HELLO AUGUST!
Somehow, the first blooms of Goldenrod signal the coming of August, and here it is. I don't know where July went…..but hot dry days are marking the coming of this new month. Another flower has chosen to bloom in August and that is the pink Steeplebush. You can find it down in the apple orchard, left un-mowed along the Island road.

This has been a week of extremely low tides brought on by the full moon. We have been out early to see what is left exposed or crawling on our beaches. Our first outing was at Sunset Lagoon and I think that cove should be renamed, Moon Snail Beach. We found many of those large carnivorous snails, and lots of their Sand Collars on which they lay eggs. We got inspired to make a 2007 with our findings. The round sand collars made perfect 0's, while we used the snails for a 2 and sea stars for the 7! We did this again as you see on the home page...at Sanddollar Beach!

An outing on the Center Pond Trails revealed a beautiful Sulphur Shelf Mushroom, also know as a Chicken of the Woods because of its edibility. I also was tickled to find lots of Spring Peepers hopping among a large clump of Sundew in bloom! Sundew has leaves with a sticky substance that catches insects which the plant amazingly digests!

At Sanddollar Beach we snorkeled to find an abundance of Moon Snails and two giants: a Surf Clam and Sea Star that are the largest I've seen. This 70 degree ocean must agree with their growth. I know campers are enjoying their swims! To bring you up to date on another subject, I have my first Monarch chrysalis!! Those butterflies are busy laying eggs. 8/03/07 Ronnie, who can't believe it's August!