Trying to Embrace Sweating

Trying doesn’t imply succeeding.  While I was gadding about in the East, my yard was sending out vines enough to ensnare a castle.  They were creeping over pathways, up trees, covering the deck.  And such variety; Mustang grape, Virginia creeper, Texas Bindweed, Wild Morning glory, Cowitch Vine with its fleshy leaves that smell like cigars to me and of course Poison Ivy and the intentional by previous owner but getting so out of control, English Ivy. 

Many of the vines have their good attributes, berries for birds, hiding places for lizards, ground cover that lets the beetles and so many insects, mosquitoes included, find good hiding and breeding grounds.

  But for the trees they are growing over, not so much.  So wielding my clippers and kneeler and a big jug of water I go out each morning to do battle.  And instantly, I am sweating.  How do the construction workers, roofers, landscapers do it?  Clearly made of sterner stuff than yours truly.

Kneeling in all this ivy does put me right in chigger and mosquito land.  Both love this damp soil shaded by the ivy, both are more than happy to see “meals on wheels” delivered to their door.  So along with embracing sweating I must find some positive angle to scratching.  No luck on that one so far.

The positive side, I suppose, is thinking that the trees and bushes that had been bound up in bindweed are stretching those branches out when I am done. The elbow tree that hasn’t seen the sun but just a curtain of wild grape may get its chlorophyll factory going again.  The path covered with vines will no longer be a set up to see if maybe I could break another arm or leg.  So the toil is worth it.

Sightings of insects, birds etc. add a measure of joy.  I was just about to remove the stalk of an old yucca plant when a lovely dragonfly came and perched on it, then flew his territorial square and came back to land on it again.  Dragonflies often have a favorite perch so I am glad I left it.   

The most exciting thing I saw while pulling vines was a beautiful, unmistakable butterfly called a Zebra Longwing (Heliconius charitonia). 

 

 You are probably more likely to see these in Mexico or Central America but they have wandered our way fairly often.  My “Mother Nature” friend has a gorgeous passion vine and perhaps it is this host plant that draws them.  Females are pretty choosy about where they lay their eggs and if other eggs have been laid there, they will go in search of another spot so the larvae don’t eat the poor plant to death.   AND, how cool is this, some of the vines grow their own “egg like” protrusions on their leaves to fake out the butterflies!

Butterflies in this Heliconiidae family are also unique in that they don’t simply drink nectar, but they have a way of dissolving the pollen too and it is their own fountain of youth.  While many butterflies live no more than a few weeks, these, with their fortified diet, can live for up to 6 months.  AND if you can believe what you read (USDA info page on Zebra longwings) then they add another notch to their belt by being said to be intelligent! Not “go to Harvard” intelligent but they have a pecking order when roosting, oldest butterflies choosing the best perches, and they say they nudge each other when it is time to “get up and get at it”! AND although everyone thought their toxicity came from the plants they eat, some scientists are saying, “Not so fast”. It could be that they somehow produce the toxins themselves.  Mysteries to be unraveled by all you up and coming entomologists!

 

 So, no, I have not warmed up (pun intended) to sweating away out there, but at least it is not without some rewards.  If I had stayed in the house, I wouldn’t have seen that lovely and so savvy butterfly.  Which is what I always told the people I walked with.  I cannot guarantee nature. Who knows what we might see?  But I CAN guarantee that if you stay inside, you won’t see as much.  Not entirely true is it?  If you have windows that look out on any trees or open space you still will see a lot IF you are looking. But you get the idea.  I am just trying to talk myself into going out there each day!