I started my day by attending the monthly Men of St. Joseph meeting at Sacred Heart Lebanon (0730 to 0845). It was good to see everyone. Afterwards, I drove to Cornish (via I-89 and NH-12A) so I could join another HWA Survey Team at Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park. Arrived at 0920 and met the rest of the volunteers and leaders (Kyle and Grace, AmeriCorps Staff) and then went with them to check another four groves of Hemlocks. One of them was filled with shrub size bushes - I had never noticed the species used for the ubiquitous hedges… We didn’t have to walk nearly as far for the other stands but there was still plenty of bushwhacking involved. At one point, I had to wade through a creek (Blow Me Down Brook) two different times to locate the target grove. Again, we didn’t find any HWA. It was great to be outside in the wonderful weather. Like the M-B-R park, Saint-Gaudens is on the temperature boundary (Zone 3 to 4) where the invasive insects cannot survive right now. Hopefully, conditions will remain the same and they won’t be able to spread into our area. In related news, Mollie told me she’s been researching predators of the HWA as part of her job in the Virginia Tech Entomology Lab. The beetles she raised and cared for can apparently be deployed to eradicate HWA if it ever appears in the Upper Valley. Apart from the fun I had, rambling the woods and basking in the dim light of an evergreen forest, it’s great to know that my own daughter is involved with the mitigation process to defend such beautiful trees from predation... Once the volunteer session was over (1130), I walked around on the grounds of Saint-Gaudens to get some more steps. During this window, I got a few calls from Eileen that weren't possible to complete due to cell signal (not sure whose). At about 1230, I departed Cornish for Windsor (across the Connecticut River via the Cornish Covered Bridge). Once in Vermont, I took US-5 north to reach the Harpoon Brewery for lunch (arrived 1245). Unlike my last visit, it was very crowded and noisy. Sitting at the bar, I tried two different beers and had a delicious sandwich (Space Cake Chicken Melt) and some chips. I was done eating at 1345 and then drove (via US-5 and I-89) to White River Junction so I could swim at UVAC. Completed 50 lengths, took in 15 minutes of sauna and did my PT weight exercises. Afterwards, I drove to West Lebanon and got some reward items at Hannaford (1535). Next, went to Mass at Sacred Heart (1600). My adventures for this busy Saturday were finished at 1645 and drove home. Whew!
