Camper City

Wildlife of the Day

First Weekend 2009

I'm finally unpacked, and the Summer Palace is reasonably clean. The slough across the road from me flooded this spring, and some of the campers have lost golf carts, barbeque grills, and shed contents.

There is evidence that the beavers have been busy this year too. There is more than one tree stump with that "sharpened pencil" look, indicating that a beaver or two got to it. There's also a fairly large tree near the edge of the swamp that is half-eaten. I think a good strong wind will blow it down.

Speaking of beavers, I was sitting here tonight enjoying the silence once most of the campers have gone home when I noticed movement out the corner of my eye. A beaver crept out from under my camper and waddled across the way to the next camper. Something startled him, because he ran back under my camper twice. I keep trying to get a picture of him, but so far no luck.

My next door neighbor is continuing his practice of burning garbage - last year I saw him burning plastic chairs in his firepit! I don't know what he threw on the fire this afternoon, but it sure is producing black smoke. Good thing the wind is going in the opposite direction.

The bluebirds have found the neighbor's bird house. They're so picky, they'll only nest in a specific type of house, but once they do they come back every year.

It got up to about 62 degrees this afternoon, so everywhere you saw shorts...and sweatshirts. It hovers just above freezing at night.

I enlarged my garden just a little bit today, and planted green onion seeds. The dirt here is so soft, and deep black in color. Even the grass is lovely - it doesn't spread underground like the nasty Bermuda grass I keep trying to get out of my garden in Texas.

The trees are bare, but they have buds. Within a week or so there will be green everywhere. The ice is off the lake, and a large flock of Pelicans enjoyed the day near the shore. Docks and boat lifts are being put out in preparation for the fishing season opener next weekend.

Last night we had the first campfire of the year. We huddled around the blazing fire in the rain passing chicken wings cooked on the grill. It felt like I had never left.

Summer Palace Journey

I left Fort Worth about 6:30 this morning, in the rain. By the time I hit Oklahoma, the weather cleared up for awhile. Here's a sunny scenic turnoff where yellow wildflowers were in bloom. Other than the flowers, I couldn't really figure out why it was a scenic turnout, although there were trash cans for my garbage!

Then I hit northern Oklahoma and Kansas, and the rain started again. The Kansas Turnpike in a thunderstorm is a glorious thing. If you're hearing sarcasm, you would be right.

The Kansas Turnpike is a long stretch of toll road where the only food is McDonalds. Yum.

But soon enough, the weather improved again, and I drove, and drove, and drove until I hit Sioux City, IA, where I decided to rest my feet for the night.

Gossip

So what is gossip?

"If people aren't talking about other people, it's a signal that something is wrong -- that we feel socially alienated or indifferent," says Ralph Rosnow, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Temple University.

But sometimes it crosses the line. In the following circumstances, the gossip has crossed the “acceptable” line and has morphed into something that can really hurt someone emotionally or practically (such as putting their job or marriage in jeopardy):

1. Exposing something that is supposed to be a secret
2. Lying about something
3. Saying something hurtful
4. Spreading a negative rumor
5. Saying something to be malicious, spiteful or vengeful

So what is it that makes ordinary people cross that line when they must know what the potential consequences are to the other person? Do they really think that the victim of their lies won't ever find out about it? Do they have that much hate in their heart, or is jealousy eating them alive?

Over the years I've been the target of malicious gossip several times. I've often wondered - is it karma for the times I've said something mean about someone else? Or is it meant to teach me how badly it can hurt the victim so that I don't ever again inflict that kind of pain on someone else?

In the words of Rodney King, "why can't we all just get along?"

Forgotten Seeds

Have you ever forgotten that you planted something until it came up in the Spring?

I picked up a cheap clematis at Walmart last year and planted the bulb next to the southern wall of my house. This morning, when I went out to look at my plants, listen to the trickling water of my pond, and collect my thoughts for the day, I noticed a big star-shaped flower on the ground that hadn't been there yesterday.

It was the clematis! I didn't put up a trellis for it, so it was trying to behave like groundcover and spread on the ground.

Much like my clematis, we do or say things every day that plant seeds. A kind word in an elevator can turn into someone rearranging priorities later on so you can deliver your project on time. Or gossip - it can spread just like Bermuda grass in the flower beds - its roots are so deep and they spread so far you can never really repair the damage it does.

Happy Easter and Joyous Passover