Ya Got Me

         "You should have shown us a picture of your new sunhat," Linda, my best Missouri gal told me.

         Yeah, I thought of that, as I was writing. I even glanced up from my place in front of my computer, looked out the window, and could see my hat sitting just there, on the other side of the window. It was on a tub. On a table. On the breezeway. I could see it, but I'd already downloaded the pictures from my camera. I didn't want to get up (Ginger was in my lap), take a picture, and download the camera again — so I didn't.

         Monday was Labor Day and the last day of the Wyoming County Fair. Senior citizens get in free!

         "Mike, you wanna go to the fair again?" I asked.

         "You wanna go?" Nothing like answering a question with a question.

         "Yeah, you get in free and we could get your favorite Italian sausage," I tempted. "I could have some more pierogies and check out the books again." My real reason for wanting to go.

         "Peg, I thought you checked out books the first time you went," you say.

         I did. But they have so many books they can't put them all out. As books sell, and there is room on the tables, they'll put out more books. I still thought to see if I could find any craft books.

         Mike and I did a couple of chores then we headed off to the fair. "It looks crowded," Mike commented as we got in the line of traffic entering the fairgrounds.

         "We'll just have to decide we're not in a hurry then."

          Parking attendants directed us down a row and holy cow! By the time we got to where they wanted us to park we were a mile away from the entrance.

         "Mike, if we go a couple of rows over we can park a lot closer."

         "Yeah, my back won't take a lot of walking."

         Mike put my window down as we approached the young gal directing us into a parking spot. "Excuse me," I called and got her attention. "We're going to go around and park closer," I told her.

         "Okay," she replied.

         We found a spot in row six and almost directly across from the entrance instead of row four and a mile over.

         Parking issues resolved, we headed for the ticket booth and discovered a bottleneck of fairgoers. I didn't want to cut in line so Mike and I made our way to the end of the line to wait our turn. And other people were cutting the line. It kinda ticked me off. I waited my turn, everyone else should wait theirs too!

         I know, I know! Even to me it sounds petty now, but at the time...

         A couple of ladies came and helped to direct people into the proper lines.

         "Who needs tickets?" she called.

         I raised my hand. "I do!"

         "Over here," she said and pointed to a line with only two people in it. I went for it, not caring if I was cutting anyone else off.

         I know, I know! I fell right into the herd mentality.

         The line for those who already had tickets and seniors was the one causing all the problems and I had to wait for Mike on the other side.

         This time we didn't rent a scooter because we didn't plan to stay very long. Guess where my first stop was. Yep. Pierogies. Even though they were still stingy with the butter, the pierogies were better this time — and don't ask me what the difference was because I don't know.

         My next stop? Right next door at the P&G trailer for another free sample of diapers.

         "You want a size 6?" Stephanie, my fabulous, fun, kind, smart, — I could go on and on about this beautiful neighbor lady of mine! — is an employee there.

           "Yes I do!"

         Steph got a bag from the stack and reached for a couple of diapers, "Sign up for the raffle — you too Mike." We didn't win though. Today, this day, they were also giving out samples of one of their other products. It was a six pack of towels. Bounty with DAWN, the label reads. WATER ACTIVATED 4X CLEANER SURFACES. It's great for when you only have a few dishes to wash and don't want to draw a whole sink full of water.

         Other people came up to Steph's table for diapers and to sign up for the raffle so Mike and I moved on.

         "I'm going to get an Italian sausage sandwich," Mike said.

         "Okay. While you do that I'm going to look at books and I'll meet you back here."

         Almost right away I found a big thick book titled WHO'S WHO IN THE BIBLE.

        I opened the front cover to see if there was a price written there, but there wasn't. I flipped through the pages and it had lots of interesting photos. Noah. I stopped in the N's of the Old Testament and read about Noah, about building the ark and how, on that day, all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. Genesis 7:11. I'm sure I've read this account in the Bible for myself but I guess the fact that water came up from the ground as well as raining down, never stuck. I kept reading. He had another minor distinction as the first producer of wine recorded in the Bible, it says. I didn't know that either. I'd learned something.

         A man came up beside me. I glanced up and recognized the man who owned the booth. He was putting more books out.

         "How much for this one?" I asked and showed it to him.

         He reached for it, took it, and opened the front cover. He didn't see a price either. He closed the cover. "Let's see how much it weighs," and he raised and lowered the book a couple of times testing its weight.

         "Oh I don't think...." I started to say I couldn't afford it then. A dollar a pound would put it at twelve dollars! Yeah. I don't really know what it weighs but it was heavy!

         "Two dollars," he states flatly.

         "Okay," I agreed.

         "You see, the heavier it is, the less I want to pack it up and take it back with me," and he laughed as he handed it back to me.

         "Last year when I was here I was looking for a Bible and you didn't have one. Now I don't need one and you've got a beautiful one right there!"

         "There's a couple of more up front too."

         He left and I continued to browse the section I was in. There were lots of books about fishing and tying your own lures, tons of those. A few about guns and cars too, but I didn't see anything I thought I wanted.

         I left that section and as I headed for the front of the booth, I passed by the owner just as he'd pulled out a box of books from under the table and lifted the lid.

         "How about some craft books?" I asked. "Do you have any of those?"

         "They're all in the front," he said and pointed.

         I looked and looked and looked! I really tried to find something I was interested in but quilting doesn't work for me. I'll probably never quilt so I'm not going to buy any books on the subject. There were lots of cookbooks too, but I don't need any of those either. I went around to the other side of the table and found the other Bibles he had referred to. They were new, in that no one ever wrote in them. There were other religious books there too. Inspirational Christian books. I thought of Judy, a newbie to my exercise class and a very devote woman of God.

         Judy is open and forthcoming with a tragedy that struck her life a year ago. She'd lost both her parents in an auto accident.

         "I lost my daughter in an auto accident two years ago," I told her. "Would you be interested in reading a story I wrote about her?"

         "Sure," Judy replied quickly.

         I wondered if she was just being polite or if she was truly interested. I sent it to her electronically. The next night I saw her at exercise class and I'd already decided I wouldn't ask anything about it, but at the end of class, before we left, Judy came up to me and thanked me for sharing my story with her.

         "Peg, do you read biographies?" she asked.

         "No," I answered quickly. "But if it's good...."

         "It's good. It was written by a woman whose son murdered his wife's ex-husband."

         I read When I Lay My Isaac Down in probably a week-and-a-half, two weeks. If I didn't have anything else to do, I maybe could've knocked it out in a day or two. I didn't want to put it down. It was really a good book and Carol Kent made two things clear. A broken heart, is a broken heart, is a broken heart. It doesn't matter how it was broken. And you can stay in that pit of brokenness and despair or you can get up and turn your life and your trust over to God, finding joy again and maybe even a new purpose in life.

         If I could find another book like that, I thought. I flipped through the stacks and scanned the titles and authors but I didn't recognize any names, and much to my chagrin, I didn't read any of the reviews on the covers either.

         "Peg!" you exclaim perplexed. "How will you know what a book's about if you don't read the synopsis on the back of it?" you ask.

         I know, right! I guess I wasn't really trying very hard.

         On the next table I found a happy memory. Animals Can Be Almost Human, a book by Reader's Digest. 

           When I was a little girl, a hundred years and two lifetimes ago, my mother, whom I affectionately call Momma, used to sit on the bench of our eight-foot long picnic-style kitchen table, and read humorous animal stories to us kids as we sat around on the floor. Could it have been from this book? I wondered. I looked inside the front cover for a price but didn't find one. I looked around for the man who runs the booth but didn't see him. I did, however, spot his wife.

         "How much for this one?" I called across the table and held the book up.

         "A dollar," she called back.

         I should've had her price the other book, I thought but in the end I didn't begrudge the man two dollars.

         Boy, this book seems familiar, I thought. I wonder if I already have it. And  I had a vague memory of having gone through this whole scenario before. I thought about not buying it and almost put it down. Then I decided I didn't care if I had two copies of it or not, the memory was that good. And the best part? The sound of my mother's laughter!

         Does anyone remember if this is the book that Momma read to us from? I had in my head to ask you. Then I saw the published date. 1982! Originally published in 1979! I guess I can answer my own question. In 1979 I was already married with a two-year-old son, so it wasn't this one. So I'm going to change my question to this.

         Does anyone remember what the book of funny animal stories was that Momma used to read to us from?

         I paid for my two books, took the bag, and went to find Mike. He was just outside, sitting on a bench in the shade, finishing his Italian sausage sandwich. "What do you want to do next?" he asked.

         "I don't know, but I didn't think this out very well."

         "What do you mean?"

         "These books are heavy! We didn't get a scooter so I can't put them in the basket. Do you think Steph would keep them for me while we walk around?"

         "I'm sure she would."

         Back over to the P&G trailer we went. "Steph, I didn't think this through very well. I should've gotten books right before we left!" She laughed. "Would you keep these for me for a while?" I asked indicating the books.

         "Sure, but I get off at one."

         "I'll be back before then," I promised.

         "I want another Italian sausage sandwich," Mike said.

         "Well, let's go!"

         We got Mike another sandwich and went back to camp out on a bench close to Stephanie's work trailer, waiting for her to get off work.

         "You want an apple dumpling?" Mike asked.

         "I guess." Really, I didn't want one. I do so love a good apple dumpling but I wasn't all that impressed with these. The crust the apple was wrapped in seemed a little too thick and doughy. There wasn't anything wrong with the apple inside though and the vanilla ice cream was good. I knew Mike would help me eat it and a couple of bites of apple and ice cream would be enough for me. On the way there I spot the Lochs Maple Syrup stand and remembered a treat I'd gotten there once before.

         "No, let's get one of those things instead," I said not remembering what it was called and I veered off the path and stood looking at the menu board.

         "Deluxe. That's what I want." I had to wait kind of a long time because they make the waffle bowl fresh. Then its ice cream, Lochs fabulous maple walnut syrup, whipped cream and a cherry.

         "Peg! I thought you were on a diet!" you exclaim.

         I know, right! I'll get to that later.

         As we headed back to 'our' bench, we passed Steph. "Jon's here," she said. "He's in line to come in," and she breezed on past us.

         Mike helped me eat the Deluxe so I didn't consume all of the one million calories that were in it, but it was as we were eating this that Jon Robinson came around the corner and took the other end of the bench.

         Mike and Jon were having a conversation so I decided to go visit the port-a-johns. "Here, hold my books," and I handed them to Mike. He took them without even a hiccup in his conversation. "And my hat," and I plopped my sunhat on his head. "And my camera too," I said and lifted the strap over my head and handed it to him, then walked away.

         "Some lady came up to me and said, 'I just want to compliment you on your hat,'" Mike said when I came back.

         I laughed. "What did you say?"

         "I said, 'Thank you.' Then she said, 'Most men wouldn't have the guts to wear a hat like that.'"

         I laughed again. "You didn't tell her it was your wife's hat?"

         "Nope. It doesn't bother me."

         So Linda, here you go. Here's a picture of my new sunhat sitting on Mike's head.

         "That isn't anything at all like I imagined it," you say.

         I know, right! Little bands of pink fabric adorn the brim with a multicolored band, would have been a more accurate description but, at the time, I couldn't think how to describe it. Piping just seemed to be a more efficient way to describe it even though it isn't piping. A decorative twisted cord covered with fabric and inserted into a seam as decoration, is the definition of piping. Parts of it seemed to describe my hat. Close enough, I thought. They're never going to see it anyway.

         Then this happened and I knew I had to fess up to my inaccurate description.

         Most all of the time, I record things as accurately as I can and the rest of the time? It's just stuff that doesn't make any difference to the story. I forgot my sunhat. I bought a new one. I wanted purple. They didn't have it. I settled for lavender... darn! I got out in the sunshine and it was pink! I'm not crazy about pink but whatever. At least there's a little purple in the band.

         So, I got caught in that one.

         Now! I've only got one more thing to say about this whole thing.

         When you eat this at the fair...

         This is what you get for supper the rest of the week.

         Yeah. It's tomatoes, celery, red beets — not pickled, baby carrots, half a cup of cottage cheese, a hot dog and unsweetened applesauce with cinnamon.

         The asters are blooming all over the place and there are about 180 different kinds of asters.

         I love the purple ones. This one has a Hover fly on him. I know, I know, they look like little bees.

         The pretty little flowers of the Virgin's Bower has gone to seed. I took this photo after a rain shower.

         The tree outside the little side room of the upper barn is getting a touch of color.

         This room will eventually be a space where I can dry flowers and herbs.

         Maybe someday, something like this...

     

         Yeah, I got this picture from the internet.

         A pretty little Fleabane daisy.

         And the Heal-all or Self-heal is still blooming. You can eat this plant as a pot herb or make it into a beverage.

         As a medicine it was thought that since this plant resembles a mouth and throat that it should be used for those purposes. But it was used as a poultice for irritated skin, to pack wounds, and is considered by the Chinese to "change the course of a chronic disease." Don't ask me how. I don't know.

         Look at that would ya!

         I was worried that the red berries on the bushes on our property were not Autumn Olive because the berries didn't have spots. I emailed the DNR and asked if the berries became spotted later in the year.

         They didn't know.

         Sigh.

         Well I'm here to tell you that they do!

         I picked a couple and ate them. They were a little tart but not bad and had a definite fruity flavor to them. Some year I'm going to make jelly out of them!

         Remember the string of Wild Cucumbers I showed you a couple of weeks ago? There is only one left on the whole string. I think the deer ate them. Do deer eat Wild Cucumbers? Not that I can find on the internet.

         "With all those spines all over it, I bet nothing eats it!" you say.

         The spines are soft and I know there are some animals that are not bothered by the spines on some plants. Whether this falls into that category or not, I don't know. What I do know is that the fruit is gone.

         "Maybe they fell off?" you guess.

         The 'cucumbers' dry on the vine, the bottom opens, and the four seeds fall to the ground to grow next year. That's how these guys do it. 

    

         I was surprised to see pokeweed flowers. Then I see all the tops are gone from this plant so he had to make more seeds. He probably won't get that job done before winter sets in.

         Deer? Do deer eat pokeweed?

         I Googled it and came up with conflicting answers.

         Last year the deer took all the flowers from my milkweed, but not this year and I have lots of pods.

         I wondered if I had any Monarch butterfly eggs on the underside of the leaves so I flipped a few over.

         All if found was a couple of spiders.

         Dolls Eyes are easy to spot at this time of the year. This is White Baneberry and contains a toxin that relaxes your heart muscle so much, it stops beating. The berries are the most toxic part of the plant and even though they are very poisonous to humans, birds can eat them!

         The Touch-me-nots or Jewelweed has set its seeds.

The pods are fat and ready to pop at the slightest touch.

          I found this guy on the Touch-me-nots. This, in case you don't recognize him, is a young shield bug.

         Something else that has set its seeds is the multiflora rose.

         A rose is a rose is a rose. You can use the hips from the muliflora rose the same as any other rosehip.

       According to the website Natural Living Ideas dot com, the rosehip is a close relative to the apple and can be used in many of the same recipes.

         Look at these hips, would ya! I can't believe the size of them! They are at least twice as big as the hips I usually see.

         I found a turkey feather on a walk-about with my girls, Itsy and Ginger.

         I caught the rays of the sun coming through the trees and splashing down in the water of our little creek. See the fall color?  

         Speaking of fall color...

         On a recent shopping trip I took some landscape photos for you. I was trying to show the hint of color in the trees. Wanna see them?

         Yeah, it's just the start.

         The whole way home we followed this guy.

  

          "I wonder what he's doing?" Mike says. "There are cameras on the front and back," Mike says. "It's got California plates on it," Mike says.

         "Maybe it's Google Earth," I says...err, said.

         We followed him the whole way from New York down to our little town of Wyalusing.

         "If he pulls over, I'm going to pull over and talk to him," Mike says.

         Well he didn't pull over before we did. We stopped in town so Mike could talk to our insurance agent. I waited in the car and read a few passages from the Bible I keep there for just that purpose.

         "Did you see the other van go by?" he asked when he came back.

         "I didn't see anything, I was reading. What van?"

         "The one with cameras on it. It was just like the first one that we were following."

         "Maybe it was the same one," I suggested. "If he's mapping he has to go down all the streets."

         So unless one of youse know, it will forever remain a mystery.

         "Really Peg? Youse?"

         That's a real word! It's plural for you. Just ask my beautiful older sister Patti! She uses it all the time! She grew up in a place and time when it was part of the dialect. And if you Google it, you'll find it.

         On another recent walk-about with the girls, I was photographing the Touch-me-nots when the frantic flappings of a Crane Fly caught my attention.

         "Peg, are those the things that look like giant mosquitoes?" you wonder.

         Why yes. Yes they are.

         "Aren't they mosquito eaters?" you ask.

         Nope. In fact, some of these guys never eat at all at this stage of their life. But that is why these guys are sometimes called Mosquito Hawks. They don't bite and are considered among the gentlest of insects. Those that do eat, sip on nectar, the rest have no mouth parts at all. These guys don't seem to have much of a place in nature except maybe to feed hungry birds as well as smaller mammals, fish, predatory insects, spiders....

         Oh yeah. That reminds me.

         The frantic flappings of a Crane Fly caught my attention. He's caught in a web, I thought and went about taking pictures of the exploding Touch-me-not seedpods. After a minute or so I check to see if he'd gotten out of the web, but he hadn't and he was still frantically flapping around.

         That's funny, I thought. I don't even see a web. What's that stuck on his leg. Wait. That is his leg! No web, but it looks like his leg is caught in a trap.          Guys, I don't know about you but that's just enough of a mystery for me to go and investigate. I bet it's a spider, I thought with a certain amount of glee — and not because of the life and death struggle going on but because I would have the chance to photograph something I've never seen before. How often have you seen a Crab (or flower) Spider with the leg of a Crane Fly in his mouth?

         He must be strong, I thought of the spider as the fly struggled, pulling and pulling on his leg. I wonder if he'll pull until his leg comes off.

         "Ewwww!" you say.

         It would be better to lose your leg than your life.

         I watched for a while. Eventually the Crane Fly got a hold of a Golden Rod and hung there.

         How long can this go on? I wondered. Maybe he'll get away. And, What's the spider going to do? Crawl up his leg and bite him? I didn't know how this battle would end and I couldn't hang around to find out.

         "But Peg! I want to know how it ends!" you exclaim.

         I know, right! I could hear you saying that. I went back out after a while and the only thing there was a Grass Spider. I'm guessing all the activity drew his attention and the Crab Spider had to let the Crane Fly go or be a meal for a bigger predator.

         Let's call this one done!