House guests and a small triumph

Holy Moses, we’ve had a lot of rain!  My guess is about 5 –6” in the last four days.  Emma and I only made short forays out the door so she could relieve herself yesterday.  On the positive side, we really needed the rain and it was a great rest for my hip.

Emma and I were able to sit outside this evening, and while we were doing that Connor, the biology intern, came to tell me that he had spotted some guests taking up residence in my rig.  Thankfully, it wasn’t mice.

The view out his window is of the driver’s side of my rig.  He had noticed a couple of Carolina wrens visiting the space under the front slide out.  I went to take a look, and here’s what I found:

I pulled out this rather large nest that they had built in the protected area where the slide arm goes in.  No eggs yet, so I yanked it out.  Male wrens usually build several nests, and the female chooses which one she likes best.  I’m guessing she liked this one and would have been laying some eggs in the near future into the cup that is located near the top right of the photo.  Had there been eggs, I probably would have left it there.  Not sure I want the mess of a young family under my table seat.  If they rebuild in the same spot, I’ll probably leave them alone as they should be done with the brood by the time I pull out.

As for the small triumph, I’ll try to explain.  Ever since I’ve arrived here at Okefenokee, I’ve noticed a foot bridge in the forest each time I drive to work.  I tried to get to it before my hip replacement, but it was beyond my abilities at that time.

So once the rain quit and the sun came out this afternoon, Emma and I hopped in the car and made our way to the Canal Diggers Trail.

It’s only .65 miles long, but that was more than I could do before.  If you’ll enlarge the photo on the right, you’ll read that the entrance road to the refuge and many of the trails were originally established by the men of the CCC.  Eventually, I’d like to do the longer Longleaf Pine Trail, but today’s challenge was the Canal Diggers Trail.

It starts out nice and level through the pines and palmettos, but it soon has dips and rises in the path.

                              Can you guess that Emma was thrilled to be out and about on the trail? 

This was just before we had to head downhill to cross the footbridge over the canal and then trek uphill to the other side.  I’m afraid the photos don’t give a true idea of the steepness for someone with a new hip.  I told Emma to go slow so I wouldn’t slip, and she did.  It’s amazing sometimes what she understands.  Of course there are other times when I’m shocked at how she totally ignores what I have to say.

At the top, we encountered the junction for the four mile Longleaf Pine Trail.  We turned right today.

Then, there it was.  The illusive footbridge.  Yahoo!  I finally went up and over it, and I made it all the way around the trail and back to the car without pain or having to quit.

To paraphrase a famous quote from Astronaut Neil Armstrong on Apollo 11, today was “One small step for mankind, one great leap for this woman!”

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy