I am writing this on Sunday, August 31. There are several pics.

Deer

After the contractor finished working on our deck, the new deck looked great. And the porch below the deck looked rather ragged by comparison. At least I was able to predict the outcome this time. I went to buy the same paint I used last time I painted the porch, only to find they don’t sell that paint any more. So I went to Sherwin-Williams and got a paint that would work well. It took the better part of Monday to get it done. At the end of the day, I had unwittingly worn a pretty good sore spot in my right knee, which is still covered by an ugly looking scab. And the porch still feels tacky when we walk on it. I have no idea how long it will be before the paint is truly dry. But it must look pretty good. It attracted another deer.

Rabbit Den

That isn’t the only wildlife we’ve been attracting. I noticed a hole in the ground near our driveway. A little investigation revealed a sizable rabbit den. The pests have been literally undermining our driveway. I decided to fill the holes with pea gravel and finish it off with a generous layer of rabbit repellent. So far, I’ve put down 3 bags of pea gravel. The holes aren’t filled yet. I feel like Elmer Fudd. Wascally wabbits! (Click the triangle below for a short trip down memory lane.)

Patuxent Refuge

Last week was more delightful weather, with highs in the 80s and low humidity. Our normal hot, humid summer weather rolled in today. We took advantage of the good weather to finish our Howard County walks. We were rewarded with another Wegman’s coupon and 2 more water bottles. Yesterday we visited the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge. They have over 10,000 acres of undeveloped land, much of it wetlands and small lakes; mostly along the Patuxent River. It’s a beautiful area, and we enjoyed walking around one of the trails. We saw a small frog on the trail. You can see it below in the lower right corner, but you have to look closely. We had an easier time, because we could see it move.

Here’s a small frog we saw at Pax Refuge (lower right corner).

This morning, we visited a church in Baltimore then took Mark out to breakfast. We drove from JHU Homewood campus, in the center of Baltimore, down to the Blue Moon Cafe near the harbor. There was a huge crowd waiting to get into the cafe, so we drove back up to the Homewood area and got breakfast at one of the local cafes. Mark worked pretty hard teaching the CTY class that finished recently. He’s trying to figure out whether he wants to stay at Hopkins or transfer to College Park. Things should get settled for him pretty soon.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.