Monday, September 12, 2011

to the moon...


i raced outside last night, just in time to see the moon clear the tops of the trees.
this morning...hoping to get a closer picture as the moon descended to the west...
 ...it came out blurry...but i thought the branch in front of it...
looked like a claw!
i would've taken more pictures...but i just couldn't stop howling...
and i was having a tough time hanging on to the camera. 
i knew this was as good a picture as i was gonna get!

There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls.
~George Carlin

 the full moon with the claw...
reminds me again that 'all hallows' eve' is sneaking in.

sam noticed this HUGE spider's web on the side of the house the other day...
yeah, i'd say we're getting in the halloween spirit...

while wandering around out back the other day...i ALMOST
walked right into this crab spider's web! usually my eyes are fixed on the ground...
luckily, i looked up at the last second...staring right into this little spider's face.
well, it's a good thing i keep my eyes glued to the ground...
not literally of course...it would be kind of hard to get any where at all
if my eyeballs were glued to the ground.  could you actually do that? 
i don't think i want to even think about the possibility...
anyway, i spotted something...whitish...thought it was a mushroom...
moved in for a closer look...
a TINY skull!!
i pulled a quarter out of my pocket to show how little it is.
it's a mole.  those little critters that make mounds and tunnels all over your yard!
well, we don't have a 'yard'...it's mostly dirt...with patches of grass here and there...
and a few flower gardens bordered with old found bricks.
so the moles have a field day here. going this way and that...
until they meet their fateful end...a hawk...or owl...or maybe even milo?! 
here's the underside. most of the molars still intact.

i looked around the skull and found a few other bones.
now i'm wondering if maybe this was an Owl Pellet...
that disintegrated...and these are the bones that were in it.
(i've found and dissected owl pellets before...and posted about it...)
 so what's my fascination with bones?!
beats me!!
no, not beat me...i mean...i don't know.
i like how they feel in my hand. when i touch them i feel closer to the earth.
life. death. time. nature. connectedness. full circle.
weird?
no, what's weird...is that i make jewelry out of some of them.
i decorate them.
on second thought, that's not weird...tribes have done that...forever.

keeping with this unplanned darkish...moonlit...post...
here's a dainty little moth...
 maybe an Owlet moth...due to the eye-spots?!
(i'm NOT a bug expert...so please...if i am ever wrong...PLEASE say so!)

and here's a very weird bug i spotted at night, outside, over the front window.
i had to use the flash...so he's really lit up!  i had no idea what he was...
some kind of a beetle. but the way his head moved in and out...
reminded me of those little bobbing head dolls/dogs/toys!
i finally ID'd him...a Grapevine Beetle.
here's a chameleon...correct name,  Anole...
ALMOST in the green phase. 
he must've just climbed up there from the ground...
turning from brown to green!

before i head out of here...
i just wanted to say one more thing...
OUR BANANA PLANT HAS A FEW BANANAS!!
when i moved here 9 yrs ago, i brought this little baby banana plant with me.
it's sent out some shoots and more babies over the years...but this is the first time
it's flowered & has little bananas!!  look at them!!  they're so CUTE!! yeah!
i have so many weird mushroom pic's...AGAIN...
and the coolest grasshopper...more lizards...
next time.

Wolf is the Grand Teacher. 
Wolf is the sage, who after many winters upon the sacred path 
and seeking the ways of wisdom, 
returns to share new knowledge with the tribe. 
Wolf is both the radical and the traditional in the same breath. 
When the Wolf walks by you - you will remember.
~Robert Ghost Wolf 
have a safe journey & enjoy the ride!
laura

22 comments:

  1. Fantastic blog you have for all the others, and the pictures are beautiful.

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  2. i love coming here and seeing what you find on your walks! :)

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  3. Another walk and those webs again...although I do rather like that Crab spider...he is cool! The bones were definitely meant for you. It's ONLY September so don't start your Halloween stuff YET!...:)JP

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  4. I also feel compelled to howl at the full moon, although I do try to howl quietly to minimize my family's embarrassment, and the neighbors' annoyance.

    Just noticed that bird poop sign in your sidebar, hee hee!

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  5. Love your moon shots, even if you had to take them during howling breaks--LOL! ;)

    I love seeing what you have discovered on your wanderings. The spider I'd walk around at a distance, but I'd be right there picking up the skull and bones. I love-love lizards! Those are both adorable! That is the most delicate moth I think I have ever seen! Gorgeous! Funny beetle bug. :)

    Bananas! How awesome! I hope you show us when they ripen, if they do. I wonder if they will the first year you see them? Interesting.

    I do so enjoy our visits. ;) There's just something about wolves that always captivates me. Have a great week!! :):)

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  6. Love the pic of the moon and the claw!!
    Keep howling, but don't glue your eyeballs to the ground, the critters might get them. ;)

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  7. It sure does look like a claw reaching for the moon? Ha! Your banana plant'RULES'! I've had a few, but they never did that! What a beauty! And the crab spider. You know, we just don't know how many species of critters there are-I've never heard or seean such a spider. This is a joyful post Laura...caramel colored beatle, moon moth, tiny skulls! Howl on Laura!

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  8. I just love your photos. I always have a hard time trying to decide which one is my favorite. Heck, I just like them all.

    The moon was great last night. I tried to get some photos with my weasley cameras, not sure how they will look once I upload them.

    And you got some variety of spiny belly spider. I don't see them often, but they are fun.

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  9. Love your moon photos! And that banana plant with the baby bananas--they are so cute.

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  10. Of course nobody here would beat you, we want to keep reading such delightful tales you weave so sweetly! Your little banana tree is fabulous! As for that skull I have a few around my yard that need to be reduced to that form....even though I know they are supposedly good for the yard...but their piles of dirt are completely annoying! I do think the yellow beetle is adorable though, and would be cute to try and do something crafty with him! Have a good week preparing for Halloween....and finding more goodies!

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  11. Love your moon shots - makes me want to paint!

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  12. that tiny skull is fascinating

    wow to your bananas - here they are about $7.50 worth. Bananas have been $15 a kilo for months since the floods, cyclones etc. I can't remember when I last ate one!

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  13. Scary that we are so much alike. I too was after the moon last night, and the night before. It seemed to draw me in. As always you have lovely photos. :)

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  14. just wanted to say a quick THANKS to all for stopping by and taking time out to leave a note...under a rock!

    i guess we all agree...the MOON was so FULL and just begging to be HOWLED at!!

    thanks a lot...and if i haven't made it over to YOUR place yet...i will get there...i'm still trying to catch up between work, creating, and getting my webstore(s) together!! have a great day! :) laura

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  15. Hello Lovely Laura,
    When I'm late and read all the perfection already present I feel whatever I may write is quite redundant.

    But.... couldn't resist when I saw your Crab Spider... and isn't it always so...
    for something so tiny, it has the grandest time Spinning Webs between Trees at just the right height to walk into.
    And if one does, to see it scurrying and hanging by a thread, just to make one feel awful for having messed up its hard work.

    The great part about them, is they construct in the mornings, I love them. They, to me are the most beautiful of Spiders.
    And that feeling you get just before you walk into them... so tiny and yet send out such big warning energy... by responding is the pleasure of the face to face meeting, and often then watching their joy as they move about doing a bit of tidying, just to flatter, intrigue and thank you.

    What a pleasure it is to see one happened on your ForestWalk, and because you listened... the beauty of it suspended in its Creation being very pleased, for us to enjoy.

    I didn't realise Moles are so tiny, but then when I think of 'Wind in the Willows'.. Moley wasn't very big at all.
    How beautiful to see its skeletal form. A gift to you. Maybe its death was from age or being unwell... but the possible Owl Pellet does create a munchy style death... oh well, one need learn to cope with the cycles.

    Wow, Wow, and a few other Wows...
    Your Grapevine Beetle...
    Looks exactly like the ones I have met in Australia.
    They have the most beautiful bright emerald toned green eyes... and truly gorgeous faces.

    Growing up in Sydney... the Road I turned into had a Sign Post and Light in the centre, surrounded like a tiny Island with Soil more often than Flowers.
    One would always know when Christmas was near... because that is when one experienced their presence.
    I came to regard that Road Entry Island as their Burial Ground... I often would just sit there, ignoring the traffic, feeling enormous sadness seeing the probably thousands of their dead kin, still beautiful, still special.

    Stunning seeing one while Visiting you.
    Only a few times have I seen them since in Queensland. But love the meetings when they happen.

    Sometimes their colouring is imbued with Rainbow hues, so beautiful as Sunlight allows the colours to dance as they move.

    In Queensland, come Christmas time, its mainly dark brown one's.. and one needs to shut windows and doors on Twilight, otherwise, as they begin their nightly flight, they'll be in and crashing into everything.

    And your Bananas are truly cute. Love how they grow, and the wondrous Flower they emerge from.

    Truly sorry for this long note... I think I need to find a bit more of a Boulder than a Rock to hold it down for you to find.
    If this Publishes... the Boulder was found to leave it under.

    Love you heaps, Magda in Australia

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  16. Hi Laura, I loved your heavenly and earthly post. Your moon pics are beaut - we can never tire of looking upwards can we!
    Always beaut to roam around the place with you as our guide :D)

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  17. again new pics...i come online if not anyones but ur blog comes before facebook too!!!hehe...i love the way u write...:D..hv fun bye

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  18. Wonderful wonderful...! Your blog posts are so soothing.. especially after an hour or so of studying... :) Love the humour between the lines :P

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  19. ...just wanted to say...THANKS!!!!! for you guys who not only stopped by...wandered around...but actually took the time to find a rock...and then...left a note under it!!
    I AM WAY BEHIND in my blog reading!!!! been busybusybusy...but i WILL get over to your part of the world...just lagging behind a little...NO, i'm not LAGGING MY BEHIND...i'm just trying to fet all i have to do...into A DAY...it doesn't work!
    thanks again!! (susan/ThisnThat...magda tells me your swan had her babies...i must get over there and see them!!!)

    take care! lk :)

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  20. Hi Laura! I think most of us fall behind with blogging (both reading and posting) when life becomes too busy (or too captivating!) It takes TIME to discover all the wondrous little creatures, both dead and alive, that you discover!)...anyway, I, too, have fallen way, way, way behind of late and once that happens, catching up almost seems impossible (or too daunting!)

    I am so pleased you stopped by today and caught up with my last three posts! I've just completed a new one today. Anyway, I know how much time it takes and to leave such thoughtful and detailed comments as you do, well, that takes up even more time, so I want you to know I really, really do appreciate it! Thank you! I am always excited to see you've visited and it's always thrilling to me to see you've put up a new post!

    Your moon shots are wonderful, but the claw on the moon is even more so! It makes for such an eerie scene...I can feel my hackles rising! I loved hearing your howls in the distance and the wolf quote with which you ended your post was just perfect! I always wonder where you find the quotes you do. They are always spot on!

    We have moles but I've never seen a mole's skull. How tiny! Your crab spider is beautiful (on her web, of course! I wouldn't be happy if she ended up in my hair!)

    Your anole looks so different from our chameleons! I would have assumed this one to be a lizard or gheko! I don't even know if we get them here.

    How exciting to have your first ever bananas grown on your very own tree! They are really pretty, aren't they? I hope they fatten up and ripen up and give you a delicious treat!

    Thank you again for yet another magical post, Laura! Off to catch up on the others I've missed in the last little while :)

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  21. I just love visiting your blog. You have the most amazing nature photos and post. Love the moon shot with the claw, very cool and halloweenish. The crab spider's web is also very cool. The skull is a great find, I think I have hundreds of these moles in my yard. The ground feels like I could be walking on top of their tunnels. Hopefully I do not fall thru someday. The owlet moth is a neat find, this one is new to me. Wonderful photos and an awesome post. I hope you are having a great Sunday!

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  22. thanks desiree and eileeninmind...and everyone...for all your kind words...and for taking the time to wander about! :)

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thanks for stopping by! it's always nice to hear from fellow wanderers!