Happy Worm Day

 Happy Worm Day 2026!

This year's Worm Day is the latest since I've been keeping track, but it's a day to celebrate none the less.

 The first day we find huge numbers of worms on the pavement after a rain means spring is here!

Derpy?

Here's another critter we found hanging out around Mann Lake (near Sheridan, MI.) There's just something about that little snakey face, isn't there? "Derpy" was the word my daughter used to describe it, which I had to look up. I found several different meanings ranging between foolish or weird to lovingly stupid. And looking at that face, I can see how the word fits. Guess I'm going to have to add derpy to my slang vocabulary, though with my luck it's not "in" anymore.

Um...

While I was waiting for my friend to purchase some fishing supplies the other day, I noticed this little gem for sale. I'm sure it serves an incredibly important fishing purpose, but it didn't get any better when I read the packaging...

Invasion

I am the proud owner of a tribble. Eric the Tribble spends his days lounging on a bookshelf enjoying listening to NPR and watching Star Trek (of course.) He actually prefers Star Trek Voyager, if you're wondering; he happens to be a big Janeway fan.

I thought all was well, but recently I started noticing little tribbles.

Little tribbles in the entryway,

tribbles on the credenza,

and even more tribbles on the bookshelf.

 They were everywhere. 

Which, if you know anything about tribbles,

makes perfect sense.

Thank you, Allen Burt. This really put a smile on my face!

Only on Mackinac

Just another normal sight on Mackinac - someone leading a horse while riding a bike. Sorry for the blurry pictures, but I was also on my bike and trying not to kill myself.

 

Happy Worm Day

Happy Worm Day, 2025! 

A little later than usual,

but still a sure sign of spring.

My Boss

A certain someone, who shall remain nameless, doesn't think tonight is a good night for me to be sewing mitten linings. I have been instructed to give her copious amounts of attention instead. Normal mitten might resume tomorrow, if she allows it, but we'll have to wait and see...

Quiet

Truth be told, I am not a dog person. I am, most definitely, a cat person. (To me there's not much that beats snuggling with a purring cat, but I digress.) My mom has been on a skiing trip so we agreed to watch her dog while she has been traveling.  Wren is an adorable little black lab who loves long walks (and her ball.) 

She and I have been going out together every morning before I head to school, which means we usually walk in the dark. This past weekend however,  we headed out together a little later so we got to see the sights. We walked for about 30 minutes each morning, and apart from a few squirrels, we didn't see another living soul.

Ready for Winter

Chickens don't require huge amounts of work, but there are things you have to do to keep them. One of the most dreaded chicken-chores is cleaning out the chicken coop. Luckily, my coop is small so cleaning it isn't an overwhelming task. 

Today I managed to cross that job off my Fall To Do List. The girls now have a clean coop, complete with new nesting material. As soon as I finished, several of the girls had to pop inside to check out their newly cleaned digs. I can't tell if Princess Poopy Pants is pleased, or if that is a look of disapproval.

If you're wondering why there is a phone taped to the wall in the chicken coop - it is being used as a camera. I can open an app on my phone to check to see if the automatic door has opened or closed. The automatic door makes owning chickens soooooooooooo much easier!

Exploring Jenny Lake

Exploring Jenny Lake was something Allen's mom really wanted to do. Allen did a ton of research and knew if we wanted to get a parking spot, we'd better get an early start. (And he was right - when we left later in the day, the parking lot was full and people had parked up to 1/4 mile away along the sides of he highway.) 

We decided to begin with a boat ride across the lake. We could have hiked the 2 1/2 miles to the trailhead, but the ride was inexpensive and fun.

Jenny Lake isn't very big (compared to the lakes I'm use to) but like the lakes I'm use to, it's beautiful.

Once we reached the other side, we followed the signs for the hike up to Inspiration Point and Cascade Canyon.

We only hiked up 400 or 500 feet, but it was a bit of a challenge for those of us use to living virtually right at sea level. (Mackinac Island is only between about 550 and 900 feet in elevation.)

The elevation (7,200 feet) didn't give any of us altitude sickness, but we did feel it. Much of Jenny Lake is visible from Inspiration Point; the blue skies, blue water, and mountains made the perfect backdrop for pictures. 

K wasn't sure the hike was worth it until she sat down for a snack. The next thing she knew, a very curious chipmunk decided they were best friends and he needed a snack, too. Those three minutes made the whole climb up a positive experience for her.

At that point we split up. One group continued hiking up to Cascade Canyon, while the other group headed down to fish and keep Grandma company (her knees and back weren't up for the hike like that.)

Once up in the canyon, those folks got to see a mama moose and her calf!

As we headed back down I was just in awe of the beauty of the Tetons. Wyoming is just so very different from Michigan. Our highest point is about 1,900 feet, which is nothing compared to Grand Teton at almost 14,000 feet.

Once again, I took hundreds of pictures. Literally. I'm not ready to relocate, but I now understand why people love the mountains.  They are beautiful in pictures, but there's just something about seeing them with your own eyes that's different. I know I keep using "breathtaking" to describe them, but other words don's seem to capture the scale and grandeur of the Tetons. 

This picture, of a Ranger cabin on the lake, is one of my favorites from the entire trip, even if there isn't much mountain in it. Lol.

As we were taking photos, a lovely man offered to take a picture of all eleven of us. It was so nice to get a picture of our entire group! 

Jenny Lake was the perfect way for us begin our adventure. If you find yourself near Jenny Lake, I highly recommend spending the day here. I suggest arriving early - before 9:00 am if you want to park in the parking lot. Pack your lunch since only snacks and ice cream are for sale in the shops here. You're also going to want to bring water with you as you hike. If you're fair, like me, a hat and sunscreen are a must. According to this article, for every 1,000 feet you go up in altitude, the sun's UV rays increase 8% - 10%. You'll notice I have on long sleeves in virtually every photo from this trip - even when it was warm. Those shirts are for sun protection!

Happy Worm Day!

My family may be the only family that celebrates, but happy Worm Day anyway! What is Worm Day you ask? Why Worm day is the first warmish, wet day each spring when the earthworms come out en masse. It's a day we celebrate as one of the heralds of spring (along with other spring happenings such as the First Boat, the First Freighter, or the opening of Grand Hotel's tulips.)

Worm Day is a sure sign that spring is here. Often it doesn't hit until early May, but it has been so warm in Northern Michigan this year, I'm not surprised they came out early.

It's not the best picture, but all those little lines on the pavement are worms, and they are all wishing you a very happy Worm Day 2024!

Well $hit

Lovely. I've felt poor all day and now I know why. Guess I'm not going to school this week; time to get started on some sub plans...

New Friends

My youngest has managed to "tame" some of our new chickens.  Every day she spends thirty minutes or so with "The Girls" out in the chicken run. They quickly learned if they jumped up on her lap, they would be rewarded with treats. Now when she heads out there, they all come running to see what goodies she might have for them. It's adorable. We're looking for names for the two black and white ones on her lap. Extra points for Princess names (though Princess Leia, Princess Pink, Princess Buttercup and Princess Poopy-pants have been used already.)

Noticed

As I was out walking this afternoon I noticed this tree next to the road. I've walked past this tree hundreds of times, but I'd never noticed the sawdust at the base of the tree. Of course, I had to investigate.

As I watched, ant after ant walked up to the edge of the hole, dropped a piece of sawdust, turned around, and disappeared back into the hole. A quick Google search told me they were carpenter ants; interesting to see in the wild but not so much to find in your home.

Watching them reminded me of the time we had ants in my childhood home. My dad had put out ant traps, he'd sprayed, he'd put out ant bait, but they just wouldn't go away. I remember him walking around the house with a stethoscope listening to the walls and the doors. I thought he was really weird until he had me listen to one of the front hall closet doors. As I put the stethoscope ear pieces into my ears I heard what sounded like whispering.

My dad removed the door from the track and took it outside. For a few days he sprayed some kind of bug killer into the hole in the bottom of the door. Then, he'd wait and listen again to see if there were still live ants inside. He did this three or four times until he finally got a small saw to cut around the edges of the door. When he pealed the top off it was as if the door was a sandwich and the front and back pieces were the slices of bread. It was a gigantic ant sandwich - they were nesting inside the door. Inside of that hollow-core door were thousands of ants - my childhood self was completely disgusted. 

Needless to say, we got new closet doors after that. They were still hollow-core doors, but my dad cut pieces of wood to fill the openings at the bottom. We never had carpenter ants again.

Nothing to See Here

Nothing to see here. Just two people, who have never met in real life, meeting in the Fort Michilimackinac parking lot.

What, you ask, could bring two complete strangers together in a northern Michigan parking lot? Why chickens, of course!

She had too many, and I didn't have enough, so it was a match made in heaven; and the best part - she was willing to take partial payment in the form of homemade jams and jellies. Thank you Tori!

Irresistible

I mean just look at that face.

So. Stinking. Cute.

I think

Professor Minerva McGonagall,

or Minnie, for short,

is the most adorable

kitty around.

Really?

Time for another episode of Liz's Pet Peeves. Fair warning - I'm going to nerd out.

These Halloween decorations drive me crazy and I mean CRAZY! 

Spiders, members of the arachnid class, are invertebrates; they have exoskeletons. They do not have endoskeletons. Octopuses* are mollusks - another invertebrate. Neither arachnids nor mollusks have backbones - or any bones for that matter.  And yet someone thought these decorations were a great idea. Sigh.

I realize that people shouldn't base their scientific knowledge on Halloween decorations, but little children see these before they are taught animal classification. A four or five year old isn't going to know any better when they see this and make an unconscious mental note. Which will then have to be untaught in the future. How about, instead, choosing animals that actually have skeletons.

And while we're at it, let's only include animal parts that are actually part of the skeleton! A chicken's comb, wattles and tail are not made up of bones. These actually kind of make me cringe. And I'd buy them. I'd have a whole bunch of them around my classroom if they were even remotely accurate. 

Ok, rant over...

*Yeah, I googled it just to makes sure I was correct.

Sad Day

 

My daughter lost her little buddy today; she came home from school to discover that her pet rat, Sylvester, had passed away. Her other rat, Lucas, had to be euthanized this summer, so today was not a surprise. Despite it being expected, it didn't make it any easier to say good-bye. He was a good little rat and he will be remembered for his wiggling whiskers and how cute he was when he nibbled on Cheerios. 

Ouch!

Come outside and help me, dad said.

This batch of bees are really nice, he said,

I promise, you won't get stung.

My son, wasn't so sure.

I'll help, he said. IF, 

you pay me $10.00 for each sting.

Dad, confident that all would be well,

agreed: $10.00 per sting.

All was well, until it wasn't...

 Of  the 20 stingers found in my son's gloves,

12 found their way through.

And even when you aren't allergic

to bee stings,

12 stings is a lot.

So when my son's throat started

to feel "weird,"

it was time to go to the Medical Center.

A large dose of Benadryl,

an IV,

three hours,

and

$120.00

later,

and the kid is just fine.

He's actually pretty blasé about the whole thing and has already offered to help his dad whenever he needs it. Though I'm quite sure his dad will be purchasing a second pair of beekeeping gloves.

Walking

While I was walking to town the other day I noticed something in the road. Don't see it? Here, let me zoom in...

See it now? It is a Eastern garter snake - a common snake on Mackinac Island. This little guy was completely unafraid of me. I kept walking closer and closer, until I was almost on top of him.

He just sat there, proud as can be, for a long time. Once he finally realized I was there, his head popped up in surprise and he slithered away.