This morning, despite my abject misery and negative attitude, I decided to venture outside for a walk in the woods.
It has been raining for the past three days (remnants of Hurricane Irma), so I didn't go far - - just stayed on my own property.
It was a pleasant walk - despite mud up to my ankles and distant gunfire. I always worry that a trigger-happy myopic hillbilly will mistake me for Big Foot.
Despite running into a twenty foot spider web which looked like something from Conan Doyle's Lost World, I didn't have any mishaps.
But I came home annoyingly wet and covered in mud. With remnants of spider web on my hat, face.....
...and in my mustache....
For your viewing pleasure, boys and girls, I brought my El Cheapo camera with me and took some unremarkable and uninteresting pictures of the gloomy wet forest.
The forest won't be beautiful until the foliage transforms into autumnal colors - which won't happen for another month.
A few random leaves just couldn't wait until autumn....
The entrance of the forest:
which reeks with the possibility of Red Riding Hood wolves and Hansel and Gretel witches.
It was so dark that my camera flash kept going off, but when I tried taking a few pics without the flash they looked really crappy.
The good news is that all the ticks are gone (for the season), so I only had to worry about running into 15,000 other kinds of creepy bugs. Including mega giant spiders.
But I'm a tough dude. I can take it.
(I plan to paint the back porch within the next few weeks - because it looks like hell. I already painted the front porch)
I didn't intend to center these final paragraphs, but the Blogger gremlins won't allow me to fix it.
Haunting pictures, but very typical looking woods for the end of summer into fall look. I too notice this time of year, the spider webs are terrible. They are everywhere. And it always happens this time of year. I enjoy your post, but hang in there tootes.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely spider season. There are so many out here in the woods that I don't fear them as much as I used to. The webs are actually beautiful - - if you don't run into them.
Deleteit looks like you had a pleasant walk. that spiderweb would have been something to see before your mustache and head got all tangled up in it.
ReplyDeleteI took some pretty good photos of a few spider webs last autumn. Perhaps I'll post them again.
Deleteps) glad scruffy safely returned indoors.
ReplyDeleteI actually don't like to let my cats outdoors, but they really enjoy it. And they USUALLY stay on the porch. The main thing I always worry about are the ticks.
DeleteThe forest looks pretty nice although tangly. I would never have considered ticks once but they have become such a problem now. I loved the occasional orange leaves.
ReplyDeleteThe forest is definitely tangly - not to mention muddy and slippery. I really HATE ticks, but fortunately they only seem to be around here in late June and July. Then they disappear.
DeleteI am not a bug fan and would freak walking through a spider web! Awk! That's why I live way up north where the cold kills off a lot of them each year. It does look beautiful, though. It will be gorgeous when the leaves turn. :)
ReplyDeleteI always thought Texas was the buggiest place on earth, but the Tennessee woods beats it. The best thing about winter is that all the creepy bugs disappear.
DeleteIs there such a word as "buggiest"??
DeleteIf not, there should be. I have heard it in use many times. ;)
DeleteSpiderwebs are fascinating ... although too fragile when hit with a noggin ;) Nice forest to explore, except for gunshots.
ReplyDeleteI hope you feel better soon, Jon. Take care.
The hunters around here generally seem to be cautious and know what they're doing, but the sound of gunshots always unnerves me. Especially when they are close.
DeleteI'm finding these photos so wonderfully refreshing. Early this week the mercury hit 110 degrees ... you want to talk about depressing! It's like you're beckoning me forward. Dang! Once we move, we won't be so far apart!
ReplyDeleteI've always HATED heat and I'm very familiar with Arizona, so I can fully sympathize with your plight. Southern California can be occasionally brutal - especially in September. I remember one year when it was 114 degrees on the first day of school.
DeleteKeep cool. And keep thinking about the move.
Scruffy is looking beautiful. I can take any bugs except ticks and scorpions. I like the spider webs in the fall with dew on them.
ReplyDeleteFortunately I never experienced ticks in Texas - but I despise scorpions. I think I fear them even more than spiders.
DeleteBeautiful fall photos, Jon. Subtler than here where heat has accelerated the season. Scruffy, again, looks quilted from several cats of various colors. I delight in her variety --maybe people will look like that one day. What a kick! How will we choose our clothing colors? Thanks for taking us along on your walk!
ReplyDeleteI like the variations of color in Scruffy's fur. It is most noticeable in the sunlight. Scruffy's mother was a calico.
DeleteIf people were all calico, there would undoubtedly be less racism. That's a pleasant thought....
Your woods look absolutely lush right now. Maybe because of all the rain you've had, it'll be an especially colorful fall.
ReplyDeleteReally? The ticks are gone now? Maybe I can consider going back to visit our friends in TN again now. HA! The tick bite I got from our last visit STILL itches like a son of a gun. Their woods are gorgeous, too, and they have a little pond and creek on their property, too. I've always enjoyed walking in the woods, but they have soooooo many ticks and chiggers, I haven't walked there in some time. (I got that last tick bite in the HOUSE, though. One of their pets must have brought it it.)
The woods are always lush here because of the frequent rain (the weeds are lush, too).
DeleteI really HATE ticks and the bites seem to last forever. Last summer I had a tick bite that itched about half a year. I'm not exaggerating - it was still itching around Christmas!!