Mountain Laurel and Ticks

Today we braved our Field of Ticks to see if the Mountain Laurel was blooming and were greatly rewarded with mounds of the delicate sweet blossoms. We avoid this area of the property much of the spring and summer as we have to wade through a lot of underbrush to get there and come out crawling with little passengers. But to see the little star-shaped blossoms exuberantly blooming over quite a large area is worth the chore of tick picking later!

Last time we were up there, which is at a point of the South River, two canoes filled with adults and children, most of them Asian and one lady wearing one of those pointy straw hats, drifted by, pulled over a ways down on the opposite shore, and the passengers disembarked and carried their canoes off through the woods. We exchanged pleasantries, but I could see Lily literally quivering with desire to ask who they were, where their country of origin was, etc. (She wants to be a social worker when she grows up, saying this is the perfect job for her because she can ask all the nosy questions she wants and see inside other peoples' houses LOL!). This is our mystery for the month and we hope to see them again and learn more about our heretofore unknown neighbors.