Pungo Lake, mysteries and finding balance in nature (and a bear)

 

                          Pungo Lake, mysteries and finding balance in nature (and a bear)

This past couple of weeks have been hard, and I have not walked much. I have read several murder mystery books by the author Carolyn Graham. These books were the inspiration for the BBC mystery series A Midsomer Mysteries. She takes her time in setting up the plot, and developing the characters. None of her people are perfect, everyone is strange in ways that seem right and familiar. Most of the people are judgmental and harsh, or uncaring and selfish, but there seems to always be a couple of “right nice blokes” in each story as well. They were written in the late 1980”s, and they remind me of what the culture was like then. I thought the world was full of feminism and independent women, but I now I realize those stronger women were still outliers then. Her writing is fun, and very creative. In the book I just read, the word murder isn’t even used until near the very end of the story. 

Today I have to sit outside, all day. We are having work done in the house, and the worker isn’t comfortable with our dog. I’m not fully comfortable leaving her outside alone all day. I think I have forgotten she is a dog. But the truth is, I love being outside. Today is like a self imposed vacation. I’m sitting under my huge magnolia tree. The day is warm, and too hot for sitting out in the sun, but perfect in the cooler shade of the tree. Tree shade is wonderful. While a tree is doing its thing with photosynthesis, the leaves are also respiring, and letting cool moisture into the air. Under a healthy tree is the best place to be. We bought this house partially because of this tree, and this yard. And yet, how many days go by when I only set foot outside to let the dog out, and to toss a ball or two. Or I go outside to mow, which I enjoy, and work in the garden. But I rarely just sit outside and watch the day go by. When the kids were little I used to say, “Tomorrow is an all day outside day.” Everyone would cheer.  We woke up, took our breakfast and my coffee outside, and began to play, work, pull weeds and dig tunnels, draw with chalk and enjoy lunch on a quilt under a tree. The kids would ride bikes, or climb trees, or play in mud, depending on their age. Those were my favorite days, and I’m sure the kids enjoyed them as well. I don’t think we did them enough. So today, I had coffee outside. I brought out a bag with my quilt and supplies, a book and snacks. It has been wonderful. I don’t feel guilty because I have workmen in the house and my car is in the shop. I can’t go anywhere anyway. I can’t do laundry, and don’t need to do anything else. It’s too hot to weed. Above my head wave the large magnolia leaves, around me flutter butterflies and bees search for late summer flowers. The dog rests nearby, every once in a while bringing me a ball, then after a run or two returns to her shady spot.  I watch the sun move across the sky, and the neighbors work in their yards and then go inside to do other things. I haven’t seen a lot of birds today, maybe it’s too hot or I’m spending too much time in my book.  After a few moments I notice it is hot, and I lift my hair off my neck. A breeze blows, cooling me off and I forget the discomfort.

Reading books that take place in the ’80’s is both good and bad. I remembered the way women were treated at times and how we saw ourselves, but also during that time we had no social media. We had no phones in our back pockets. Kids played outside, roamed neighborhoods and lived on their bikes.  I’m pretty sure we weren’t as divided as we are now, but that may not be true. I remember the Moral Majority, Watergate and the Vietnam war, the aftermath of the civil rights. I think the late 70’s and the 80’s were a time of rest in a way. Having a 24 hour news cycle and all the social media has kept us from having time to reflect. We hear and read things that are upsetting, we don’t have time to fully think and process or even vet the information before we hear the next upsetting thing. I plan to slow down, to slow my partaking of news and information and to rest a little. I plan to sit under the Magnolia tree of life and let cool breezes flow over me instead of stewing in the heat of all the problems of our time. Maybe we all need a little rest. Go outside, sit under a tree, and just be.

I walked a whopping total of 16 miles these two weeks.  Three of those miles were in a refuge in NC, where we saw a bear, or at least a glimpse of one. It’s funny, we saw so many bears in my childhood, but this is the first one I have seen in ages.  We walked in the Pocosin Wildlife Refuge, a place that claims the most bears per square mile of any place east of the Rockies.  My son and I were walking along a dirt road, hoping to see Pungo Lake, when he saw the bear. I saw only a black shape moving down a tree, and my first thought, strangely, was Monkeys. The bear had quickly climbed down a tree, and I could see the tree swaying wildly in it’s wake. We stood for a few moments trying to decide what to do We had only walked 1/2 mile or less, and wanted to continue.  We were being eaten up by gnats and mosquitos when we stood still, and the dog was extremely interested in the patch of woods where the bear had been, or was. We decided to retreat back to the car and try a different spot. We drove on to another location, and were able to see the lake from a boardwalk right at the parking spot for the car. No real walking but pretty views.  So with fewer miles this time I”m only on mile 360 of the AT.   Maybe soon I will actually start walking more than a mile or two here and there.  But, I am outside, and that makes me happy. 

Butterflies and pollinators by Shelley Hopkins

                                        Hike and flowers and butterflies, great joy!

 I walked a little bit more each day this last month. The best day was on my birthday, when my son and I walked over 5 miles at the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge. This is one of my favorite trails, it circles behind the building used to observe the sandhill cranes when they arrive. We enjoyed the walk, and got to see some interesting birds and lots of butterflies. Also one day my husband and I took our truck and drove a dirt path on another section of the same wildlife refuge. I didn’t count this trip since we didn’t walk, but the views and the sheer number of butterflies we saw were beautiful. At one time three landed on me, and another one kept buzzing my face. It was thrilling, I felt I was in the middle of a butterfly dance, and I was the new visitor they all wanted to check out.

 Another of the walks was on our family farm in NC, where I also took place in a pollinator count. I walked across the fields, found some wildflowers, and sat down to count all the pollinators that landed on one single bush. There were quite a few butterflies flitting about, mostly yellow sulphur, and bees buzzing around near the trees, but fewer critters landed on my flower than I expected. The idea was to count every landing on a single bush or flower for 15 minutes. I counted 2, then started over, moved back further away and counted 6.  Earlier I had counted at a pick your own flower garden, and I counted 22. In a yard, close to sprayed fields of soybeans, I counted one.  Making myself sit still for 15 measured minutes allowed me to really focus on watching. I watched while a grasshopper leapt from one grass blade to another. I watched the flowers bend as the bees and butterflies landed on the flower, and then straighten back up when they flew away. I’ve never been good at sitting still for a period of time, but having the timer with me made it easy. I plan to do this often, just for my own interest. 

The pollinator count is part of a citizen science project, that has taken place since 2017.  It started in Georgia, then expanded to South Carolina, and now includes Alabama and North Carolina. The group that started the count had several reasons in mind, but the number one reason was education. Many gardeners and teachers know about plants, soil, and water, but in general know much less about insects. Several public gardens were growing lots of vegetables but not getting the amount of produce they expected, and the woman that started the count suggested planting flowers. The flowers would attract pollinators, which would help with the vegetable plants. Over several years these gardeners found their yields increasing as well as having fewer harmful insects in the gardens. Teachers were working hard to teach kids about gardens, about compost and watering and eating the produce, but in general teachers knew less about the insects, and so didn’t teach as much. Schools and families and individuals take place in the pollinator count, and learn along the way. Also all the information collected goes to a database that is being used in research, helping scientists track the insects. Everyone who took place in the count recorded the weather and time of day. We had a sheet of paper describing different bees, flies, wasps and butterflies and moths. When I tallied 22 insects, I actually tallied one bumble bee, two small bees, three flies and the rest were butterflies and moths. I can’t wait to find out what the overall census tells us. 

 It has been a good month, counting bugs and watching birds, reading books and just being outside. On my pretend hike I am now in Erwin TN.  I have walked a total of 343 miles this year.