Caterpillars

Two of my friends have seen caterpillars this week during our January thaw.   Both Stan and Don saw them, but this picture was taken over by Rockwood Hall by Stan.  This caterpillar is called the woolly bear.  There is no green vegetation for them to eat and as soon as a cold snap came they died.
The woolly bear is a fuzzy furry little creature that evolves into a beautiful butterfly. Known for its fuzzy coat of hair, dark on both ends and reddish brown in the middle, the woolly bear caterpillar is actually the larvae of the tiger moth and not a butterfly at all..
It once was thought that the woolly bear caterpillar was the larvae of the Monarch butterfly, but it is not. Moths are a quite a bit different and usually have smaller features, and tend to be plain in color than the butterfly. However, the tiger moth can be quite beautiful
Woolly bears are most often found in the late fall crawling around on roadways and walkways trying to keep warm in the bright fall sunshine. They are dormant through out the winter months. In the spring, they form a cocoon and presto!!! they emerge as one of the true splendors of mother nature.

What triggers them to start their journey to becoming a moth during a January thaw?  The caterpillar is the second stage of this journey.  The first stage is eggs. Then the pupae and presto the moth.

Well it is a complete mystery to me.  But then most of the events in nature mystifies me.

Why I am surrounded by beautiful people.

There comes a point in your life when you realize:

        Who matters,
        Who never did,
        Who won't anymore...
        And who always will.
        So, don't worry about people from your past,
        There's a reason why they didn't make it to your future.

TV

I just received my Roku 2 xs internet streaming device.  Well, that was a mouth full.  This device gives me TV where I don't have a cable box.  Now it does not replace cable, but it does allow you to tap into over 400 channels of tv that is coming in with your wireless router.  Sports, news channels, music, shows, and many more.   I called Paul Bunyan Communications and they were very willing to wire me to another tv for $9.00 a month more on my bill for each tv over 3.  Three is the amount that the basic package allows. That would be over a hundred dollars a year plus a hundred dollar home visit charge.  I attached it to one of my older tv's and plan to replace the tv if necessary, but according to the advertisement any tv will be just fine.  I can take the tv anywhere were my wireless router signal can be picked up.  My steel building, garage, outside in my sunken patio or any room in my house that doesn't have tv box in it.  As you keep the box turn on all the time it is updated with new channel all the time. I think you all realize that I am a techy therefore,  I wonder if I am a nerd.   Do they go hand in hand.

Bears

My friend was telling me at coffee that he and his family have a bear den behind their house.   They are watching it closely.  His story went on to tell me that they checked on him and found him gone.  He thought that it had awoke and moved to a new location.  I told him that I had heard that on warm winters that they do come out of their dens for what ever reason I don't know.  Anyway they kept checking and sure enough the bear is back sleeping away. 

This has been an above average warm winter.  I was surprised the other day when I saw one go across Stone Lake road on a warm afternoon.  I could not wait to tell my friend. 

As long as I am talking about Minnesota bears  I might as well tell one of my Dad's favorite stories.  I heard it a million times.    He was hunting black bear up by Kelliher and had got a bear.  He had just got it out to the road when a car pulled up.  It had one of those small dogs like a miniture poodle in it.  Dad always called them ankle biters.    The occupants of the car rolled down the window to talk to dad.  The dog ran over to the window barking like they do.  The owner didn't need to tell the dog to quiet down as when the dog saw the bear and caught its scent it fainted in mid bark.  It was out for about a minute and when it woke it curled up in the back seat and waited for owner to drive off.  Dad has laughed over that story all his life.  He was in his early twenties when that happened. I was just a twinkle in his eye then.

Headlights

This winter must have been hard on headlights.  Monday going in to pick up Dave for dailysis and return home again, I saw 5 one-eyed cars.  That was the most I have seen in one trip.  Anyway, when I was a kid we would say pa dittal.  I don't know why, but the first to say it won.  If you beat your siblings it was a good day.  I really struggled on how to spell it as I have never seen it spelled.   I don't think it is even a word.  I really wish I knew what and why we did that or if it was a family thing or if others did it. I just don't remember, but the word always came to mind when I see one-eyed car.

Patsy's table runner

This is a fabulous story of giving.  Patsy is one of the First Lutheran Quilters.  She and Emily bind all the quilts that we make.  We put it in the bulletin that we need fabrics donated and we get all  kinds.  Well, Patsy brought in squares that she had worked on over the years.  They are call UFO's -- Unfinished projects.   Isn't that a strange name.  Anyway amongst her squares were three dresden plates.  They were made from 1930's fabrics. These fabrics were from flour sacks and she had hand stitched them.  Did I mention that she is over 80.  I told her that she could donate the others, but not the plates.  I would take the plates home and make her a table runner for her table.  So I did.    The day that she got it she was so happy.  She just beamed.  She put it right on her table and there it is to stay.

Snow thrower

It snowed yesterday and I was up with the chickens wanting to try out my snow thrower.  Snow blower is the name for gas snow removal equipment and snow thrower is the term for electric equipment.  The information that I got on this thrower was that it would throw 10 pounds of snow a second.  It has an 18 inch cut and can go through 10 inches of snow. It throws the snow 20 feet.   I am here to tell you it works just fine.  Including the learning curve time and the removal time it took me 20 minutes to remove the snow from my walks, deck, and apron. That time also is clean up of machine and storing it in the garage.    I am very pleased with this purchase and I see very little shoveling in my future.    Now if it has durability which I won't know until I use it a season life will be good.