Mid-June is the season for Lady Slipper blooms here in Vermont. The flowers, part of the orchid family, are illegal to pick in some states - mainly because the plants take so long to establish themselves to reach maturity. Lady Slipper patches can be rare to find in your average neighborhood, but there are some publicly accessible nature areas around the state, like the Esthqua Bog in Hartland that I visited with some friends a couple of weeks ago. A boardwalk at the site allows the public to view the rare flowers without disturbing them.
The visit inspired me to try planting my own Lady Slipper patch in our yard, but was discouraged when I found that the price of a single bulb could range anywhere from $45 to $85 and more!
For more about Lady Slippers:
www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/cypripedium_acaule.shtml
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We've always heard that it's not a good idea to stand under or near a tree during a thunderstorm, and I was reminded of that recently.
In our area, it seems that most thunderstorms are something we hear off in the distance, and they are generally short-lived. A couple of weeks ago, however, we were standing in the kitchen during a storm and saw a flash of lightning followed pretty darn immediately by a loud clap of thunder. The next morning, I was taking my usual hike along the wooded path about a half mile up the street from us and came across this sight.
It may not be easy to see in the picture, but splinters of the unfortunate tree were found 10 to 20 feet away from its base, like an explosion of little wooden missiles.
Fortunately for the drought conditions we were experiencing at the time, the tree did not catch fire.
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| Zoey and her friend Teddy |
Our black Labradoodle Zoey has energy to spare, as does my friend Jane's Goldendoodle "Teddy". They're evenly matched in exuberance and age (almost 3), so we've been getting them together for weekly play dates and an off-leash romp in the fields and hiking trails around here.
The two dogs cover three or four times the distance that Jane and I do, as they chase each other in circles through meadows, and deftly leap over logs and rocks in the woods. For all of Zoey's bad habits (which we're working on), she never strays far and has proven to be pretty responsive when I call her. A VERY GOOD THING!
A few weeks ago, the end of our hike brought us through a meadow that had not yet been hayed. While Jane and I walked along a narrow mowed path, Zoey and Teddy did their usual loop-de-loops through the tall grass.....which is when we spotted the plumed black and white tail of another animal about 50 feet away, right where the dogs were headed.
Jane and I did what you're not supposed to do to call back your dogs, which is to scream their names angrily. The skunk apparently wanted no part of the action and disappeared into its den in the ground, but not before putting up the only defense he knows...a malodorous calling card aimed at the dogs and the surrounding grass.
Zoey got the message and came running back to me, with just her head and neck bearing that unmistakable smell. Teddy, on the other hand, decided that it was more fun to roll around in the tall grass where the skunk had just sprayed, seemingly determined to cover every inch of his curly coat with the perfume, before Jane could run to him and pull him away on leash.
Understandably unwilling to drive home with a smelly dog in the car, Jane gave Teddy a hose-down in our back yard using an anti-skunk home remedy (hydrogen peroxide/baking soda/dish detergent). Zoey's bath was more localized to her head and neck, but it took a week or two before the odor worked its way out of her collar completely.
I should note: perhaps Teddy is trying to impress Zoey with his fearlessness: on another walk a couple of months ago, the two of them startled a porcupine hiding in a stone wall. Zoey held back while Teddy persisted as the frightened animal climbed a tree and responded with ITS only method of defense. Teddy was lucky that time - his only badge of courage from the display of youthful indiscretion was a single porcupine quill to the nose.
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| The field where it happened |
