Sunday, July 16, 2006

July Bugs


Why do they call them June Bugs? The drunken July Bugs are flying into buildings after becoming satiated on blackberry juice. At times, I forget that they are knocking themselves out en masse as they fly into the house. I hear the noise and wonder if it is (miraculously) raining.

They fall onto the porches and after sleeping it off, fly off to do it again.

Sometimes, I find one sleeping right on a berry out in the field. Drunken sots.

We don't see or hear them until July, when the blackberries are ripe. The only other activity I'm aware of is that they mate: scads of them were having an orgy on one part of our lawn yesterday. I guess they must assure the world that there will be more July Bugs next year.

Ah, well, at least they have a jolly life during the month of July! What they do the rest of the year is a mystery to me.

Friday, July 07, 2006

Cows and Blackberries


I was engaged in picking wineberries the other evening, when I looked up and found myself surrounded by cows. We have thirty, so if you're thinking that cows are large and noisy, you are wrong. Cows are capable of great stealth and cooperative effort.

I went over to my Kawasaki Mule, and found a note. It said, "Thank you for the thoughtful snack. Next time, don't bother with the buckets, just dump them in the truck bed so we don't have to."

Yes, there had been several buckets of blackberries back there and since I hadn't seen any cows in the vicinity, I didn't think twice about parking the Mule and finishing up.

Oh, well. I wasn't even that mad about it, because the moment was so magical. Cool nights and mornings and berries sweet and plump from the recent rains are allowing for some concentrated picking. The cows are going to have to pick their own from now on, though!

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Taliban

I don't normally name chickens, unless their personalities or appearance demands it. The big black rooster has been attacking my bare legs ever since it got hot and I've been wearing shorts. What else would you name him?

While he is attacking at approximately knee level, I reach over him and slap him in the back of the head. He's not expecting it because he's thinking I'll hit him from the front. To his credit, he seems to have associated getting a slap to the back of the head with the act of attacking me. For now, he's under control.

We finally got some much needed rain last week. Unfortunately, if you heard the news, we got it a little too fast for the ground to immediately soak it up.

I'm not complaining, you understand, just hoping we'll get more in reasonable installments.

The garden is producing well, even though it's gotten hot and dry in the last three or so days. I even put on the sprinklers today.