Wednesday, August 24, 2016

The Wonders Of Nature.......


We are doing a little landscaping and have put some landscaping fabric down to help keep the weeds down. While watering the plants that I had planted I had the joy of watching one of natures miracles.

I am not a bug person so I am surprised that when I saw what looked like a giant grub that I did just say yuck and run away! I told Rick to come look at it and he said he thought it was a Cicada. As I watched it move around on the ground and then onto the landscaping fabric I was amazed to see wings appear. 




 When I first saw the Cicada the wings just looked like a small green bump on the side of it. I wish I had thought to take a picture when I first saw it. The above picture is about 5 minutes after I saw it.


                                         


                                       The wings just kept getting bigger and bigger.










When the wings were fully inflated they were really quite beautiful. They were almost translucent but I could see the greens in them. Again I am not a bug person but I just could not believe the beauty of it.



After seeing it I had do I little research on the Cicada and what I found out amazed me even more...


Cicadas begin life as a rice-shaped egg, which the female deposits in a groove she makes in a tree limb, using her ovipositor. The groove provides shelter and exposes the tree fluids, which the young cicadas feed on. These grooves can kill small branches. When the branches die and leaves turn brown, it is called flagging.
Once the egg hatches the cicada begins to feed on the tree fluids. At this point it looks like a termite or small white ant. Once the young cicada is ready, it crawls from the groove and falls to the ground where it will dig until it finds roots to feed on. Once roots are found the cicada will stay underground from 2 to 17 years depending on the species. Cicadas are active underground, tunneling and feeding.
After the long 2 to 17 years, cicadas emerge from the ground as nymphs. Nymphs climb the nearest available tree, and begin to shed their nymph exoskeleton. Free of their old skin, their wings will inflate with fluid and their adult skin will harden. Once their new wings and body are ready, they can begin their brief adult life.
Adult cicadas, also called imagoes, spend their time in trees looking for a mate. Males sing, females respond, mating begins, and the cycle of life begins again.


It is so amazing to me that they are underground for 2 to 17 years! Who would have know.

I case you do not know what I Cicada sound like you can hear it here  A lot of people hate the noise of them but not me. They are the sound of summer for me.

So I count myself very luck to have seen the cicada as it began it's adult life. Nature is truly amazing.

Sharon


Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Lost and Found.....

In the year 2000 I was able to take a trip to Europe. We started in Germany going to Switzerland, Italy and ending in Paris. It was a great trip and I got to see a lot of beautiful things and managed to buy a few things along the way. 

Most of those things I bought are long forgotten or tossed away. But the one thing that I have always kept was a ring I got in Paris. We were leaving the Louvre and came across a small craft fair/market. While looking around I found the ring. It did not cost a lot of money, I think around $25.00. It was just a simple ring that I liked so I bought it. 

Well for the last 16 years I have worn the ring off and on. Sometimes for just a day and other times for months. About a month ago I noticed my wedding ring had a broken prong on it so I took it off. Since I have not had time to run to Mankato to get it fixed I decided to get my Paris ring out to wear. And that is when the search began. I went to where I thought it would be, in a small container that I keep a bunch of earrings and a couple of rings. My ring was nowhere to be found. I looked and looked everywhere I could think. I went through every purse, suitcase, drawer and closet. After that I started to accuse my kids of borrowing it and never returning it. And then I even accused my poor little granddaughter of maybe borrowing it....
It was lost, I could not find it. I looked everywhere....I was so sad. 

So now it is over a month later and I can't get over it. I thought I am going to look one more time. So I start in the beginning and go back to that little container full of earrings. I dump them all out and go through them one by one. And what do I find....My Paris ring all tangled up in a dangle earring that I never wear! I was so excited, I was reunited with my ring. So what was lost is now found and safely back on my finger. 




Sharon

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

William O'Brien State Park.....

Vacation with all the kids and grandkids was a fun time! This year Cassie got to pick the campgrounds and she picked WIlliam O'Brien State Park It is located just northeast of the cities along the Saint Croix River. Since we booked a year ahead of time we all had campsites right next to each other. It was nice to be close. Everyone got there on Thursday afternoon except Cassie. She got a new job so she could not come until Friday.  We did a lot of hiking on the trails which were very family friendly. We did not go on the river as it was pretty high from all the rain they have had over the past few weeks. The lake was very weedy but had a nice swimming area.


Eli and Oliver had a great time together. They discovered the burs that were all over. They spent a lot of time studying them and then sticking them to everything.



                                                           On our way to our first hike


                                                  Christa was in charge of the map.


                                                       Yes she found the trail!


                              Nick was not so sure Christa knew where she was going.


                                                                  Oliver is just excited!



                                                                        Selfie time



                                                                       Josie found a toad

                 Day two of hiking. We actually had a plan this time and got right on the trail.





                                                     Amy and Liam. Liam is getting so old!


                                                      Morgan is everyones best friend

We all excited to find black raspberries  along the trail.  When Eli started to get tired we told him they were energy bullets and that was all it took to keep him walking.



                                              They had a few of these shelters along the trails



                             Eli took my camera and took a few pictures. Pretty good for a 5 year old






                       We managed to get a picture with all the grandkids and the dogs.




                                         Liam thought we needed a selfie of him too!


                                       Saturday was beach day! Larina loved the water.







                                             Josie showing us how to do a handstand.



                                                  A short video of Larina in the lake.






Rick, Christa, Liam and I went for a walk Friday night and were excited to see a beaver dam and two swans sitting on it. They were very pretty.





















                                                                Marshmallow time





                                       
                                               Studying a bog that landing on Amy's phone




                                                    Otis has had enough of camping.


The Olympics started while we were camping and Christa and Rick kept making up excuses to go to the camper to watch them....

The weekend went by so fast. We had a lot of fun. The kid all get along so good and have fun playing. They did a great job when we went on a 4 mile hike with them.

Next year we are leaving Minnesota and going to South Dakota to the Black Hills area. We have a year of planing to do.....

Sharon