Jerry Smith

The warm air made a daytime expedition all too tempting. It reached 68 degrees today and the sun had summoned the insects and spiders from their eggs. The grass and leaf litter was "crawling" with everything from ants and springtails to wolf spiders and short-horned grasshoppers. Flies and gnats humed through the air.

On the southern horizon grew large storm clouds- I dont know what you'd call them, but they were large, tall, white- What you would expect to see in a may thunderstorm.

I wondered through new parts of the park-used unfamiliar trails and found familiar landmarks. The ground is becoming green- moss is everywhere and the base of the bluestem is growing fast. I stumbled through a bunch of burnt cedars- the bare ground is supporting an odd fungi or lichen. The green/red parts of the organism look scaley- like a lichen; the dead parts seem more like a fungus. The tips of the 'flowers' are burnt from our late NOV. burn.

ANY IDEAS??

Found somebody's LEATHER GLOVE. Its a nice left-hand one with velcro, elastic and the initial M written on the back in red. Ive got it if its yours; I promise to only charge a minimal finder's fee!

I wondered a bit further- found myself on the pond-side of a fencerow that stretch from the barn to the prairie. An ancient osage shaded the edge of the prarie.

We expect as much as 6" of snow tomorrow- watch for new "winter" posts!