Things Are Like June Bugs!

  Granted the entryway in not huge.  It is not even big.  In fact, it is rather small.  Which is fine because the house is small.  It would be ridiculous to have a large entryway on a small house.  Still, I think we may need to enlarge the entryway a bit if the current situation lingers long.  Right now, the entryway is not a point of entry.  In fact, I am not sure anyone could squeeze through the room to enter the Little Bayou House.  It is filled...completely...from top to bottom. I had just eliminated all useless stuff from the room and decorated it for Christmas.  It was adorable.  A red rug was on the floor, two small chairs were under the window and a canning jar of red berries sat on the window ledge.  Now, the chairs are gone, the rug moved and you cannot see the berries except from the outside looking in.  

  Early this morning, my son-in-law called from out of state.  "Mom!!!"...when he uses this tone, I know something is upsetting him.  "I am out of town and my chairs are being delivered.  Is there any way that you or someone can go meet the guy?"  The chairs were to be delivered to his dance studio. Sure...no problem.  I asked Son and he made haste in getting to the studio.  Without a key, though, there was not a way to put the chairs inside the building.  An hour after he left here, Son called me.  "Can someone come down with a truck to help move these chairs?"  That someone...was me.  Ok...so I have not driven in quite some time and was not even sure if the old truck would start.  It did...I did...and chairs were brought here.  Just about the time we got all thirty chairs (4 per box) into the entry, my brother came down with two more large boxes that had been delivered to his house.  These, too, were for the dance studio.  So, those were added to the pile.  Now...the room is filled to capacity and there is no way for anyone to enter or exit the Little Bayou House unless they head to the back door. 

   While Darling Daughter is worried about the boxes cluttering the entry, I am finding it rather humorous.  In a weird sort of way, it is poetic justice.  At the advice of a very dear friend, I have been trying to declutter.  It is a slow process and I admit that I have a tendency to rue tossing anything.  Still, I was trying.  I figure that even one item out is an act of decluttering so my process seems to be an one item now and again "purge".  I am just not cut out for this massive deal but I was making progress.  Now....boxes!  Lots of boxes!  Lots of huge boxes!  Everywhere!  

  I am beginning to believe what my grandmother used to say is true.  She always said that "things" were like June bugs.  June bugs are those small beetles that fly around at night and pound themselves into every light in the county.  Down here in the Deep South, June bugs are also called Nine bugs.  This name is given merely because "If you catch one and open the door to toss it back out, nine more will come inside."  So, my "things" are like June bugs...I open the door to discard stuff only to have nine more things come inside.  There is no winning!  At least, this stuff is not mine and it will find a permanent home at the studio and not stay in my entryway.  It is all good.  So. quit your fretting, Darling Daughter.  It is not bothering me in the least!

The Gold Bug?

  Well, I am one happy camper about now.  The garden finally got its soaking rain via an all day bout of thunderstorms.  Several of the storms that rolled in off the Gulf had strong winds and terrific lightning but none of that could dampen (pun intended!) my spirits as I watched the rain pour onto the parched ground.  It was heavenly!

  After being indoors all day, Mark and I headed to the pier late this afternoon.  We watched as the clouds gathered on the horizon once again and threatened another round of rain.  Barreling out of the Bayou was water that was heavy laden with red clay.  This clay obviously was making the Bayou inhospitable to any fish.  As we were watching, millions of tiny minnows, mullet and other fishes were trying to make an escape to cleaner water.  The redfish were taking advantage of this mass exodus.  The large fish were tearing into the confused smaller fish.  Such a feeding frenzy was a call for us to grab the fishing poles!   Since there were some handy in the small skiff, Mark retrieved them for our use. While there, he "rescued" a bug for me!  A Green June Beetle had become waterlogged and was drowning in the rainwater that had accumulated in the boat.  Mark lifted the beetle up to me so I could examine it closer. It was beautiful!

  The Green June Beetle is sort of a misnomer for this particular beetle. The one today was more gold than green.  It had only splotches of green on its iridescent body.  My thoughts immediately went to Edgar Allan Poe's tale "The Gold Bug".  This thought made the critter even more appealing as he is one of my favorite authors.   

  The Green June Beetle is actually a type of scarab.  It is most abundant in the southeast where the grub (larva stage) is known to do much damage to lawns.  The folks who pride themselves in having a perfect lawn go to great means to exterminate this bug.  Me?  I think the critter is pretty.  Perhaps if I worried myself over the grass, things might be different but I figure beauty is where you find it.  Today, I found it in the June Bug.  

Two Nine Bugs

Long ago, when I was but a tot, my grandmother used to admonish me for lingering in the doorway too long.  It was hard to scurry in the doorway and not slam that screen door so I would dally around long enough for her to scold me.  This was always done in a nice way as I never remember her ever being harsh.  Still, I would be told to "Hurry in before the Nine Bugs follow you!" A lot of folks nowadays would not have a clue as to what she did not want in her house!  Not many have ever heard of a Nine Bug.  This was Grandmother's name for the June Beetle which is one of the many Scarabs that inhabit the Coast.  Also known as a May Beetle, the bug has a habit of flying into the house as it seeks out the light.  These are the small beetles that you see bouncing off the walls of the porch if the light is left burning for any length of time.  They have poor directional skills, obviously, as they never can seem to find a safe destination.  Perhaps the light disorients them but they seem to careen off any unmovable object that they can find!

Grandmother never liked them to be in her house.  Her pet name of "Nine Bug" came about because she always claimed that "When you open the door to let one out, nine more come inside!"  At that rate, the house soon would be crawling with the critters!  I understand her point as it does seem that each time you try to be humane and "catch and release" a Nine Bug, it does not want to leave!  It will cling to your hand causing you to have to spend several minutes "ungripping" the critter.  During those minutes, a whole slew of other bugs make the mad dash to enter the house!  Then they fly around trying to escape the very confines that they so desperately wanted to enter!  Yep, Nine Bugs are not something you want to spend the evening catching!

I found two June Bugs..umm..trying to become nine.  They were dangling on the wisteria vine outside the front door when I let Ms. Ez out for her evening trot down the hill.  I suppose that I should have squished the two of them when I had the opportunity because now the lawn will be besieged by those white grub worms that munch on the roots.  They are one and the same.  The lawn and garden will suffer dearly because of these grubs but at least the adults do not bite!  Yep, I should have squished them while I had the chance but it just seemed rude to interrupt them at the moment.

Its a "grubby" job but...

Enough of this crazy weather!   I want my garden!  The winter weather is just going to have to leave since I spent hours upon hours planting my garden!  The coldframe or hotbed has been turned into a beautiful, raised herb garden where most of the seedlings can stay for the remainder of the coming summer.  Other seedlings will be transferred to the regular garden or to more raised beds depending on space.  Squash, radishes and green beans take up the rows in the garden while cantaloupes, watermelons and cucumbers will climb (hopefully!) on fences.  My garden space is severely limited and I am required to make use of any areas I can!  Still, the seeds are in the ground and I can breathe a bit easier now.  Michael is planning to dig some more ground as soon as the weather permits and a few other vegetables will be seeded.  For now, I sit wistfully looking at the seed packets with dreams of a lush garden.

While digging around in the dirt, I came across a fat grubworm!  I hear pros and cons about these critters and do not know whether to eliminate them or not.  Just how many grubworms are too many?  First of all, these are not actually worms but rather the larval stage of a beetle.  Some can do severe damage to lawns and gardens but then others are merely there doing their own thing.  I am hoping my grubs are the latter.  Anyway, I decided it was time to see if and what needed to be done about my grubworms.  The City of Fort Worth website has some great information about the critters!  The pictures there identified my grub as the larva of a June Bug.  Now, I like June Bugs!  Yep, I know they can be a nuisance when they fly into the house in the late evening but at least they do not harm anything.  Well..being a June Bug baby really helped this little guy!  He was already ahead of the game of life!  I read down further and found my answer about how many is too many.  The website said that if you find more than four to ten per square foot of sod..GET HELP!  Four to ten per square foot?  I found one in the entire garden!  I feel I am safe from the dreaded Grub Infestation.  My one lonely grubworm was set free to grow into a wonderful June Bug!  I know I will perhaps regret this action later this summer when I am pelted in the head by a June Bug but for now, I can feel like I did my good deed!  Plus, I know that I feel a bit of smug satisfaction over the fact that I did not dump masses of harmful chemicals in my ground trying to eradicate the grubs..or in this case..the grub.
 

Grub Wars!

I was at war yesterday. At war with myself to be exact. Have you ever been at those crossroads where you know the "right" thing to do but that "right" thing is not what you really want to do? That was right where I was at! The war between right and wrong. The war between good and evil. The war between just and unjust. To be or not to be..that is the question. Oh, wait! That was not supposed to be in here! Anyway, I was torn..the decision was plaguing my mind and I had no answer. We were out cutting firewood in preparation for the oncoming winter storm, when we uncovered a mass of grub worms. You know the ones..white, round, rumply looking things. The ones that remind me of the Michelin Man gone bad. Yeah..those! As I said, we uncovered a mass of these things. They were sharing lodgings under an old oak log with a few billion other critters. The carpenter ants, ground wasps, centipedes and millipedes immediately scampered off to hide elsewhere but as you know..grub worms do not scamper. They just sort of sit there and pulsate like the Blob. My decision? The war in my mind? The fisherman in me said "Bait! Go fishing!" The logical being inside me said "Nah..it is far too cold and windy." The yard owner part of me said "They will ruin the lawn..these things cause brown spots." The lazy me said "Less grass to cut this summer!" The birder in me said "Feed them to the birds!" The humane me said "I can't do that..it would be cruel!" So ponder, ponder. Do I squish the smithereens out of these ugly little beings or do I just let them live in peace? I CANNOT DO IT!!! Go little grubs! Be free! Eat my grass roots! I quickly covered them with mulch to keep them warm. I felt better about the whole thing. As matter of fact..I almost felt like a hero! I saved their little peapickin' lives!

Now a few facts about these grub worms. Yes, they will ruin your nice, plush green lawn by making huge brown spots in the middle of it. Kill Them! The grubs or larvae eat the roots of the grass killing it. Kill Them! They damage your potato crops. Kill Them! They damage corn crops. Kill them! They are the larvae of June Bugs! Awww..cute little June Bugs! I like the cute little June Bugs! Don't kill them..let them, like all critters, live in peace. Grub worms won the battle!