I’ll Take Minnesota Anyday
Yesterday we enjoyed a visit from Martha who drove from Arkansas to make a swing through Minnesota seeing family and friends. If we are lucky we do see each other once a year and then the chatting is amped up to cover all bases in each other’s life.
I am just getting to the point of being out every moment I can to enjoy our late spring and summer. Martha made mention that when she returns home in several week the temps will be hot enough that she will be staying indoors. Of course, right now, there is a bit of a challenge with the small black flies and gnats as they are the first string of our less-than-pleasant fellow Minnesotans. We do know how to thwart their advances with a spritz of spray here and there.
Martha relayed a story of doing battle with a six foot long black snake that was gaining ground on a bluebird birdhouse that was at the top of a pool in her yard. A stick was not enough to dissuade him from reaching the house that was home to the baby bluebirds. When the steel garden rake was used it only caused the snake’s pursuit to be stepped up as he entered one of the holes that only shortly before was the safe heaven for the adult birds to come and go. As the entire body of the snake gained entrance the roof of the bird house became dislodged and it was a lost cause to save the babies.
Apparently the six foot long black snake lives in the lean to of the machine shed that houses some hay and straw. When I inquired why she wouldn’t make sure the lean to was snake proof I was informed that the snake took care of rats that can be prevalent. I cannot begin to remember the number of species of snakes that have been and are a part of Martha’s area, but the frosting on the cake was when scorpions were mentioned a bit later.
Nope, that stuff is not for this gal. I will take whatever Minnesota dishes out, and the best thing is that I have lovely black dirt to sift through my fingers with only fat wiggly earthworms wanting to share the same space.