Ok so I wrote all of this over a month ago -- like in late May/early June. I want to include it because I meant to post it, but I had a little computer trouble, then I was busy with the play, exams and then it was finally Summer. VACATION! Of course I want to forget all about the crud I've dealt with this school year, but I do want to keep the flow of this blog going, in case somebody's actually following the story of my life here. So, this was me during the end months of the school year.
I’ve been walking in the Horseneck Nature Sanctuary on weekend mornings
and weekday evenings, looking at the birds.
With a field guide in hand, I’ve been able to identify tons of the
little warblers that have passed through this spring. It was a rainy May, so I managed to get
pretty muddy on my walks. But if I had
let the weather keep me in, I’d be as snippy and nasty as most of my classmates
(and teachers).
I know that some of it is my fault, but I enjoy walking home –
in any weather. I don’t want anyone’s
pity, nor do I want a ride from some well-meaning, overly-made-up SUV driving
suburban hausfrau. These clueless women
don’t even realize that their daughter (or son) hates me and my
friends. On the days I don’t have play
practice, I prefer to walk, even if it is pouring out. I’m not immune to colds because I’m a
shape-shifter, mind you, but I do dress sensibly, with rain gear and an
umbrella.
It’s kind of ironic that these kids who buy overpriced outwear with the
name on the back shoulder only use it to run from the school door to mom’s
SUV. I guess it’s the rugged image they
buy into, not the actual activity. And
let’s not forget the fabulous footwear! The girls don’t want their fleecy
Ugg(ly) boots to get wet. I even saw one
chicklet run barefoot in the rain (cold rain, mind you!) to her mother’s
waiting minivan, with her boots in a bag.
And the mom commented “Good thinking!” to her daughter; I swear it
wasn’t sarcastic. Ridiculous. The sad
thing is, if some stupid fashionista would declare the boots “out”, they’d hit
the trash-pile faster than a falcon could dive.
And falcons are fast.
Anyway, I’m getting sidetracked here--back to my walks home. On drizzly or cloudy days, I’ve seen more
wildlife than you can imagine. On White Cedars suburban streets, in backyards
and empty lots I’ve seen fox, deer, opossum, chipmunks, rabbits…once I even saw
a really cute black-furred squirrel. The
grey ones are just tree-rats, but this one was sleek and pretty. I’ve seen geese and ducks (another suburban
blight), turkey, red-tail hawks soaring overhead, turkey vultures spreading
their wings on the old firehouse roof, and even a bald eagle! It sounds impossible, but the white head
& tail are too distinctive to make a mistake. I almost walked into traffic when I watched
that magnificent scavenger soar.
That’s why (when I don’t have too much stupid busywork from school) I
try to do most of my bird watching in the mornings and evenings. It’s when birds are most active, too. Someone has a beehive set up in one of the
fields at Horseneck Sanctuary. In the
evenings, as the worker bees push out the dead and dying bees (except for the
queen, drones, and an over-wintering hive, bees live about six to eight
weeks!), birds swoop in from the trees edging the field, then they crunch on
the bees that have been pushed off the landing pad part of the hive. It’s so cool to watch. And the few local kids that walk the paths of
Horseneck mostly avoid this field because they’re afraid of getting stung.
I’ve not met the beekeeper yet, but I have noticed that he’s put a
cage-like box over the entrance lately…. it’s to keep them from swarming. Spring is when the hive produces new queens
and there can only be one queen in a hive at a time, so the hive divides and
bees swarm.
I’ve also noticed that the hive was originally two boxes tall, but
since March there are four boxes above the “brood chamber” for honey
collection. This year should bring in a
good yield.
We had a neighbor in PA who used to keep bees. He’d put a hive or two into our fields. I remember one year when he didn’t come right
away to extract the honey when the hives were full. Aunt Lina was getting irritated about it,
calling Hank and warning him that she was worried a bear might decide to take
some. She called him three times. And then, one night, a bear knocked over the
hive and messed up the frames and stuff getting at the honey.
Suddenly Aunt Lina wasn’t so tense.
She helped Hank put his hive to rights, re-stacking the boxes and
all. Got a few beestings doing that, but
it disguised the swellings that I’d noticed on her neck and arms the morning
that we discovered the upset hive. Aunt
Lina doesn’t swell up as much as the average person would from a beesting. But she had been stung. That’s what happens to a bear when it steals
honey…
It’s peaceful watching the birds come and go. I’ve met a few nice people who hike in the
area, some who just nod hello, and others who stop and chat. I even saw that rust-and-chocolate dachshund
– you know, the one who ate that rabbit that I accidentally killed that one
night…
His owner is a nice gent in his fifties who was very surprised when
“Boris” practically dragged him over to me one evening. The owner’s name was Victor, and his other
dog, a fawn-colored dachshund named “Bela” (“Named for Lugosi, and not that
damned Twilight character.”) kept barking and pulling away from me at
first. I’m glad to know that Boris has a
home and a loving owner. I didn’t say
anything to Victor about his dog’s misadventure; Boris and I will just keep
that night our secret.
It’s nice to know that my new hometown has some normal people in it
(besides Ruby,
Dor, Amelia, Carl and their families). I
suppose I’m beginning to think of White Cedars, NJ as my home. I still miss PA. But I can’t have everything the way I want
it.
Now if there
were only some way that the other girls at DSW Middle School could learn that
lesson.
Until my next
post…..
Randi
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