The Spider and the Fly

I spent some time in the flower bed Thursday afternoon as the weather is supposed to become much cooler next week. As I was digging in the clay/dirt I was being entertained.

a little toad? frog?

When the bee sucks, it makes honey; when the spider, poison.

a spider and web in the evening primrose

When I first noticed the spider, she was moving around a yellow and black little caterpillar. As I worked and kept checking on things, I decided to document what was happening. I'd say within 10 minutes the caterpillar was looking like above...half-encased in white and the spider was not with the caterpillar.

I also noticed a fly trapped in her web. She did not need to poison it. I don't know it it was still alive as the caterpillar had been.

She would check on the progress of the caterpillar and then moved to the fly and began to consume it. She had to eat it as it was not there later when I checked.

 Checking on the caterpillar, again...

She wrapped herself around the what-used-to-be-caterpillar and then...

dropped it back into her web. I did not check later if the spider was still around and if the white encased meal was consumed or if it is tomorrow's lunch.

I was also noticing the bees on the flowers.

Lots of critters to keep me entertained today.

Witch Hunt

A visit to Salem MA was on OFD's list of must sees on our recent visit to the northeast. I admit to knowing a teeny-tiny bit about the Salem Witch Trials, so a visit to that community was all right by me. It was all right to Hubby because there were geocaches in Salem.

This was our first stop and I'm so glad it was. A Gothic Revival structure built between 1844-1846 for the East Church (organized 1718), was the oldest branch of the First Church of Salem. In 1972 it became the Salem Witch Museum.

Through stage sets, lighting and narration, the story of what may have led up to the witch accusations and then through research and historic documentation, the story of the trials and their results were shared with us. I learned a lot and consider the cost well worth it. Besides, it had a cool gift shop!

The city has taken advantage of the 1692 trials and developed their city center/mall with specialty shops, many of them with a witch theme.

no cars, only the trolley

probably 2 or 3 blocks long

remember Bewitched? the TV show?

Witch House

"The Jonathan Corwin House in Salem, Massachusetts, known as The Witch House, was the home of Judge Jonathan Corwin (1640–1718) and is the only structure still standing in Salem with direct ties to the Salem witch trials of 1692, thought to be built between 1620 and 1642." ~ Wikipedia

next to the Witch House

The First Church in Salem

founded in 1629

It was so interesting to walk by homes knowing the date it was built and for whom. 

We visited one of the 3 cemeteries related to the witch trials. The Old Burying Point Cemetery or Charter Street Cemetery is the oldest in Salem, and the second oldest in the U.S. The oldest being in Boston. The last three stones are part of the Witch Trials Memorial, next to the cemetery.

family plot of the Peeles

this person arrived on the Mayflower

died 1692 at age 80+

died 1681 & 1684

the first to be convicted of witchcraft

death by hanging

men were also witchcraft suspects

also hanged

After being arrested and accused of witchcraft, prosperous farmer Giles Corey refused to speak at his trial. The penalty for being mute during trial was not hanging, but to be pressed to death. Heavy stones were placed on the chest of his prone body until he pled guilty or innocent or died. Giles Corey more than 80 years of age, never spoke a word and died from the heavy and heavier stone placed upon his chest. 

from the Witch Museum, the list of those accused and died 

Our final Salem stop was to the location of the witch trials hanging, Proctor's Ledge.

a hill top 

"Nearly 325 years after 19 people accused of witchcraft were hanged in this city, a group of scholars has finally confirmed the place where they met their fate: Proctor’s Ledge." ~ The Salem News, January 11, 2016

As a result of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials, 19 people were hanged, 5 people died in prison, and 1 was pressed to death. "On August 25, 1706, when Ann Putnam Jr., one of the most active accusers, joined the Salem Village church, she publicly asked forgiveness. She claimed that she had not acted out of malice, but had been deluded by Satan into denouncing innocent people, mentioning Rebecca Nurse, in particular,  and was accepted for full membership." ~ Wikipedia

The cause of the witchcraft hysteria could have been any one or combination of the following:

*young girls bored with being inside during the winter

*young girls listening to stories of Tituba, a South American Indian slave by way of the West Indies

*jealousy, spite, and the need of attention

*psychological hysteria from Indian attacks

*ergot poisoning from eating Rye bread

*an epidemic of bird-borne encephalitis lethargica

Too bad it took so long to recant the accusations. In November 2001, years after the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the trials, the Massachusetts legislature passed an act exonerating all who had been convicted and naming each of the innocent. ~ Wikipedia

Fall means Soccer

Today, Monday, is the first day of fall and in our small corner of the world that means soccer season is here. We missed a few games while we were exploring the other part of the country, but now that we are back, we will attend as many games as possible.

The soccer fields have been closed since the tornados, yes three of them, went through the Sioux Falls area on September 10th just before midnight. Downed trees along the river and flooding were the reasons for closing the fields as most of the fields are along the Sioux River. Although much of the tree cleanup has happened, we did see some evidence of the debris caused by the tornadic winds.

I was driving so unable to take photos of the piles of trees, limbs, and branches along the roads.

Saturday was a perfect September day for soccer. Sun shining. Morning temps in the 70s and afternoon temps in the 80s and a nice breeze to keep the bugs away.

M's game was in the morning. As a second grader the teams are still playing on a smaller field with 4 on 4 players with 8 team members so there can be a full team substitution...if everyone is there.

Although not pictured, his daddy is the coach again this season.


Miss W played in the afternoon.

daddy is also coaching her team this season

12 girls, so 2 teams of 6 play at a time...

...if everyone is there

playing her favorite position ~ goalie

I think the ball made it to her end once during that half

State Signs Adventure

This blog post is my version of the states we visited on this adventure through my photos of the state signs. You know the ones...signs along the side of the road when entering a new state. You pull the vehicle off the road and everyone jumps out to stand by the sign and take a photo. Well, we did that with the kids when they were little and we traveled. I bet you did, too.

Because I blog and make photo books documenting our travel adventures, when in the U.S. I do try to take photos of the state signs. Hubby knows of my need and whenever possible he does slow the speed of the vehicle and tries to be in the right lane for the minute moment of opportunity. I have the camera turned on and ready. I have the cell phone in the other hand and ready, while juggling maps, papers, and sometimes GPS units because after all, the adventure is about geocaching.

And this adventure to the Northeast U.S. was about being a tourist, but also about geocaching.

The green colored states indicate I have found at least one geocache in that state. (Except for DE which is already green, but not because I had been there.)  This is how my geo map looked on September 1, 2019. Being a tourist with OFD was going to take care of 4 states and 1 Canadian Providence, but I had a plan to geocache in several more states once OFD went back home on Monday. I am not certain of the number of miles we put on the rental car, will know that when we end the adventure on Saturday.

So here is my version of where we traveled through my photos of the state signs as we sped along at often ridiculous speeds, dodging commercial vehicles...

headed north from Boston to New Hampshire

across the bridge into Maine

back through New Hampshire (missed the sign) to Vermont

back through New Hampshire (missed the sign again)

 

to Massachusetts 

missed the sign entering New York, but did get this one

In my defense, the sign locations were never consistent; sometimes on the right hand side of the interstates/freeways/turnpikes/highways and sometimes in the center median. Sometimes the foliage covered the signs until the very last second. Sometimes the signs were very colorful, so I had an idea it was coming. If it was the same background color as other road signs, it was hard to catch until the very last second. And the driver needed to keep his eyes and concentration on the road and the the traffic, so he was not to be counted on as a spotter. He was busy!

from NY through Pennsylvania

across the border to Maryland

then to Harpers Ferry to get 3 states

in 33 minutes

(we may have spent 33 minutes trying to get the 3 state signs

in the 1-2 mile area amid the heavy traffic!)

then east to Delaware

and across the bridge to New Jersey

we knew we entered NJ when the GPS announced we had

no sign visible on the bridge

then back through PA into NY and again, no sign

just the Google maps/GPS announcement we had entered NY

when crossing the bridge

my sign to prove we were there

then to Connecticut

(I missed the big sign, but did catch this one)

and last but not least...well, maybe it is least in area size...

Rhode Island

and this is how my U.S. map looks tonight

13 states added

(the Washington D.C. area may be white-that is for another time,

as are the Carolinas and Georgia)