A rainy, rainy day

Well, those storms that hit Arizona a few days ago have moved west through New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, and made it to Mississippi today.  We had the winds and overcast skies yesterday, but the skies opened up today.  I haven’t checked my rain gage yet, but I’d guess it was a couple of inches.

                                                                    Pale Pitcher Plant Blooms

Yesterday was a project day for Diana and me, so we headed out to walk the Escatawpa Trail (that is a part of Grand Bay NWR) to document what was blooming.  Perhaps some of you will remember that this is my least favorite trail of the four available on the two refuges.

                                                                                  Sundews

We did find an area with a nice example of sundews.  They are a carnivorous plant that catches insects on those dewy-like sticky droplets.  Once stuck, the spatula shaped leaves slowly curl around the insect and ingest its nutrients.  These plants are only about an inch and a half in diameter, so you really have to look closely to see them.  I think they are so cool!  I just wish I had a gazillion of them around my campsite so they would eat all the no-see-ums. 

We also found part of the seemingly never ending trail lined with blooming wild blueberry bushes.  I don’t know if six weeks is long enough for me to return to harvest some of the fruits for some blueberry pancakes, but I’m hoping to taste some of these beauties if the birds don’t beat me to it.

I’m glad we got that walk in yesterday because the pouring down rain today made things slower than molasses in January at the VC today.  But, it gave us plenty of time to work on the trail guides we are developing.

I’m going to show you what we’ve done so far.  This is the outside of the guide for the Dees Trail.

And this is the inside.  You’ll have to imagine it as a tri-folded pamphlet.  I provide a good share of the pictures that show what you can see, and Diana does the magic on the computer.  Then we both work on the text and layout. 

Our goal has been to provide an overview of the different trail routes so people know where to walk, and what you might see.

Once the format is set up, the pictures can be changed every week or so to reflect the differences in what’s at peak at the current time.  We are handing out pamphlets for the Dees Trail and the Fontainebleau Trail already.

Today we started work on the Escatawpa Trail.  Each pamphlet has turned out a little different.  Many people that stop in the Visitors Center want to have information on hiking trails, so we’re hoping these pamphlets will be well received by visitors and ‘the powers that be’ at the refuge.  I know I would enjoy using these pamphlets kind of like a scavenger hunt challenge.  Could I find everything pictured?  What do you think?  Are these something you, as a visitor, would find helpful?

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy