arachnids and dragons

today. sunday. the dark clouds were rolling in.

looking west, at the end of our drive...across to the field where
we pick the wild blackberries

i really needed a break from all this sitting at the computer...

and trying to catch up on blog reading.

i needed fresh air.

but the mosquitoes are still monsterous...and still have an appetite that is never satisfied.

i didn't care.  i needed out.

i had to hurry though because the sky was about to open up.

thunder was rolling in the distance.

sam told me about a spider he spotted earlier this morn...so i went to find it...

on the side of the house...a pretty good sized web!

here she is, up close.

Yellow Garden Orbweaver  (Argiope aurantia)

she's perfecting her zipper stitch.

on the other side of the house...was this dangling egg case.

i'm not sure which spider it belongs to.

and here's the really cool Green Lynx spider!

ok, i better hurry this up...power just blinked out...lost my internet...

up and running again.

and now for a few DRAGONflies!!

ONE of my FAVORITES...in the bug family.

“Even  when  muddy  your  wings  sparkle  bright  wonders  that  heal  broken  worlds.”  

~Aberjhani, The River of Winged Dreams

i think they knew the rain was not far off.

flying around...always coming back to rest in the same spot.

just like the mushrooms...we have a wide variety of these dragons!!

time to go run through the mud...and the rain.  :)

i leave you with this moon shot...

two days ago, the 27th of july at 9:44pm

“We are all like the bright moon, we still have our darker side.”     

~Khalil Gibran

stay cool. be safe.

laura

friday's fringe - 15 (glow!)

Love is the law of life.  

~Gandhi

a heart shaped mushroom spotted in backyard

every friday. just one of my nature shots.

(with an occasional 'morph' tossed in now and then...like today!)

lk



feathers & hawks

feathers.

i find them everywhere.

i have vases & jars...filled with found feathers.

i always take pictures before i touch them.

a couple of years ago...i stopped in at this little shop, 'Mystikal Scents'.

stones, gems, tarot, herbs, books...the kind of stuff that always draws me in.

one of the healers behind the counter waved me over.

she took my hand and told me i've had a lot of losses...

(yep, i am the last of my immediate family...the oldest of 3 siblings)

and that all the feathers i find are signs.  messages.  a spirit is close by.

that made so much sense.

not only because i've experienced so much loss...

but i DO find a lot of feathers...

and each time i pick them up...i feel connected...my heart races a little.
i feel a warmth spread through me.

a candle burns right now for my sister

who would have been 56 on july 23.

she succumbed to a long...five year battle...with breast cancer, in 2007. 

my brother, nov. 1955  -  sept. 2008

my dad, july 1917  -  may 2001

mom  -  march 1923  -  dec. 1989

the feathers i find...the visits in dreams...that strange sensation i get from now & then...

makes me realize they're still here. all around me.

“I am a feather for each wind that blows”

~ William Shakespeare

ANYWAY,

speaking of feathers...

some of the feathers i spot on the ground are from the Red-shouldered Hawk.

here's a hawk in the backyard.

not a very good picture...he was a little too far for my camera

and i didn't want to scare him away by getting any closer.

this past weekend...early morning...after sam & i went to the field across the road

to see if there were any more wild blackberries (nope!)

we heard the hawks.

we stopped. listened. followed the sound...and then spotted one.

high up in a pine tree...facing east...looking into the sun...

not the best camera angle.

>she's calling out to another hawk<

>and one flies in...can u see? under her...on the branch below<

>a third hawk flies in

and chases the other away<

males fighting over the female?
young ones competing for mom's attention?

and life goes on...in the hawk world.  we headed up the dirt road to our (dirt) driveway.
(no wonder i'm constantly dusting!)



SO,

if you happen to come across a feather...
smile.

someone you know who has passed on, is letting you know they're near.
just a little reminder...to celebrate the life you had together.

stay cool. be safe.
laura

(on to run errands, do chores and another massage app't. see you at your place...soon.)

friday's fringe - 14 (congestion can be good!)

White-tailed deer. taken in O'Leno State Park, High Springs, Florida...about 40 minutes from home.

every friday. one of my nature shots.

(with an occasional 'morph' tossed in now and then.)

lk

O'Leno State Park  link

((6:26 am - (this was a (pre-) scheduled post (5:30 am)...and i just wanted to say 

as i woke up this morning and turned the news on...i was shocked and saddened

at the horrific tragedy that took place in a theater outside Denver, Colorado during the night.

my heart goes out to all the family & friends who were involved in this incident.))

running from skeeters

Gloriosa Lily vine

due to all the recent rain...and standing water...

the mosquitoes are numerous.

and humungous.

their appetites are ravenous.

venturing outside...you have to keep moving...

or they'll swarm you, obscure your vision and suck you dry!

ugh.

they're immune to citronella candles...

and all the shelves in the stores are bare of skeeter repellent.

so, when i go outside..it's a mad dash...to stay ahead of these blood consuming insects.

so...lucky for you...all you have to do is sit back and look.

you don't have to swat at these annoying critters.

remember the Orb Weaver that was living on our front porch?

i haven't seen her in a while.  :(  one night she just wasn't there anymore.

but we have a NEW spider taking up residence.

a Whitebanded Fishing spider.

she would spend most of the day crammed into this bell.

coming out at night...

to silently await her prey.

i hope she has a taste for mosquitoes!

~LOVE is in the air~

while dashing around the outside of the house the other day...

i spotted a couple of Gulf Fritillary butterflies doing the mating dance.

nearby...was a young cardinal...

obviously wondering what the heck they were doing?!

(head tilt...questioning...curious stare)

MORE ~love~ going on...

as i was hightailing it to the front door, i spotted a pair of

Two-striped Walking Sticks on one of my planters.

(AKA  the Devil's Darning Needle)

that's the smaller male...riding the female's back.

uh, doing their thing.

i saw another small male...nearby on the handrail...waiting his turn??!

he's going to have a long wait.

three hours later...they're still at it.

stamina.

well, that's it.

OH, even milo doesn't spend much time outside these days.

she ventures out just long enough to take care of business.

then it's time to do what she does best.

stay cool. be safe.

don't let the...skeeters bite.

laura

“People who claim they don't let little things bother them

have never slept in a room with a single mosquito.”

~Christie Todd Whitman

friday's fringe - 13 (majestically perched)

TWO Bald Eagles spotted at Lochloosa Lake, Hawthorne, Florida. about 30 minutes from home.

every friday. one of my nature shots.

(with an occasional 'morph' tossed in now & then)

be lucky.  be safe.

for more info on lochloosa:

Lochloosa Harbor Fishing Camp 

    Florida Fish & Wildlife: Lochloosa Lake

and

Florida Fish & Wildlife: Bald Eagle Management

last night's movie. followed by a little nature.

ginger bloom

i'm pooped today.

last night we watched a movie, "Machine Gun Preacher".

true story.

about Sam Childers, a former drug dealer, bad-ass...biker...felon.

(to make a long story short...)

Childers 'found religion'...ends up going on a missionary trip to Uganda with his church,

to help build homes for refugees.

while there, he wants to go north, to Sudan.  into the war zone.

after witnessing the atrocities of the Lord's Resistance Army...

Childers makes it his personal life's  mission to work with The People's Liberation Army...

to save the children of South Sudan.
save them from starvation & disease.

to save them from the murder, torture, rape, mutilation by the LRA.

he fights back.  hard.

he tries to provide the children with a life...of hope.

he builds the Children's Village.  currently home to 200 orphans,
although they have housed 1000 kids over the last 13 years.
a church, school,  kitchen, playground  and soccer field.

watching this film was heartbreaking. emotional. shocking.

i couldn't get to sleep. not 'til 2:30 in the morn.
my mind was overloaded. 

i couldn't stop thinking...
of what goes on in this world.
what people DO to people.

it made me ache inside.

i had a post all planned for today...but this is not it.

it just seems...not fair...to them...to be taking pictures and smiling and joking.

am i being too sensitive?  yeah, maybe.  it's tough not to.

i try to imagine...

giving up all the comforts of home.

a daily shower.  tv.  a/c.  a filled fridge.  stocked pantry.  a bed.  clothes.  a washer/dryer. 

an oven.  a car.  left overs that get forgotten & moldy. 

i have a bank card.  a credit card.  a laptop.  electricity.  a home.

i don't really worry about a group of people storming in with guns
or setting our house on fire while we sleep.

it's hard to imagine living in their world.  the fear.  the terror.

children being kidnapped & forced to kill.
forced to witness their parents being murdered.  at any time.  any day.

damn.

the more i talk, the more depressed i get.

SO...

here's a few pictures...of the twelve i was planning on.

ON TO 

my world...

july 4th

dragonfly

a Crab spider doing some web repair

Red-shouldered Hawk, front yard. a little far away for my camera...so a little blurry.

of course...ANOTHER yard mushroom...a strange looking round one.

AND two little grasshoppers...on the Hibiscus...munching away.

be safe. stay cool.
laura

friday's fringe - 12 (stinky)

a 'stink bug' nymph clinging to a couple of dried pine needles

every friday. one of my nature shots.

(with an occasional 'morph' tossed in now and then)