I continue my crusade to rid at least part of the Headwaters Trail of the noxious, invasive weed, Garlic Mustard…and everywhere else I spot the stuff, which is lots o’ places. Taking a loop around the back of the South St. Park (Bill Phelps Park, with baseball and softball fields) I encountered several stands of the stuff to go after. Unfortunately, this late in the Spring, many of the plants had begun to co-habit with those fake roses and/or blackberry bushes and/or other definitely thorny varieties of plants–locusts and such–so that often when I got a good hold of a bunch of stems, I also was assaulted by sharp points in the same handful. At least one of said thorns still resides in my left hand. There was blood on my dainty hands before I finished.
Somehow a leg got into the battle as well. Not enough to cancel my bloodmobile appointment on Thursday, but it was annoying.
Speaking of thorns and such, I’d like, someday, to have someone show me how to identify a plant known as a Nettle. I know that the Stinging Nettle is supposed to, well, sting, but I’m not sure that I’ve ever really seen one to know how to avoid them next time. Numerous folk medicine remedies purport to deal with the injury caused by these plants, say, like aloe, which works on all sorts of injuries. Pictures are all very well and good but I want to see the plant itself. That’s what got me started on the Garlic-Mustard; Ranger Joe the Outdoor Guy showed it to me and off I went. Could be a much worse hobby, I suppose.
Now that barber shops, spas and beauty shops are now allowed to be open, I may not have to contemplate visiting Rebecca’s Dog Grooming downtown. It is getting about that bad. I haven’t had this much hair since I was about twelve years old–and you know how long ago that was. I used to have lovely tresses about down to my waist–in braids. I can be spotted in all of the class pictures in elementary school as the only little girl with braids. This was back in the day when nobody did braids…like they do now. You can see cheerleaders or basketball players or volleyball players or runners busily braiding each other’s hair before competitions all of the time now-a-days but back then, it was not a thing. Additionally, my mother had a unique style of braiding which was not quite French braiding and not quite anything else. What it mostly was was fast, relatively speaking. There were three of us sisters and we all had to be braided up and ready to go to catch the school bus. We all had hair long enough to braid and my dad wanted us to keep it long, so there you go. My sister had long hair forever, it seemed like, long enough to sit on I think–and lots of it. Took hours to dry. I have not got that long yet but it feels like I’m pushing the envelope. Will ponytails be next? Got a picture of that?
I’m thinking that we’re going to be considering outfitting the salon with some new tools from Ace Hardware for this next epic hair color/cut/style episode…say, a Stiehl hedge trimmer or a leaf blower or–God forbid ! –some plumbing fixtures. In any case, the whole color/cut/style event cannot come too soon, in my book. The salon personnel are probably spending time in prayer and fasting in preparation for my appearance at their establishment.
And speaking of books (another clever segue, right?)…. The PCDL is ramping up to reopen. Yay! Not sure how their new procedures will work, as far as having reading material delivered on request to the patrons, without direct contact at the check-out. I never know what I want until I go in, browse the shelves and spot something that looks interesting. Having to come up with a title before I see something on a shelf (Look at the pictures), read the blurbs on the inside jackets, recall what I thought of the author’s last book that I read or just remember what I heard about it on a radio review, is not likely to work out well, but we’ll have to do what we can to get back up and running one way or another. I also wonder if all of the books that were ordered before the shutdown are all just sitting there, waiting for patrons to return and clamor for new reading material. Something that is going to complicate matters is the fact that the Portage County District Library has no independent/dedicated source of funding, as many libraries do, but depends solely on the county budget, which is going to be under siege from all sides, as are all governmental entities. Would be a good thing if the PCDL could get its own budget, the same way that the Portage County Park District has. It’s a thought for the future…took a long time for the park district to get reliable funding and it’s been enjoyed by many folks who found it to be a welcome escape during this ”recent unpleasantness”. A library can almost always be an escape, if that’s what you’re looking for.
Look! Look! That light! Is it at the end of the tunnel? Or is it an oncoming freight train?
