On the Subject of … Wet Grass and Pine Cones:

Every morning, at 6:00am, when I take my walk with “D”, down to the lake, I can’t help but just admire the Wet Grass and Pine Cones, especially after a good rain.  So I decided to do a little research about the subjects:

Wet Grass from the morning dew

Wet Grass:  is a Monocot (a scientific classification) with narrow blade leaves growing from its base.  It can get wet a lot of ways, the rain, from sprinklers and hoses, the morning dew or sometimes I just pee on it. There are a lot of types of grass but only a few types grow in my neighborhood, because it is very sandy and poor soil.  Some of the types that will grow in New Jersey are: Kentucky bluegrass (This is very pretty but does not tolerate heat very well and requires a lot of care), Perennial rye grasses (This is good in heat but grows in clumps and isn’t very pretty), Tall fescue grass (This can even grow in salty soil, has deep roots and tolerates heat, but it grows in clumps too.), and Zoysia grass (This will grow anywhere and is good for beach homes, but it turns brown in winter)  “D” says, there is even Art’s Facial Grass (This grows in ball parks and is green even in winter), I have some on my front porch and when it’s raining hard I poop and pee on it.

My Uncle Bob (I call him that because he is nice to me), has the best grass in the neighborhood.  I am not sure what kind it is, probably Kentucky Blue Grass, but it is always beautiful and I love to roll in it when it’s wet.  Sometimes I have even pee’d on it but don’t tell him.  My “D” has corrected me from doing that, as he says it’s not good for the grass.  I would never poop on Uncle Bob’s grass, because it’s too beautiful.  He is always taking good care of it; sprinkling when it’s hot, raking, cutting and fartalizing (I think that’s the correct term). 

Grass is beautiful, especially when it’s wet.  I chew on a piece occasionally if I have an upset stomach, but, mostly like to roll on it. 

If you want to learn more about grass, you can look here, and if you want to know how to mow wet grass look here.

A lovely pine cone Specimen

Pine Cones:  There is just something exotic about a round, firm, aromatic, rough, wrinkly, delicious and lovely pine cone that is most irresistible.  I can’t pass by one without sniffing and taking a bite. I do this to see if I have one already, among my extensive collection, that I keep near my precious twigs.

In the scientific world (I am a well read little Yorkshire terrier), Pine cones belong to the Division of Pinophyta, in the class of Pinopsida of the Plant Kingdom.  Pine Cones are “gymnosperms” (This comes from a human language called Greek, and means, “naked seed”).  They grow on trees, mostly, and you know how much a dog loves a good tree, I’m no exception.  Some of the trees they grow on are cedars, Douglas firs, cypresses, junipers, kauris (a southern hemisphere evergreen), larches (a conifer that grows a lot in Canada and Russia), pines, hemlocks, redwoods, spruces and yews (but not the southern, variety “yews all”).   It seems, sometimes that New Jersey is the Scrub Pine Capitol of the world, because of its poor soil, and this is where I see the most pine cones come from, in my own neighborhood.

Beside being great collectables, they make good Christmas gifts

Did you know that pines have both male and female cones on the same tree?  The male cones are small, (don’t let on I know that, because they will get, “in fear of sorority complex”) and are only present for a short period, usually in the spring, (typical male), falling as soon as they have shed their pollen (I am too young and not suppose to know this but I do, anyway I always say what goes on in the trees is their business). The female cones mature after pollination, with actual fertilization delayed one year.  At maturity, the cones usually open to release the seeds, but in some of the bird-dispersed species, like the white bark pine, the seeds are only released by the bird breaking the cones open. In some others, the seeds are stored in closed cones for many years until a forest fire kills the parent tree; the cones are also opened by the heat and the stored seeds are then released in huge numbers to repopulate the Forrest.

Frogs like Pine Cones too.

Pine Cones are very important to the ecology.  The seeds are commonly eaten by birds and squirrels.  I like birds and squirrels and there are a lot at my house. On another subject, pine needles, are also, sometimes eaten by some butterflies, moths and goats.  “I never met a goat I didn’t like” (drum roll). 

If you want to know more about pine cones go here.

Me, just after a roll in the wet grass

I just know that the best time to roll in the wet grass and sniff out the pine cones is just after my “D” has me dried off from a bath.  (This is also the best time to roll on dead frogs, but I’ve told you this before). There you have it, wet grass and pine cones and that’s the truth, cross my paws.