You say Cedar-Apple Rust, I say Medusa

Before I go any further,
does anyone else see a face on this thing ??? Yikes!!!!

Truly, small glimpses of the Lords' glory can be seen in nature. In the stars on a dark wintery night, in the huge ocean waves as they crash to the shore, in the many diverse creatures that live on this planet.

But somewhere along the way, you stop and wonder "What in the world is this thing?"

Yup, its the ole Cedar-Apple Rust gall ...what? you all don't have these in your yards?

These hard, brown swellings appear on the branch tips of Cedar trees. They don't seriously damage the trees but swell into gelatinous horns that release rust-colored spores that infect Apple trees growing within an approximate radius of 4 miles.

Of which happens to be a problem because we live down the street from an Apple farm with a famous cider mill.
With another farm one block over.
These spores travel back and forth from Cedars to Apples, Apples to Cedars, having a little rusty-spore party.
The only way to interrupt this cycle is to move one of the offending parties at least 4 miles away.
Is there a designated driver in the house?

So,what do you think my chances are of asking the farm owners to please relocate their Apple tree farms?
Or maybe I could dig up the 120 or so Cedar trees from my yard?

But, no, these galls are not all that bad. I just wonder what God was thinking.
Not a clue.

What I do know is that I am living in a land of glorious examples of workmanship.
Some beautiful, some...kinda creepy.


For a person with a Master Gardeners certificate, who has always enjoyed the outdoors, I have a confession. I am hugely afraid of a lot of things found outside.

Dogs ( even my own, Im convinced he's a wolf), squirrels, mice, and other mice type creatures that begin with an R, Gophers( one hissed at me), Ducks ( got bit by my neighbors'), bugs ( found a beetle in my pants), lightening ( I run very quickly at the first sound of thunder), creature attacks or bites ( whom I'm convinced have it out especially for me), birds pooping on me ( makes me almost come to tears,crying "get it off, get it off" to whomever is standing closest to me), Poison Ivy ( which causes me to look like a burn victim), slugs (one time, one wrapped itself on the thong part of my flip flop, in the dark, when I was camping, so when I went to slip my feet in...well...you get the picture.

Aaaahhh...I feel better...

 I think I've forgotten what this post is supposed to be about.
But did I happen to show you the photo of the worm that almost attacked me the other day...