Swamp ash

Step back into the sixties, sir...

one of these? If so they are actually wasps that prey on other wasps! https://images.app.goo.gl/ruqAg1G67wdoRFwVA

Yes, last year I had about 600 trail-hours in the woods (typically we hit ~500 hours) so I've been gnawed upon with great regularity. However, it still makes me cringe every time. Especially those tiny ticks that are numerous.

I had to go full-on contortionist to seek them out.

Sheesh, if one is going to open carry, the holster ought to match the boots. Style is half the battle. Just last weekend, I saw someone "toting" a pistol in a nylon holster that was dangling on a nylon belt cinched over his his long, untucked t-shirt. It looked like he was wearing a tunic and made both my wife and I laugh.

Yeah, these were the sub-millimeter sized "seed ticks". Apparently they needed to become engorged to be more visible I can usually find the normal-sized ones quickly, but these are wicked.

This needs no further description.

What does she want? That may be your best guide for the moment.

Sounds like they could have made the best of it and changed from a music festival to mud-wrestling and tractor-pulls. It's all entertainment.

Well, the wedding thread made me start up this one:

There are many choices - it's a blend between French and Indochinese and can be quite varied. It , of course has similarities to Thai, Chinese, but is it's own thing, too. Seafood and beef are usually two big features as well as pork. Ban Xeo is really good. Sometimes called a Vietnamese pancake, it's actually a crispy rice-flour crepe with with Nuoc Mam (fish sauce). Nuoc mam is one of the distinctive attributes of Vietnamese food. It's pretty tasty stuff, by itself and even though it starts with fermented fish juice There are a whole bunch of Pho dishes which is beef with noodle. Some Vietnamese restaurants have a lot of charcoal-grilled meats and seafood serve over rice vermicelli with Nuoc mam. I eat it with fish. And yes, they do great fish at some places - whole steamed fish (or fried) with Nuoc mam is wonderful. They also have both Spring rolls (fried) and Summer rolls which are uncooked and often filled with basil and dipped in peanut sauce (and of course nuoc mam). And if you like your caffeine like me, go for the Vietnamese coffee. It's espresso ground strong spiced coffee with sweetened condensed milk. I forgot to add, there are often some wonderful huge bowls of soups, too. I'm glad you are open-minded because it's best to step away from the comfort-zone and discover new things, especially with food!

Vietnamese food, by 5 clicks!

I shop at the Sunrise - it's pretty darn good, (except it's hard to read the packaging, sometimes - lol). The Asia Kitchen next door really rocks.

I really agree with most of your post, but one thing. Government is quite purposeful and useful. It's just that government, at many scales, is led by elected politicians who are controlled by either of two private political parties that answer to a select few.

Skunks are quite harmless and let you know when they are around. The only thing to fear is if your dog gets sprayed. Otherwise, I am very happy with them because they will seek out and destroy yellow jacket nests amongst other positive things. Le Pew