Wildlife Weekend

Memorial Day ushered in summer and it's ridiculous temperatures. By back features the color of a medium cooked sirloin, pink and leathery.

Nevertheless, I started out Friday night by eating Boston Butt that I smoked on Friday. It would have received a minimum of 2 Michelin stars...

Saturday, the day was spent on the Duck Ship Yellow Dog, out and about on the Middle Albemarle. Oh, and ribs were eaten on this day. We also went on a Bear Safari, again. This time, success was great, as I took a different approach. In the past, the Spot and Stalk (more like the speed and brake) was the preferred method of your's truly, yet this time, I decided to play the waiting game. I made certain to approach the feeding fields early enough to catch the bruins slipping out of the pocosin...and slip they did. The evening started with a couple of two year old bears, running and playing in the wheat. Too gain a better a look, my lady friend and I popped up through the sunroof with the spotting scope. At approximately the same minute, "Big Bertha", as Callie would call it, appeared, all 500 pounds. Then, in honor of the hit television show "Swamp People", we were awarded with a tree shaker - another gigantic bear, every bit of 600 lbs, tiny ears and round belly and all, miled up and down the canal shredding trees, evidently showcasing it's strength and stature as the "Top Dog", err Bear of the pocosin. Very Impressive.

Sunday was kind of a disappointment, as the clouds rolled in, yet the boating excursion was still fun. I also took time to prepare my schedules for this week...more on that in a sec.

Yesterday, tired of the boat ride, I took a trip to Virginia's Eastern Shore...just a short little day trip across the Chesapeake for some beach goin', animal lookin', and decoy shoppin'. I had only been to the Eastern Shore in the wintertime, when it's marshes were jammed to the hilt with migratory birds. In a place steeped in history and tradition, it's easy to get a bit carried away. We also elevted to hike to the Assateague Light. 'Twas a short walk, but it was certainly filled with adventure. Mosquitoes immediately swarmed. Callie, with the camera in tow, was warned to please prepare the camera for battle as the very rare Delmarva Fox squirrel was destined to cross out paths. We had only heard of this squirrel. Few people will ever see one, as their are probably only a thousand or so that are living and breathing. Lo and behold, the squirrel does appear, in the middle of our mosquito-bombarding pirouettes. A few pictures were snapped as the squirrel scurried for cover in the pines. Quite a site.
Anyway, we walked the streets of Chincoteague, perusing the uniques and antiques. I was able to lay my hands on decoys made by Madison Mitchell, Ira Hudson, and Chincoteague carver, Cigar Daisey.

On to this week - Today and tomorrow, Tyrrell Elementary will be out to celebrate their End of Grade test success. The pool and gamefields will be their party platter, and our program staff will cater the fun.

Jackson Middle School comes in for some Rec and Ecology...they'll be here on Wednesday and head out Friday...then they are on to help with the clean-up in tornado-struck Bertie County...

Summer Camp Staff training starts next week...then it's on.

Enjoy the day...