A work day poem

I didn't want to go to work,

My life was feeling a little too berserk.

Cleaning fire pits and picking up trash,

Can really be a big old pain in my ass.

But I really must go,

they aren't going to clean themselves, you know.

So I will make the best of it,

Because I am a tough little chit.

I grab my shovel and rake,

along with my pail I do take.

And there as I work a Stellar Jay flies by,

While a chipmunk is running up high.

A Gray Squirrel gets mad we are in her space,

And throws pine cones at Isabellas little face.

A chickadee is hopping down a nearby pine,

Gee, I am really glad this job is mine!

A day late and a dollar short

 The Lone Dead Tree

I think that just may be my new motto, a day late and a dollar short.  No, I'm just kidding, but it is definitely true for the past couple of days and this post, sorry GSO readers!  As it is for many of you, it is the last few days of school around here, which means all sorts of picnics and graduations and field days and all kinds of fun stuff when you have three kids in three schools.  It is also the week we are preparing to open our campgrounds for the big Memorial weekend.  So, it was not a good thing when I went out to start my beloved truck yesterday on the way to three of these fun events and it would not start.

Let's say I am very thankful that I know a lot of people in this community and was comfortable just hopping in the truck with the Dad of one of Nate's friends and hoping I could find rides from there on out.  Which I did.  My friend Amanda took me from the middle school up to the elementary, a neighbor took me from there to the food pantry where I was needed to put some extra hours in, and my wonderful seventeen year old sons came and picked me up from there and delivered me back home last evening-WHEW!!!

Now, the trouble of the day really started when we headed off to work at the campgrounds (that's pretty bad after a day like that-ha!).  I have mentioned the forest mitigation project going on around our area before, and I have said that I am pretty much on the fence about it.  Mother Nature is unable to take care of things because we as humans have gotten in her way, so I was hoping that we as humans had gone in and fixed the problem.  Well, I'm pretty much off the fence now.  My campground, er, the campground that the company that I represent that represents the National Forest I mean, looks like s@%t.  Yup, I said it (sorta).

You know, I can get past the loss of the trees, as a matter of fact many of the stumps that we investigated were diseased in the middle.  I am actually surprised by the number of trees that were already dying in that forest, but had shown no outward sign.  A few of the odd things were the fact that they left some really dead trees standing, one that looked as if we could just knock it right over, hence the picture.  They are riddled with beetle holes and both were struck by lightning and have a ring from top to bottom.  We looked for nests or any other obvious reason for them to have been left, but could find none; odd.  Tom joked that it was because they had not been tagged so the workers hadn't taken them, and I'm afraid he's not too far off the mark. 

I must say that my biggest concern is wildfire.  Ironic isn't it?  They come in for fire mitigation and I think Tom and I have one hell of a campground season ahead of us to make sure our campers don't burn down our home.  I am now thinking our new motor-home may come in awful handy as we may have to move into that campground to keep the campers from dragging all of the mess that the fire crew has left just on the outskirts of the grounds, into the grounds to have their fires.  Campers tend to get their fires as big as they can, and as you can see from the pics, the wood crew has left a "tinder box" of  wood debris about a foot thick just to the west of my, I mean your, campgrounds waiting for a spark to escape into.  Directly in the direction of my ranch I might add.

Okay, okay, in about twenty to fifty years, after this mess is all cleaned up by campers and decomposed back into the soil, it will be beautiful.  Nicely thinned, and some wonderful green grassy meadow areas, hopefully the deer and elk will love it.  As we stood there debating this whole mess, and I do mean mess literally, we must have been quite engrossed in our conversation because this moose must have walked right past us.  As we were leaving we saw some cars at the entrance; when we stopped to see what they were doing they pointed her out to us!  Look closely, that is her back side in the trees there, laughing at us as she walks away...

Children & Nature

I thought it might be neat to give a child's perspective. I decided to interview my oldest son who has been exposed to the outdoors and nature since he was a baby for this post.

~~~begin interview~~~

How old are you?
7

What are your favorite things to do in the summer?
Swimming, fishing, seeing baby turkeys, camping, helping my aunt feed animals.


When you go for walks in the woods, what did you see?
Deer, baby turkeys with their mommy's, butterflies, toads, dragonflies, white moths, deer tracks and poop on the deer trails, trees.


What did you learn?
There are little streams in the woods. There was lots of mud that the deer made tracks in. We found one deer antler that came off a deer that shed it's antlers. We didn't find the other one.


What should a kid do if they find a baby bird that is out of it's nest?
You should leave it where it is, because it's mommy and daddy might be out getting it food.


What will happen if a person touches a baby bird they found?
It could die, because it's mommy and daddy will not come back if the baby bird smells like people.


What should people do if they have trash and they aren't near a trash can?
Go find one or put it in your pocket till you can get to one. Ask mommy or daddy if you can recycle it.


Why do we want to keep our trash off the ground?
It's not good for the ground or animals.


Thank you for letting me interview you.
Thank you for interviewing me.


Would you like to say anything else to our readers?
Look at the videos and pictures that my mommy, my aunt and I took. They are cool!

~~~end of interview~~~

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Sincerely,
Khrys @ GreenSpot-On
Link: http://unhub.com/GreenSpotOn/17979


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Family weekend - AWAY!!!

I am excited to finally have a weekend away to go camping! The only thing that I miss from when I was younger though, was not having a time frame that I had to be back in. I miss those camping trips, that always seemed to extend themselves a couple days past when you were originally planning on packing it up.

When I am camping though, I like to not follow schedules or clocks! That is the number one thing that I am trying to get away from when I leave to go away for a weekend, or on a trip. I like to have peace and feel that time is not always chasing me ;)

Summer Fun!

It's that time of year again! I love travelling and experiencing new things. I would love to go out of state and visit new places, but usually it can cost you and you are not always sure what to expect or how kid-friendly a place is. My husband and I love camping and we have been passing that love to our children. It is a great learning experience for them and a great way for the family to connect! We go camping at least 5-7 times a year for a weekend, up to a week at a time.

(Pictured at right: My boys last year on the trail at P.J. Hoffmaster Park in Muskegon, Michigan)

We used to camp in a tent, but now we have a pop-up camper that we use. In the pop-up, we can do rustic campsites or the more modern sites. However, the biggest reason we started using a pop-up is because we wanted to take our children when they were toddlers. Honestly, it was great because we could lock the door and they couldn't be escape artists:) I don't care what age a child is, more than likely they will try to sneak out on you! Hence the pop-up for safety reasons. The other reason is because it saves time. When we pack for our trip, pretty much all of the basic things we need for our trip is already in the camper, all we need is clothing and food. We are completely set! We can camp at the drop of a hat! Our children love it and look forward to our trips every year.

As a matter of fact, we are preparing for our first official camping trip this year! This time around JRouse and family is going with us to Silver Lake State Park in Michigan which is near the Silver Lake Sand Dunes off of Lake Michigan. My husband has been there a few times, but I never have been there.

What we plan to do while we are camping:

Nature Hikes - My sister JRouse and I take our kids on nature hikes at any place we camp. Our children's ages range from 2-7 years old. No child is too young for a nature hike and for learning about the plants and animals. Not only do they get to ask questions about the different things they see, but we also learn things from them (Sometimes the kids can put a whole new spin on things that even us adults hadn't thought of before). Stay on the marked trails and your good to go! I keep a book in our camper that has information on different wildlife (track recognition and some other facts) that the kids can look through.

Campfires - At state campgrounds they have fire pits that you are to use to have a campfire in. If you plan to use them to cook, before you use it you may want to stir it up with a long stick and check for trash that is not burnable or is toxic (plastic products, aluminum foil, etc.). Make sure you remove those items and dispose of them properly. We usually burn a hot fire in it prior to using it for cooking as a lot of previous campers may have burnt plastic items in it and we want to make sure it isn't going to affect our food (You can't always pick stuff out so this is an added precaution).

Hobo Pies - A staple of our camping experience, we ALWAYS have our pie makers in our camper for this purpose. You can buy them in cast iron or in aluminum. I prefer the cast iron as they tend to hold up better and longer. We had some aluminum ones but they did not hold up as well, the pro to having them is that they are lighter weight-wise. You can buy cookbooks for the pie irons that have Pesto Calzone and Falafel recipes. For more info on the irons and the cookbooks go here: Fire Pie Trail Store (We actually own the cookbook on that site and there are some GREAT recipes in it). Some of our favorite foods to do with the pie irons are:

• Dessert Hobo Pies - This one is the most simple. All you need is: Bread, butter and any pie filling of your choice. Take the square pie iron and open it up on a flat surface. Butter two pieces of bread and lay one of the pieces butter side down on one side of the pie iron. Scoop 2 tablespoons of pie filling onto one piece of the bread, take the second piece of buttered bread and put it butter side up (Kinda like making a grilled cheese sandwich). Close the pie iron (keeping the sandwich on bottom side) and close it up tight. Take a knife and cut any bread crust that is outside of the pie iron off. Cook for a few minutes on one side, turn it over and cook for a few minutes on the other side (Time depends on how hot your fire is). Make sure to check your hobo pie while you are cooking it, both sides should be golden brown (Again like grilled cheese). Once it is done, carefully find a surface to set the iron on (wooden picnic table is best) and open it up (Make sure you have it flat side down). With a plate ready, turn the iron over and dump the pie out onto the plate. Let the pie cool for 5 minutes or more because the pie filling with be hotter than the surface of the sun fresh out of the iron. Be sure to check the temp before you eat it. It will burn you if you don't!
• Pizza Hobo Pies - Will add an easy recipe at a later date.
• Meat and Cheese Hobo Pies - Same concept as dessert pies except you add sandwich meat and cheese.

In what way do you or your family enjoy the summer? Do you make it a learning experience for your children (if you are at that stage of your life)?

(Pictured are my boys being "chased" by Lake Michigan's waves at P.J. Hoffmaster Park in Muskegon, Michigan. My youngest (photo on right) seems to think that screaming at the waves will get them to stop chasing him or something to that effect)

I'll let you know how our trip goes and will have pictures! Till next time!

Sincerely,

Khrys @ GreenSpot-On

Link: http://unhub.com/GreenSpotOn/17979