Wood Boogers

Got basically nothing done a couple of weekends ago, but ...  had a lot of fun with my son texting back and forth and talking on the phone. It was an off and on communication fest. Topic?  Cryptids. He taught me a lot, and I plan to do more research on my own.  My favorite name of a cryptid category so far is the Wood Boogers. Thus the title of this week's blog. 

The whole Wood Booger thing is Virginia's Shenandoah Valley and West Virginia's take on Big Foot or Yeti or whatever you want to call this particular creature. The term Wood Boogers was coined by European settlers in that area in the 18th century who found them to be much like Boogeymen. As far as my section of the US goes... mythologically ... the Pennsylvania Appalachian area is full of different sorts of mythical and perhaps not so mythical cryptids -- creatures like Big Foot, Moth Man, etc. Actually there are legends, mythology and folk lore of indigenous peoples across the entire planet  ... have been for a very long time as far as I can tell. 

Anyway - this whole "conversation" started with a post online by a former colleague of mine who posted a trail cam photo taken by a cam owned by a former student of mine.  I uploaded this creepy and mysterious photo to Chat GPT for identification and it was no help because AI saw a bushy tail that I could find no where in the photo -- so  -- I shifted to research through a TikTok link that my son sent me on cryptids.  I/we now like to think the trail cam caught a shape shifter and it is all very creepy. I find it interesting in all of this that I had never heard the word cryptid before.  I sort of like it. I definitely like learning new things.

Thus began my research on cryptids -- flying, reptilian ... even those cute cryptids like the Jackalope of the Great American West. This creature is a bunny with antlers -- a mix of a rabbit and an antelope or deer perhaps.  For those of you who live in this corner of Northwest Pennsylvania, you may remember the "stuffed" jackalope that sat behind the bar at the Deer Head Inn in Spring Creek, Pennsylvania years ago. Of course I also ran across many stories of the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot and the Pennsylvania Squonk of Lumberjack lore.  There is a lot of information out there. I still need to check out the myths and folklore of the Carpathian Mountain region -- apparently there is a lot there of interest as well -- of the super creepy variety.

All I need now it to have an encounter with one -- just one.  I have seen one UFO -- years ago nearby on the road between Canadohta Lake and Union City -- probably in the late 1960's. It was impressive. I am ready for the next step.  A  small Wood Booger a safe distance away would be ideal. I'll readily pass on the shape shifter variety and all the other scary ones.  

Tools by Season

Not in a philosophic mood today and sort of ready to get away from all the serious concerns of the world at the moment ... at least for a little while. For some unknown reason I am thinking about the basic and real tools of life... not mental tools... just physical/hands on/put your back into it working tools. Perhaps it is keeping busy as an escape. 

Now there are inside and outside tools to be sure, but with the change of seasons upon us, I am simply concentrating on the outside implements. I have come to the conclusion that there are basically ten or so important tools that make my life easier.  They are seasonal.

As Spring comes in, first in importance is my Grandpa's Weeder which allows me to dig weeds without bending over.  Second is a knife for serious digging in the soil that I, for some unknown reason, have dubbed the snake whacker. I have seen only one snake in the past twenty-five years and I didn't whack it.  I screamed.  Nevertheless... it is the snake whacker.  Oh ... I cannot forget to mention my trusty battery powered chain saw for small downed pasture limbs. Can't live without that.

Summer tools are those of Spring with the possible addition of a weed burning tool, heavy duty weed whacker (the kind with plastic string) and lawn mower, of course.

Primary for Fall is a competent leaf rake, but also essential is a sturdy battery operated trimmer for cutting back the most stubborn plants at the end of the season -- hopefully well before the snows hit. I do not recommend cutting back in the snow. Plants tend to get slimy and gross ... or worse.

Then in Winter the shovel(s) appear or perhaps a leaf blower that can double as a snow removal device. Oh -- snow plows as well -- how could I have almost left that one out. I don't have a plow, but know someone who does. My plow guy even salts my driveway when necessary.  Huge ...  as there is a slight downhill slope that makes a walk to the mailbox terrifying on an icy day. I am at that stage in life when I no longer joke about breaking a hip. Have been in that stage for a while now. Can you relate?

So...  Those are the tools by season in Northwest Pennsylvania ... or at least the basic ones. Soon it will be time to dust off my shovels.  I have two. I live in a notorious snow belt after all. Winter sometimes comes early and... we have more than one kind of snow here.  If you live in snow country or are a down hill skier, you know what I mean.  If you don't... well... you are missing out on something that can be wonderful and difficult at the same time. You have to experience a true winter in snow country to fully get the meaning of that and to know that shovels come in wimpy and heavy duty.

Shine or Hobble

It's getting to be that time of year in Northwest Pennsylvania when flowers and other assorted plants are sending out droopy and tired    messages that they have had enough of the hot sun and occasional pounding rain, or lack thereof, and that they just want to be "put to bed" for the winter.  That "put to bed" phrase I borrow from my wonderful Mom. Fun, isn't it, how some phrases run through families? I can almost hear her saying that.   

I still remember one of my personal "phrase faves" from my when my son was little -- "No, I amn't gonna do that."  Anyway -- I was saying that one to myself when wondering if I should get up and out of bed this morning when I first woke up at 3 AM. "No, I amn't gonna do that."  And that was before I even tried to move.

Wonder where I am going with this?  I am hoping the first two paragraphs bring me to my point which tries to connect preparing for winter and getting up the next morning ... and does so without making me seem crabby.  The meme below sort of speaks for itself and ... if you are one of us who cuts back a bit too long on a nice day as summer comes to an end, and then "feels it" the next morning... you "get it". The meme below speaks for you too.  

I would like to meet the person who thought of this.  My kind of people.

                        Rise and shine! 

               Or rise and hobble with dignity -- 

                either way, coffee's waiting.  

                                                            (The Dadbod Veteran)