Of Bees, Bugs, and Bites

 I got obsessed with one of my personal pet projects today. If you know me, you know that means I did very little else all day. No walking. The only other thing I did was edit for an hour this morning.

So I thought I'd take this chance to tell you my latest theory on the "bug bites." I don't think they are bug bites. This may be TMI for some of you.

After all that cleaning and spraying and heating and washing of everything that seemed pertinent to the problem... I got in bed that night and within 10 minutes I had two big welts on my butt. OK, no bugs of any kind could navigate from anywhere through a mattress cover, a fitted sheet and pajamas (all washed in 140 degree water) that fast.

I got up and did some more reading. The only other vermin candidate that might be living in some body orifice would be pinworms, and they cause seriously localized itching. Not like what I was experiencing.

However, hives can manifest in ways other than the small rashy red bumps we usually think of. And they can even be caused by pressure.

Here's what I think is going on. The bees and I have been living in a state of uneasy truce. At least it's uneasy on my part.

As a child I was highly allergic to bee stings, to the point where I went through a two-year series of shots to reduce the allergy. I've been stung a few times as an adult, but haven't yet had a bad reaction beyond the usual type swelling and serious itching. However, one can always become resensitized to an allergy, which is why I've felt a little uneasy.

I have no idea how the bees feel about me in general. But specifically, three bees felt quite violent toward me. That's how many times I've been stung since August 4. Granted, they were each aggravated because I "grabbed" them by accident when they were sitting on something I picked up. I was also stung during this same time period by something unidentified that swelled up very badly.

I think my body is generally on high alert with the histamine reactions. An imflammatory response to anything my skin doesn't like is probably being hyperactive. My best guess is heat and pressure. We already know I don't like to be hot. All of these welts have been on my butt or the backs of my legs which are probably the warmest locations at night, and also subject to the most pressure from my weight.

This is my current theory until disproven by something else.

Sitting all day also increases the itchy spots. Guess what I've been doing all day today. Hmm. Oh, my obsession? Well it involves playing with a database. I'm thoroughly happy, but I suppose I'll have to do some things tomorrow that also keep others happy.

Meanwhile, the warm weather has resulted in a huge hatch of houseflies. Buzzy green ones. They don't bite, but they love to fly around my face and drive me insane.

There's a good chance I'll break out of obsession mode, since I really need to get some groceries.

See The Vermin Inspire a Personal Record

An Evening Walk

 It was bell choir day, and I changed things up and ate before practice and walked afterwards. This was a great idea because the days are still really hot. The evening light is always special. I liked this view of the church from the School Forest across the road.

One loop around the forest isn't very long, so I did a few more streets after that. What are these bright flowers around the tree?

They are fall crocus, which isn't really a crocus at all. It's Colchicum autumnale, but the flowers look very similar, thus the name.

I even found another color of them a couple of blocks away.

This very cool rock was at the base of the St. Simon's Bell Tower.

But the shadows were getting long, and the light was hiding.

I walked 1.5 miles in the school forest, and then another 1.5 on streets

Total miles walked in 2024: 442

See Walking Tour de Ludington

A Few Notes from the Rock Garden

 The 'Autumn Joy' sedum still isn't in full bloom, but it looks like it's going to be a dusky deep pink. The other tall sedum, the one with the light purple blossoms is still lovely.

Calico asters have started coming up along the edge of the rock garden, and they are going to get to stay. I think that would look nice if they would establish themselves.

This is the last of the plants I bought at the Garden Club sale. It's another ice plant. This one is 'Granita Orange.' It may be a little less hardy than the other two, but I guess I'll know in the spring. I tore out some of the Sedum sexangulare to put it in. There's way too much of the other.

Finally, just something I never noticed before. I'm pretty sure these are grape hyacinths. They are sprinkled hither and yon all over the rock garden. But I didn't realize they can put up leaves in the fall if the weather is mild. It doesn't hurt them at all. Actually, I'm glad to see some here, because I also added some crocus bulbs to this space earlier this summer. Those should look nice together in the spring.

In other news: I finished marking the edits to How to Hike... Tomorrow, I'll start actually making changes in the file. I have one more week to get this done without a fee. Shouldn't be a problem.

I walked to the Post Office.

Miles walked in 2024: 439

See Sunshine Between the Sprinkles

To Blacksmith Bayou and Beyond

 I took a little NCT hike today with a side walk down into Blacksmith Bayou. The bayou itself is a backwater of the Manistee River. Someone was actually fishing there today.

But you can see the actual river from a bit deeper into the campground.

The piece of NCT I hiked is mostly along the bank on the south side of the river. Today, these tall pines looked nice in the late afternoon light.

This blue-stemmed goldenrod, Solidago caesia, grows along the trail. Most of the time, the stems are darker purpleish, thus the name. Gray goldenrod also has flowers along the stem like this, but the leaves are different.

This is fun. It's the fruit of a mapleleaf viburnum, Viburnum acerifolium. Supposedly you can eat these, but they are better (like many fall berries) after the first frost. I guess I need to find some then and try them. But since they are popular with wildlife, I may have a hard time finding any!

Here's another nice picture of the Manistee River. You can tell that fall is on the way.

The reason I was up that way was to meet with a fellow Michigan Outdoor Writer Association member, Dave Foley and his wife Cyndy. He's doing a feature on me for the Cadillac paper before I speak at the Cadillac Area Land Conservancy in October.

In other news: I managed a little editing in the morning before leaving for this adventure.

Miles hiked in 2024: 436.5. NCT miles in 2024: 130.8

North Country Trail, Manistee Co, MI, from Highbridge to Chicago Rd and back with a side trip to Blacksmith Bayou. 3.6 miles NCT, + 1.2 side trip miles

See Old Trail Section, New Season

Scottville Fall Festival 2024

 Scottville will never completely be able to bring back the "glory" that was the Harvest Festival. Those were huge and deeply rooted in the area's agricultural heritage. Everyone attended. It was a 3-day event with parades, an ox roast, a midway, music, contests, and I don't even remember what all. The streets were packed so full it was even difficult to walk around most of the time.

But the city is trying to recreate some small-town pride and enthusiasm with a one-day Fall Festival. From my perspective, it was moderately well attended. I'll have to wait to hear how the city feels about it. There were lots of activities for kids with pony rides, face painting, games, etc. There was music (the famous Scottville Clown Band, of course, and another group too). there was a dunk tank. I don't know how that was run this time- it used to be that a local celebrity would take the seat and folks would pay for throws to try to drop the person into the water. There were softball and cornhole tournaments. And there were vendors. That's how I got involved. The vendors were not on the main drag, and I suspect there were a lot of people who didn't come all the way to our end.

That said, I did OK. About what I thought I'd sell, but definitely in the black. I got to explain about the North Country Trail to quite a few people.

This was very cute. It's a remote control car operated by the Sheriff's Department. It played various musical numbers, and the dog opened and closed its mouth.

It was a fine day, my only complaint was that it was blazing hot. I took all the food I needed, but I ended up having to buy one extra drink, and that was even after a friend brought me a bottle of water. Thankfully, I was right beside a convenience store, so that was easy.

No walking happened other than setting up and tearing down.

See Wild Blueberry Festival