I’m a big fan of letting Peeper get dirty. I have no problem with grass stains on her pants, hands covered in dust or tasting sticks and pine cones and tree bark.
I absolutely love the outdoors, and I want her to explore, too. But there came a point this weekend when enough was enough.
On Sunday, Peeper, Finn and I met a friend of mine from grad school for this hike on Sauvie Island (which is bigger than Manhattan, if you want to squirrel away that fact for trivia night). The 3-mile loop on the wildlife refuge stipulates that dogs must remain on leash, and I was more than happy to keep Finn on lockdown: Cows, and the poopy evidence thereof, were everywhere. Finn has a disgusting track record with hikes through pastureland.
(Sorry, TMI.)
The scenery was gorgeous. We caught glimpses of Mt. St. Helen’s—or maybe it was Mt. Adams, but I couldn’t be sure because the top was obscured by clouds. Birds swooped this way and that. Old barns punctuated rolling fields.
Halfway through, we stopped for a picnic lunch. Peeper practiced standing on her own and chowed down on tomatoes. Finn waded in the lake. It was perfect.
Until I spotted the tick.
Thankfully, it was crawling on Finn, not Peeper, and I spied it before it burrowed its creepy little head into him. I had just finished smooshing it in a diaper wipe when I heard something odd.
I looked up and a huge cloud of insects was coming toward us. At first I thought the bugs were mosquitoes, but once the buzzing mass got closer, I realized they were bees—a whole hive’s worth.
Instinct kicked in and I shielded Peeper with my whole body. Luckily, the bees had no interest in us (or the tomatoes), and they passed overhead without incident.
After that, I was pretty done. I thought every tickle from a blade of grass was a tick crawling on me, and every bumblebee investigating a flower was a threat. (I’ve had borderline PTSD regarding blood-sucking creepy crawlies ever since a trip to Thailand, when land leeches—yes they exist—made a meal of me. Shudder.) To make matters worse, Peeper wouldn’t nap in her carrier and cried/screamed the majority of the rest of our hike.
Apparently she’d had it with nature, too.
The ticks and swarm of bees might have put a damper on our outing, but I refuse to let them win. So we went out again yesterday. I packed another picnic for us to enjoy, this time at Torii Mor winery, where Eric worked over the weekend. No critters bugged us, and Peeper didn’t skip a beat returning to her outdoors antics. She pulled grass, stamped red dirt under her bare feet and, of course, tasted a stick or two.
You can’t beat us, bugs.
To quote Winnie the Pooh: You never can tell with bees.
I can’t wait to do some hiking/birding (nerding?) with Margot this summer. And picnicking!
More wisdom from Winnie the Pooh. I’m pretty sure I could base my whole life on his philosophies.
Ack!! I haven’t ever encountered a tick (to my knowledge) but the thought of them FREAKS me out! I love being outdoors, but I think the bugs would have caused me to rethink my plans too.
I hope you never come across one! They’re totally gross AND hard to kill. Ugh.
Yikes! I hate bees! But I do love Sauvie Island, so at least you were able to make the best of it! Also that photo at the end of your post is ADORABLE!
Great pics! Love the last one especially. I would have reacted the same over one bee let alone a swarm! Yikes!
So brave! There are only a few bugs that bug me. Crickets being number one. I like that you guys arent to get dirty!
Haha, isn’t it funny how we have weird aversions? At least we don’t have a lot of crickets here in Portland!
Eww…I always wondered if I would be able to spot a tick when I saw one. I love the outdoors, but bugs are not my friend. Sounds like your picnic at Torii Mor was nice and bug-free! 🙂
The funny thing is I have lived in Oregon since 1998 and have never even gotten a mosquito bite here, but I do miss lightning bugs from back east.
All the mosquitoes must be biting me instead. I’m a bug magnet!
Haha, isn’t it funny how we have weird aversions? At least we don’t have a lot of crickets here in Portland!
All the mosquitoes must be biting me instead. I’m a bug magnet!
Haha! I really did have fun Sunday, despite the weird bugs. I hope we can do more this summer 🙂
Yesyesyes! We had a great time in spite of the creepy crawlies.
I think you naturally received your aversion/extreme freakout to ticks from me. When I was pregnant with Beth, I went mushroom hunting. Walked out of the woods and picked off MORE THAN 100 ticks. PTS for sure! aggggggh. Anyway, I love that you’re adventuresome with Edie! and yes, I love love the last photo!
Oh my gosh that is HORRIFYING.