| Show A Letter to Midge De Dear r Midge Madge Last Saturday was one ol ot of those good to be alive days Warm sun cool coot air and good friends around We decided to todo todo todo do something we had wanted to do for a n long time Get some reeds teeds and find some fairy shrimp To get the reeds we had to goto go goo goto to o the river past the hospital and as u far as we could in the car We had to walk through the dry leaves feel the sunshine on our backs and get stuck with for about a 8 quarter of a mile They we came to the place where the reeds grow abundantly A friend has made madeI several articles by weaving these I reeds After Aft r drying soaking arid and pulling these reeds between your our fingers to make them flat they thy are perfect for weaving I took time out from the cutting cut cute ting of ot the reeds to look around My Iy reward was vas that graceful bird the Blue Heron He lie stood motionless and aloof aloot In the water water wa wa- ter Without warning he silently silent silent- ly Iy flew away his long legs floatIng floating float float- ing Int behind hIm We tied our reed harvest In bundles and started back to the thear ar ear down the yellow and green greenarch arch made by the trees We enJoyed enjoyed en en- Joyed the beauty of the distant snow capped rapped La Sal mountains One of our party told about the seed inside the He lIe said they had often eaten them while hunting They have to be frost bitten to be good They are larger then but taste similar to sunflower seeds When my hands were free I picked some of the sticky things If there is any good in cockle cockle- burrs I want to know about it I I finally got one burr open noth noth- ing I 1 opened another nothing Maybe it doesn't get cold enough here for the feeds eeds to thoroughly thorough thorough- ly ripen Anyway I have something something some some- thing to look forward to FIndIng Finding Find FInd- ing a use for tor cockleburs I picked some for children to see the little bard on the end of each sticker thing and for them to make small useless baskets I After we unloaded our reeds we went up on the hill hut past the I Now we would find our fairy shrimp They are found In the small ponds or puddles puddles pud pud- dies made by rainwater Scoop them out of the water in cans These queer little bits of ot life have a very rapid life Ufe cy cycle le Live lay eggs ggs and die The eggs have the ability to He lle dormant for long tong periods Then when the rains come they hatch live briefly lay their eggs and die They have ft II body about an inch and a half halt long tong with two fins or wings at the upper halt half These fins are lattice like Ilke al almost ale most transparent and move back and forth to propel them through the water They can swim right side up or upside down As they swim around they take on food They eat cat anything anything any any- thing that comes in their path including their babies These trips Were nothing earth shaking or breath taking just a good to be alive active ity try All just a few minutes drive from Moab Love PEPITA A |
