It's been raining on Mackinac Island for the past four days. We've had light rain, heavy downpours, and rains that have lasted all day and all night.
This morning I rode to work in a light rain; more than a sprinkle but not much. As I rode I noticed what looked like small twigs all over the road. Lots and lots of little twigs. It must have rained pretty hard, I thought. But then I looked closer. They weren't twigs.
My entire one mile bike ride to work was like that - worms everywhere: long ones, short ones, skinny ones, fat ones, and squished ones - lots and lots of squished ones. And riding around them wasn't really an option.
By the time I left school at about 4:00, they were gone. We must have some of the best fed birds in the entire state of Michigan...
Living on the rainy west coast, we see this a lot. I've always wondered about it, seems counter-intuitive. I get coming out of the saturated ground, but why always on the pavement?
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised I haven't thought to ask this before, but I work in a school as an interventionist, and I'm curious -- do teachers on Mackinac Island have to get dressed up for work? We aren't supposed to wear casual clothes, but I don't have to walk/bike through the rain and snow to get to work. It seems like it'd be a pain to do that in dress pants or a dress!
ReplyDeleteWe've had lots of rain, but I haven't noticed the worms.
ReplyDeleteHi Emily, I hesitate to say that we dress “casually” at school, but compared to the way most other teachers dress we probably do. A typical day for me is dress pants or khakis a shirt and a blazer, sweater or fleece. Shoes are very practical – tennis shoes or something a bit dressier but without a heel. I’m probably the only staff member who wears dresses and then usually only in September and May – when it is warm enough for bare legs! You’re right in that whatever we wear has to work for riding a bicycle or a snowmobile. My “commute” is one mile, so if I’m wearing a skirt I often fold it carefully and put it in my backpack until I get to school. It’s warmer that way and riding a bike in a pencil skirt is pretty much impossible. However, I have learned over the years that one can ride a snowmobile sidesaddle!
ReplyDeleteOMG! Do all these worms appear every time it rains?
ReplyDeleteI commute by bike too because I can dress casual clothes at work! It's fantastic!