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The family joined me on my chore hike around the property this "morning". We stumbled upon two really interesting critters.

*Identified and described by Grok.

The first was "a Locust Borer (Megacyllene robiniae), a flashy longhorn beetle that’s basically wearing a wasp costume."

"That bold black-and-yellow zigzag pattern (especially the “W” across the wing covers) plus the reddish legs and extra-long antennae is its signature look. It’s a classic example of Batesian mimicry—pretending to be a stinging wasp so birds and other predators give it a wide berth. Adults are out and about in late summer and early fall, which is exactly when you snapped this photo. They love hanging out on flowers (goldenrod is a favorite) to sip pollen, but they don’t eat much as adults. Their real job is finding a black locust tree so the female can lay eggs in bark cracks."

"The larvae are the ones…

The pigs survived the first fall rain of the season. Over the past week, 1.67 inches of rain has fallen on Sasquatch Wallows. Allegedly, its going to clear up and remain nice for a couple of weeks.

Transforming a regrowth PNW forest into silvo-pasture for rotationally grazing pigs is a big project. First it's covered in poison oak, blackberry vines, and weeds. When the pigs eventually eat it all away, there's no undergrowth. So you need to replant the understory with pasture seed. And that's what I was doing in Galt's Gulch and Rabbit Meadow.

Establishing the silvo-pasture is a long ongoing project.

If we want the return of Mountain Man Cult, we need to pick a date for the next installment: Occupy Till He Comes.

I'm thinking of late September or October.

Let me know what works for y'all.

A 30-week scripture reading plan for Classical Conversations Challenge students to inculcate a Biblical Worldview.

Tomorrow is go time for my Classical Christian "CC" Worldview Scripture Reading Plan experiment with my Challenge B class. And while this project has been stewing in my mind for years, it is finally taking shape . . .

The dogs and I have been stirring up a flock* of forest chickens every couple of days down in the creek bottom. Grouse season starts tomorrow . . .

And, there has been a big black bear on the property over the last two weeks. Bear season is open until the end of the year. It's time to put a plan together to get the comforter I've been wanting for years.

*This is lame. I call a group of grouse a flock because I refer to them as forest chickens. However, "A group of forest grouse is most commonly called a covey or a pack."