#6-CANOEING!

I have already accomplished one task on my summer list. Before my friend Clare takes off to Pigeon Forge for the summer, we decided to have a canoeing adventure down the Harpeth River. And we brought along her sister's dog Bear.

We had what we believe was a blue heron guide us down the river. It was kind of fun to have a wild animal accompany us.


And we had our share of problems along the way. We had to venture over logs, manage balance issues with dogs, recover pictures from a camera dropped into the watery bottom of the canoe, and survive both of the oars snapping in half... OOPS.

But we did it! Clare and I successfully completed the first thing off my summer list!

So it's really hot outside... I mean seriously, 94 degrees at the end of May? But since summer has officially arrived, I came up with a list of things I'd like to do.

50 Things to Do This Summer

Get Outside

1. Hike Fall Creek Falls

2. Walk the Radnor Lake trails

3. Tour Mammoth Caves

4. Hike Stone Door in Beersheba

5. Go Camping

6. Go Canoeing

7. Go Fishing

Down in Nashville

8. Spend a Day at the Zoo

9. Visit the Wild Horse Saloon

10. Go to the Country Music Hall of Fame

11. Attend a Concert Downtown

12. The Grand Ole Opry

13. Tour Mom’s old Apartment

Finding Fun in Franklin

14. Go on a Haunted Franklin Tour

15. Go to a Tasting at Arrington Vineyards

16. Go Berry Picking (Pratt’s Orchard and Farm)

17. Go to the Farmer’s Market

18. Spend a day at the pool

Get Moving

19. Play kickball

20. Throw a Frisbee

21. Run a 5K

22. Play Tennis

23. Play Putt-Putt

24. Go Bowling

25. Hit the batting cages

Get out of Town

26. Louisville

27. Pigeon Forge (to visit Clare)

28. River Weekend with Allie

29. Raleigh

30. Tour the Jack Daniels Distillery

Read and Watch

31. Rocket Boys

32. The Shining

33. Attend CMA Fest

34. Go to a Drive-in Movie

35. Chronicles of Narnia

36. Read 10 new books

37. Attend Movies in the Park

Things to Do or Learn

38. Finish my T-shirt Quilt

39. Make Corn Hole Boards

40. Cook 5 new Recipes

41. How to Play the Ukulele

42. How to Kayak

43. Try 5 new Restaurants

44. Learn to make a Pie

Fix-up the House

45. Organize the Attic

46. Clean out the garage

47. Touch-up the deck furniture

48. Clean the Swing

49. Paint the Front Door

50. Clear the Hard Drive

Cicadas, Cicadas, Everywhere

If you have been outside recently, you have heard the buzz... both figuratively and literally.

The cicadas (si-cae-dahs or chi-cae-dahs) have arrived in Middle Tennessee!

Everywhere one looks, there are molted shells, orange eyes looking back, wings batting quickly as the bugs bombard everyone walking outside. But who knows much else about these creepy insects?

According to the Tennessean Article, these are the 13-year cicadas. Which sounds about right to me as I remember playing with the bugs as a first grader at Oak Hill.

The cicadas live underground on tree roots for thirteen years before inching their way up tree trunks. They then molt their shells, and before the buzzing ends, the females will leave their eggs for the next generation of cicadas in the branches of trees. This can cause damage to the plants, especially the saplings.

But don't worry. The plague will only last a few weeks and then we will be back to worrying about the weather and the summer activities we have planned.