bush (woods) still soothes me. Good luck in keeping your woodlands alive and healthy.
ReplyDeleteThe knowledge of our elders needs to be cherished. Good luck with the seminar, i hope it teaches you much and makes a difference for you.
ReplyDeleteYou have a busy life. Well done for learning how to look after the woodlands.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a worthwhile seminar. Our Oregon place was changed by a seminar that discouraged having lawns and turning them into natural riparian type zones. We did that by creating a waterway in the middle for runoff (we never filled it as it was meant to look natural). Now though it's a pasture and that might defeat the natural part.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post, Tabor...and the seminar sounds interesting, too.
ReplyDeleteI love oysters! As children we used to gather the from the rocks at a seaside area we often visited with our mother and grandmother...and I've loved them ever since.
I just found out you had two blogs! Very ce.
ReplyDeleteVery important stuff. We need to take caring for our planet and all its life more seriously.
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