Never Had Bad Vibes at the Lake---Until Today

With high heat indexes, yesterday's lunch on the shore of the lake was delightful. So, it seemed to me that doing a repeat today would be a wise move. After the pre-noon news cast, I packed the cooler much the same as yesterday but added a couple of items that I had forget to put in yesterday. Having said that, I made my way to the lake, going straight to the area where I had eaten lunch yesterday.
While sitting at the table looking out over the lake, I spotted my little friend, the red squirrel. He hangs out on top of a cluster of trash bins that are like a pre-sort of recycled items.

As I unpacked my lunch, the squirrel picked up on the smells coming from the picnic tote and positioned himself right at the end of the table where I was sitting  and did all sorts of things to get my attention. He would raise up on his haunches, then stand up on his hind legs more or less begging for a hand out.One of the items that I brought with me today was a round white corn chip. So, I held one up and ask him if he would like to have one? (I love talking to animals. They understand more than we give them credit) Tossing the chip to him, he grabbed it and ran up the side of the tree on the back side where I could not see where he went. Then, when I had my lunch laid out on the table where I could manage it and the wind and not have things blown away, I looked up at the tree. There sat the squirrel on a tree limb knot at about 10 feet up. It was a perfect perch for him to sit on and he was eating the chip like we humans eat corn on the cob. When he finished, he came back down from the tree and went to the end of the table. The little rascal was telling me that he wanted more. He took the second chip and returned back to his perch where he began to do his return carriage routine as he ate this second chip.

When the chips were gone and the tomato, cheese and pickle mix was also gone, I went to my sandwich. I noticed he was watching me and I told him that I didn't have any more. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him scamper off toward the lake's  edge.

As I worked on my sandwich and drink, I got this eerie feeling. It came out of no where but it sent a chill running up my shoulders and neck.  I turned around to look toward my car and at that very moment, I looked down and there were five squirrels across the ground at the back of the table. They had that ''look'' like you see in the movies of animals getting even.

Now, I'm begging to the squirrels---I'll bring more tomorrow!!  I finished my sandwich and took the picnic bag to the car. In my tote with my camera bag, I always carry about 10 saltine crackers in a little container and three sandwich duplex cookies for my afternoon snack. I took the container and went back to the table. While the squirrels were still hanging out, I took out a cracker and broke it into four piece and tossed them to the squirrels that were stretched out on the ground--a belly flop on the cool ground would be more accurate. They all ran to grab a piece of the handout. Three took off running with their little hand out and I didn't see them again, but the original little buddy and one of his friends hung around and wanted more. My friend wanted a whole cracker. The little devil held out until I gave him one, then he returned up the tree to his little balcony and worked on that cracker.

All-in-all, the band that came from no where and just gave me dirty looks until I noticed them had vanished with their hand out did give me those bad vibes, never thinking that they would come from a pack of squirrels. It was almost like a story board.
So--for the rest of the summer---if I pack more lunches--- which I will---I'll make sure that I have white oval corn chips and saltine crackers to give to the pack.

There's that Look.He was in stalk mode

This one, too, was in stalk mode.

This is my buddy that always greets me looking for a hand out but also is a dumpster diver with great skills.

My Trips To The Lake Daily Have Been Validated

Yep! Spending two to three hours a day out in nature has now been validated as a healty exercise that reduces blood pressure, keeps aging in a slower pace and prevents some of the common pains   altogether that comes with age progression.

Yesterday, with the heat indexes at 108 and the air temp at 95 with humidity and dew points through the roof, I packed the cooler with lunch and a snack and headed toward the lake. I have found a perfect picnic table that reminds me why I have always liked lake houses and beach houses. While eating my lunch, there was a cool breeze blowing across the area coming in off the lake. It was delightful and I ate my lunch in a comfortable ambient temperature. Summer doesn't start until today but the last weeks of June always rings the door bell of summer early here in Texas. 

By 1:30 I had pointed the car toward home and spent the rest of the day (the most unbearable part) in the cool of air conditioning. Australians survive the heat by closing up the house during the day and opening it wide in the evening. Now that a sample of what summer feels like again, I go out early and come in early. Come on September!!

The developing storms in the afternoon developed as advertised. They went north of us and south of us. The city of Greenville, north east of the metroplex got hit hard with wind damage and heavy rain leaning toward 4-inches as the storms trained over the same area for hours. Then, during the evening around sunset, a few developing storms grazed the Metroplex in the sector where I live. However, there was not as much lightening, nor strong winds and the rain was gentle and still wet. My trees are growing at an alarming rate where I am going to have to give them away to someone who needs a tree are cut the back to where they become a bush rather than a tree. I don't want to do that to my trees.They have reduced that direct sun heating of brick that sends the thermometer to the 120 mark. That is the main reason why I have trees in pots on the porch. Now, my neighbor has the same.

My view during lunch

Piles of wood chips from all the damage to such majestic trees

Pile after pile of these wood chips look like ant hills

Update,Currently and Finally

UPDATE:  The Solar Impulse flew an unexpected leg of its flight because of the weather conditions. After taking off from St. Louis' Lambert Field, it was scheduled to fly on to Dulles International in the Virginia countryside outside Washington,D.C. Instead, it landed in Cincinnati, Ohio for 16 hours and is en route to Dulles at this writing. There was a pilot change made also. It appears someone needed to eat a big steak on the ground in that 16-hours,too! Go to their website to find out who had the steak. https://www.solarimpulse.com. From Washington, they will make the last leg on to New York JFK before packing up and heading home to Switzerland. It was an adventure to meet Bertrand and Andre while they were at D.F.W.International.

CURRENTLY: I am doing some research on the difference between a muskrat and a nutria. Some seem to think what I have been seeing is a nutria. Others, agree, that I have seen a muskrat. Either way, whether it's a nutria or a muskrat, I've always called them muskrats. So, the only way to settle this in my mind is to research it completely and then report the findings. Stay tuned. The picture is of the beast in question. Some,most likely, will just call it a big rat. Again, stay tuned.

FINALLY: The picture of the three men has a rather interesting story that goes along. When it is hot, my appetite drops off drastically. Lunch is usually something very light and ever since I was a kid, I enjoyed sitting at a picnic table overlooking water. My errands usually end up either at Bachman Lake or White Rock Lake during the summer. If it's Bachman, then it's Whataburger. If it's White Rock, it's either Chili's to Go or McDonald's ( I know-there is a big difference in those two!)This past week, it was McDonald's. While sitting at the picnic table, I could see three men in a canoe and they were having one rough time paddling. The canoe was going one side and then the other and they were loosing ground for any forward motion rapidly.

Next, I noticed that not any of the three men were wearing a life vest or jacket. That is always a concern in any water activity. For nearly an hour, these guys were struggling. Then, as if by a guiding hand, they managed to get near enough the shore that one of the men got out. Shortly, there were two in the canoe and they were heading toward where I was sitting. There was a boat dock less than 100 yards away.

As it turns out, originally, three miles down the lake toward the dam, they had found the canoe sitting at a boat dock. On one of the seats under a rock, was a napkin that read: FREE CANOE. The guys said that they couldn't resist a ride on a hot afternoon. They climbed in and with only sticks of limbs that had washed up around the dock, they used those for paddles.

When, I had seen them near the shoreline, they had, indeed, let out one of the others who had realized how unsafe it was and decided to walk around the cove to the boat dock where he would rejoin the others. One of the guys had been to the Ukraine and Turkey and was sporting a shirt from Australia.

I did submit the images to a Live News Feed and they were posted later that evening.

The Adventurers at White Rock Lake

Some say,Muskrat.Some say, Nutria. Time to do some research.