It was the largest turtle I ever saw on the side of the road opposite me as I was taking a trip into town. I stopped my car to check it out. It was almost ten inches long near a brook a foot from the road. It did not have the orange and black markings–the common marking of a box turtle. Its shell was brown. I approached it carefully and examined it from a safe distance. I suspected it was a snapping turtle. And I did not want to get bit. I decided to leave it alone and check on my return trip if it was still in the same spot. It was not. It had disappeared. At home I verified it was a snapping turtle. I had never seen one before. I certainly did not want to mess with it. It was the first snapping turtle I had ever seen. Usually the turtles I see on the side of the road are box turtles.
Posted in animals, nature |
Yesterday through the slates of my wooden picket fence from my open screen door I saw an animal pass by across the street at least twice. Finally I went out: I thought someone’s dog got loose. I saw a big rabbit near my neighbor driveway chewing on some grass and then approaching me in my direction and finally disappeared into the distant yard. Almost at the same time I saw another cottontail come from my yard, cross the road and also disappear.
A few days ago in town I saw a baby cottontail go through someone’s picket fence and I also noticed an adult rabbit nearby it in the yard. This is the first time I ever saw an baby rabbit and an adult rabbit at the same time. Often the rabbits I see are in town in on some else lawn. I always love watching the antics of cottontails often seen at dusk or dawn. Once in awhile I can see them in my backyard. They probably like hiding in the nearby raspberry bushes.
Posted in animals, nature |
Yesterday my wife from the kitchen window saw a pair of blue birds check out the bluebird box on the fringe of the woods in the backyard. She thought one might have checked out the interior of the box. I wonder whether they will come back. Two years ago she saw another pair check out the bird box and the same day the box tumbled from the tree. This time I made sure that would not happen. All I could do now is wait to see if the bluebirds come back.
Posted in animals, birds, nature |
Yesterday we saw A small toad not much bigger than a thumbnail disappear into our garage. I guess there are plenty of bugs there for him to feed on. We saw the same toad twice yesterday. And twice he disappeared into the garage. Every year we see toads in our front yard. All sizes. From humungous to tiny. And everything in between. Sometimes we leave the front lights on which attracts the bugs which in turn attracts the toads. I always wonder where the toads go in the winter time.
Once I even saw a black toad disappear in a crack between the ground and the wall of our house. I had never seen a black one before. Some toads must live a few years because I have seen some really big ones. And to reach that size they must be several years old. Once in awhile a possum comes into our yard and the dogs lose interest in it when it “plays dead.” It is always gone the next day. We live on the edge of country so I am never sure what creature will show up next. Even bears have shown up on our property.
Posted in animals, nature |
I like parts of my yard wild. I do not want to cultivate every section. I like discovering what comes up unattended. There is a section of our yard, which is partially fenced, which we leave alone. Part of the enclosed yard has grass, which we keep trimmed. I like looking out the kitchen window in back and most of that area grows wild. I like peering out that window and wondering what I will see next. Sometimes cottontails play in back. We used to have a yearly visit of a large box turtle although it has been a few years since I last saw him. Twice we found a bright orange salamander under some moist area. I lived on my property for a number of years before I realized the far left corner had a large raspberry patch. One can look and not really see what is in front of you. You always have to slow down to see more.
Posted in animals, nature |
My wife spotted the plant from the bathroom window. I had to go outside to inspect it more closely. She brought it to my attention. The plant lay below the window and had delicate purple bells almost like another flower we had in another part of the yard except the other one was white and these purple flowers shaped in a bell were longer although about the same width. Another surprise that day. Life is full of little surprises and all you have to do is pay attention. How that flower got there I will never know. Serendipity!
Tags: flowers, life, life is full of little surprises, little surprises, my wife, pay attention, plants, serendipity
Posted in beauty, flowers, God, knowledge&learning, local, nature, time |
In the week I was gone my goldfinch stopped coming to my feeders. That happens every year. The goldfinch come in a steady stream to my feeders in the early spring. Then they stop. I sometimes wonder what they feed on later on but, obviously, it is something other the sunflower seed I put out for them. It is always a mystery to me.
Tags: bird-feeders, bird-watching, birds, God, goldfinch, spring, sunflower seed
Posted in beauty, birds, God, knowledge&learning, local, nature, time |
We had a new visitor in our yard last night–an adult cottontail, which we viewed from our living room window. Sometimes we see rabbits from our kitchen window but we have not seen one from there in months. There are raspberry thickets in back, I believe, they hide under. The new visitor was there a few minutes and disappeared into the bush. I have lived here for over ten years and this is the first time I remember seeing a cottontail from my living room window. Once my wife actually saw a turkey in our front yard. I have never seen a turkey in our yard. A few days ago she saw a three foot black snake on our lawn from the bathroom window. You never know exactly what you are going to see from our living window or in our yard.
Tags: black snake, cottontail rabbit, my wife, nature, our yard, rabbits, raspberry plants, visitor in our yard, wild turkey, wildlife
Posted in animals, God, knowledge&learning, local, nature, time |
In the week I was gone the two tomato plants grew quickly. There were quite a few little green tomatoes while a week ago there was almost none. My wife had splurged and bought quite a few plants while I was on vacation–many still in their original containers and needed to be planted. She bought two beautiful budding fuchsia plants one of which I hung from the white pine tree in view from our large living room window. Every year we put one up there and the plant does well there as long as we keep it watered.
The weather finally became seasonal–sixties and seventies. I thought we went straight from winter into summer for a short time. At least it seemed that way. Today I was thrilled I noticed a flower that had little white snow bells. My wife said it was a perennial. The grass was also cut when I got home. All these things happened in the week I was gone.
Tags: fuchsia, gardening, little green tomatoes, living room window, my wife, perennial, spring, summer, tomato plants, vacation, weather, white pine tree, white snow bells flower, winter
Posted in beauty, flowers, God, knowledge&learning, local, nature, seasons, time |
The snowy egret was perched on top of a nesting box. There was, maybe, half a dozen such boxes on the perimeter of the marsh. Every time I pass this marsh by car I quickly glance up and down the waters top(???) see what I could spot. Sometimes there are deer drinking water on its edge. I have seen an occasional great egret or snowy egret on its perimeter. That was an odd place to see an egret perched on a nesting box.
Tags: bird-watching, birds, deer, great egret, marsh, nesting box, snowy egret
Posted in animals, beauty, birds, knowledge&learning, local, nature, time |
We all live downstream. This was a sign I read on a stream. I thought of several things in, particularly, of global warming and how interrelated the world is. Everything is connected. And countries can’t agree and(???) how to attack this problem.
More locally when some one (or a company) pollutes a stream its(???) effects the body of water downstream. We all have one earth and each person (and each company) has to do its part to preserve it. No one lives in a void.
Tags: body of water, downstream, everything is connected, global warming, one earth, pollution, preserve the earth, streams, world is interrelated
Posted in balance, beauty, God, knowledge&learning, life, nature, relationships, time, wisdom |
The captain of “Therapy Charters” quickly put his boat on the hitch to his truck and then started cleaning the fish. I was amazed how quickly he cleaned the speckled trout and after he filleted them how little the fillets were. He would throw the entrails in the air. The swirling gulls by the cleaning station grabbed them right away.
I questioned him before and found out he was an electrician for eighteen years and has been running his charter for eight years. Oddly enough his wife was a therapist working in schools and private practice. She had several degrees.
He did use live shrimp for bait and there are times the bait is harder to get. He had me pose in front of the almost twenty speckled trout. I also took a picture of his truck which had the the name of his charter on the side. This was his second trip today. We were out in the sun over four hours and I felt “washed out” and he did this twice today. It can’t be an easy job. His face was deeply tanned.
Tags: "Therapy Charters", birds, boat hitch, charter fishing boat, cleaning fish, filleted fish, fish entrails, fishing, gulls, New Orleans, shrimp bait, speckled trout, vacation
Posted in birds, God, knowledge&learning, mental health, nature, seasons, time |
