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

wandering the well-worn paths...

this weekend we needed to take a break

from

working on the bathroom, laundry, raking winter's leaves, trimming dead limbs,

and all the other chores that fill up your time...when you're off work.

so while the burn barrel was smoldering

we put on our boots and headed out back...

wandering the well-worn paths.

well-worn by us...and all the other little critters that share the land.

milo follows us on our hikes...

making her way through the underbrush and climbing the downed trees.

at the edge of the wooded area we spotted the strangest

and coolest

looking caterpillar!

Catocala Badia

look at those cute little legs!!  and little pincers on it's tail end!

(underside) Catocala Badia

i had no idea the name of this caterpillar.

after looking online and through my Butterfly field guide...i was unsuccessful at ID'ing it.

it was time to send the pic's to my friend on FB who is a Moth expert.

*Genus: Catocala.  an Underwing moth!!*

time to carry a big stick...

to keep from walking face first into spiderwebs.

Crab spider

the woods out back are a mix of Pines, Oaks, Maples...

ferns, thorny blackberries, Virginia Willow, Fetterbush...

and so many other trees and plants that i wish i could name, but i can't.

i spotted this fuzzy caterpillar dangling from a fern.

 a not so lucky Tussock moth caterpillar

upon closer examination...it was being eaten by some smaller bugs.

the forest floor is so packed with peat moss that it's spongy.

peat moss, tree roots, downed trees and lots of thorny brambles...

makes for a sometimes difficult trek.

a jelly-like fungus on a downed tree limb

a huge yellow mushroom. at least a foot across!

sam spotted this nest, hanging from a limb on a small tree...about 5 feet off the ground.

peeking inside...one small lightly spotted egg.

we walked back out there just before dusk...hoping to see the mother bird.

we hid behind some trees...across the clearing...but it started to get too dark to see...

so we headed home.

i looked in my bird book, and think it might be a White-eyed Vireo.

they build these hanging type nests, 1-8 ft above ground...

and they like to hang out in thick brushy tangles, forest undergrowth and blackberry thickets.

grasshopper nymph...i think...anyone know for sure?

>>>i've said before...i'm not an expert at IDing stuff...

but biobabbler  thinks this little guy might be a katydid nymph...

not a grasshopper.  sounds good to me!!  thanks! :)

Polyphemus moth cocoon

in this same clearing where we saw the nest...we also saw some poop.

scat.  full of fur...and some small bones.

i may collect owl pellets...and dissect them for bones...

but the owl pellets are coughed up...that's ok.

i don't collect ANYTHING that comes out the OTHER end...

whether it has bones in it or not!!

i just take pictures.

possibly Coyote...or maybe Gray Fox scat.

in the early 1900's...in this area...in these woods...

they collected sap from the pine trees...for the turpentine industry.

we've come across the clay collecting pots while wandering the woods before.

i get SO excited when i see a portion of a clay pot sticking out from under the leaves and peat.

i spotted another one!

it's pretty rare to find one UNbroken.

i've even glued a couple of them back together...when all the pieces can be found.

not so lucky with this one. but we collected what we could unearth.

i'll put the larger piece in one of the flower beds.

(i did a post in Aug. of 2010 about these pots : ...into the woods )

we spotted a couple of areas where the deer bed down...

where the thickets are smashed down...and smoothed out.

other evidence of the deer...

White-tailed deer pelleted scat

we hear...and see...woodpeckers all the time.

the Pileated, Red-bellied, Red-headed...

but once in a while...we'll spot this little guy.

sorry for the blurry picture.

male Downy Woodpecker.

part of a snake skin on the ground

small pile o' mushrooms

the hummingbirds are back!

we've heard them buzzing around...and seen them dive bombing each other

for nectar competition.

i haven't taken any pic's yet, but i will.

the dragonflies are showing their cute little faces too!

this is the FIRST one i've seen this year!

more fungi 

well, it's ALWAYS nice to take a break from life's hectic times.

getting outside...breathing the fresh air...smelling the scent of nature...

swatting the mosquitoes, plucking off ticks, getting bit by yellow flies.

no, really...it's worth it.

i could EASILY give up everything. no phone. no computer.

sell the trailer. sell everything.

but then what?  it's not really feasible.

not nowadays.

you still have to have $$.

so i guess it's just a waiting game.
i hope social security still exists by the time we can retire.
i also hope i live that long.

Nature is the great nurse for tired minds. Let her have her way with you, and all will be well.  

~Herbert Pryke 

TWO Phaon Crescent butterflies on the tiny flowers of a Fleabane weed.

stay cool & be safe.
laura

*see you in blogland as i catch up during the week*

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