Today Lee and I spontained, which is our cute couple’s word for doing something on the spur of the moment. He needed to get out of the house, so we did. We ran off to Waco (because any iNat observations I made there would count for my City Nature Challenge totals).
We went to the Waco Mammoth National Monument, which neither of us had ever been to before. I hoped to get lots of iNat observations, but it didn’t matter much, since I’d already gone out in the morning and got sightings of crawfish, a turtle, catfish, and Ssssindy the snake.
We enjoyed the monument very much. The actual mammoth dig site is preserved with a cool roof and walls system that protects it. The walkway people go on in tours is suspended from the ceiling, so the bones are safe.
I don’t think I realized before that this site has lots of mammoth fossils (and a camel). It’s the only such “nursery herd” site ever discovered in the US. Many bones are in a museum at Baylor University, but the ones we saw have been left in situ, and work is still ongoing with them.
It’s incredible that this mass death of mammoths happened, apparently more than once, when the Bosque River suddenly flooded. I’m amazed that these animals were here only 10,000 years ago, too.
Anyway, we enjoyed talking to a college student who was there with her archeology club, to another young adult who helped me get my National Park stamps going, and to the park rangers. I know that helped cheer Lee up.
And after looking at the dig site, we walked on some trails and found some plants and insects. Mostly it was hedge parsley and more hedge parsley, but we found other stuff.
It was nice having Lee help me. He spotted a few bugs! I must be rubbing off on him.
Back at the ranch, I found many interesting bugs and spiders on prairie parsley. If you want more butterflies, grow this! I also got a great look at a kingbird. The buntings and dickcissels are very loud but are also good at hiding.
It was so windy that I gave up on birds. Tomorrow I’m going over to Sara’s to see if she has any interesting plants. I’d probably win the challenge if I was able to go to Tarrin’s, but she’s out of town and I wouldn’t want to impose on her family. Maybe next year!
All in all, a little spontaining was good for us both.
The Hermits' Rest 