If anyone out there is in the market for poison ivy, honeysuckle or a nameless ground covering vine that will ruin your life, I have a bumper crop of them all growing right here in my yard.
After years of outright neglect, I woke up one day earlier this month and decided that I would finally transform my beds of invasive plants and weeds into something that can actually hold flowers.
So far, I’m about thirteen hours in and still going strong. I’m basically digging out everything and setting aside the plants I want to keep for easier access to the junk. Once a section is cleared, I go back to replant the things that stay. So it’s literally a few feet forward and a couple of feet backward.
The above pictured yard cart has been tamped down and piled high so many times, I lost track of the loads of debris carried off so far.
Surprisingly, I haven’t run out of steam or interest. It seems that this kind of physical labor has been good for my mind since all that digging, raking and tugging is good for working out aggression.
So, I come in filthy, tired and sore, popping a Tylenol on the way to the shower every evening. Plus, I have a sense of accomplishment as I fall into bed. That’s kind of neat too.
There’s something about ending your day covered in dirt to make you feel accomplished and better connected to the earth.
Lake Katherine State Nature Preserve has become one of my favorite places on earth. I had hiked there a few times over the years but it was always in the dead of winter or on sweltering Indian Summer days and always with someone else.
Last year I had a chance to explore solo and saw the place with new eyes.
The trails aren’t too long or too difficult for most hikers. But you can piece together a few trails for a longer experience. Each of them offers something outstanding to enjoy.
I stopped by after work one night earlier this month and was struck by how beautiful it is everywhere you turn. I was a little sad that I didn’t pack my camera that day because I saw a ton of birds, butterflies and dragonflies that my iPhone simply couldn’t manage. One dragonfly seemed to stick with me, providing unexpected company for several minutes.
It was a delightful end to a work day and much needed respite from life’s chaos. We all need that sometimes, don’t we? Remember this- there’s not much that can’t be fixed by fresh air in your lungs and dirt beneath your feet.
The woman who plans activities at my local library is always on the hunt for something interesting to bring to our rural community. They have a drum circle, a writing club, occasional live performances and all sorts of artsy activities. This is where I tried my hand at Pysanky, the art of decorating Ukrainian Easter eggs.
On Saturday, the library hosted a Wolf Ambassador from the Ohio Canid Center. This organization works with animals that come from working ambassador lines. That means they are not a rescue organization and do not take in wild animals. Her wolves are specifically bred to interact with humans and help people understand their species.
For the program, owner operator Rachel brings a slideshow and a wolf. This time, we met 13 year old Lucian, the organization’s first ambassador animal. He is semi-retired but was still a pro with our room full of adults and kids.
While I believe that every living creature (even the ugly spider) is an important part of the ecosystem, I knew precious little about wolves other than that they are more or less considered vermin in ranch dominant states. They are being slaughtered with abandon in Wyoming since being removed from the endangered species list in 2021.
It’s definitely a polarizing topic but for our purposes here, I’ll just tell you that having a reasonably intimate look at this animal was pretty special.
His eyes are soulful and stunning. He seemed quite shy, looking for a place to hide and sometimes nuzzling against Rachel’s leg like a toddler afraid to meet someone new. She explained that their instinct is to hide or run. This was illustrated by the occasional cry of a child or chatter among the audience that would cause him to prance or seek a hiding place. He badly wanted to hide behind the curtain.
Wolves are carnivores and, in the wild, are hunters. They are opportunists who tend to seek out the small and the sick rather than the strongest and healthiest of their prey.
They don’t grow to be as large as most people believe. She said, at 86 pounds, Lucian is of average size for a male.
The center also has a coyote and a red fox. You can book private sessions with an animal including a walk with a wolf similar to the one I encountered in Colorado. She also does photography sessions. I’m scheming to do something because I was dying to touch Lucian.
While Rachel said she commonly does library programs and similar events, it’s too stressful for the animals to be close to or touched by a lot of people so she has a strict no touching rule for these larger events.
It was a good program with a nice overview of their personalities and behavior. If you ever have the opportunity to attend an event like this, I recommend it!
If you’re interested in knowing more, visit their website to see the animals and even book a session.
Lots of friends are leaving or at least cutting back on social media exposure. There’s too much negativity, too many lies, too much sales and not enough meaningful interactions.
And I get it.
I have learned things about longtime friends that I do not want to know. For many, it is a window into the soul that tells me that I have been frighteningly wrong about the hearts and world views of many.
Then there are the people who provoke feelings of inadequacy because their lives look so perfect. They’re buying cars and taking expensive trips you could never afford. Plus, there’s always someone peddling something. That high school friend who ignored you for twenty years until she decided to sell 31 bags comes to mind.
Social media can be downright annoying and sometimes hard on your mental health.
But there is good too. Facebook and Instagram have given me access to all sorts of people and information that would otherwise be much more difficult to find.
That’s why I am careful of how I cultivate my feeds. There are some people who I unfollowed years ago because I know their contribution to my world is detrimental. They bring stress and negativity. They don’t earn their keep because they only point out the wrong without offering solutions. They have nothing good to say about anything.
I like people who can be realistic, who talk about the bad but encourage intelligent dialog. These are my people.
I follow some news organizations that report fairly and thoroughly. I belong to groups and pages that provide me with beautiful images, inspiring words, book recommendations, travel ideas, vegetarian recipes, mid century advertising, home decor ideas and all the other things I find interesting.
I know which pages have followers with useful comments and which pages to avoid the comments. Blocking trolls and scammers is easy. So is unfollowing a page that you don’t care for anymore.
In other words, I manipulate social media to make it work for me.
Instagram seems to naturally attract a more positive audience than Facebook so I’m starting to dwell more there.
If you don’t believe me, follow CBS Sunday Morning on both platforms and study the responses on each. Say they post a story about visiting a national park. On Instagram, the comments will mostly be from people saying how much they love that place, want to visit, vacation memories are amazing, etc. On Facebook, that same story is loaded with complaints and people who blame this president or that one for something totally unrelated. It’s like they’re just looking for a soapbox to vent whatever asinine thing is on their mind.
People really can take anything good and mangle it into a travesty.
All the same, social media has given me a chance to connect with people I have met once in real life. If not for social media, I wouldn’t have taken the Ford Tri-Motor airplane ride last year. I wouldn’t be anxiously awaiting the West Virginia Book Festival where I will finally get to meet author William Kent Krueger this fall. I would not have found the Apple Seed storytelling podcast that has brought me great joy.
The Whole 30 would be much harder if not for social media as it has helped me find great recipes for black bean meatballs and realistic ideas for batch cooking. I may never have found the British version of the sitcom Ghosts!
Cousins scattered across the country would be mere names in a family tree instead of friends. A quiet coworker who loves her cats, flowers and rocks would just be a nice lady I chat with briefly. The man I connected with in a fascinating conversation about race while standing in line at a historic house would just be a memory.
This book! I saw a review in a book group and knew it was for me. I’m halfway through and it’s wonderful!!
HOW would I get all my ideas for random road trips? Sometimes they send me to get a grilled cheese sandwich in a great diner two hours away only to discover a neat abandoned theater and country roads that feed my soul. You never know where one simple tip will lead!
So yeah. Social media can be terrible. But my life is richer thanks to social media. It’s all about how you choose to use it and who you allow to have a voice. Not everyone deserves space in your head so they certainly don’t deserve space in your social media feed.
In the sea of generic modern sedans and boxy SUVs on the road today, there sometimes is still something unique to enjoy. This classic Ford Mustang was parked outside the sporting goods store in Chillicothe this week.
