deer.coolest moth. life...bone art. memorial day.

a good portion of this post was made possible by sam's expert eye for wildlife spotting.

sam...he's the one with the beard.

thanks sam.

"DEER ALERT! OUT FRONT"  sam shouts in a whisper from the front porch.

OH. i know what that means...Grab the Camera ~ Come Quick!

otis (lower right) and the visiting deer (left) were watching each other until the deer departed...

heading toward the road...and the forest/field/mud pit across the way.

*  *  *

a few days before this deer sighting...

sam spotted a "big, bright orange something or other. moth? butterfly?"

grabbed camera. ran out front.

wow. cool.

a Royal Walnut Moth!!!

the Royal Walnut or Regal Moth is a very interesting moth...

besides being awesome looking!!

as an adult (like this one), they do not eat (having virtually no mouth parts). they only live for about a week. the male spends his time searching out females & mating, the female spends her life laying eggs. the caterpillars molt 4 times...finally burrowing in the dirt, where they pupae over winter.

so very cool.

*  *  *

life.

been a little crazy lately.

my youngest son (30 yo)...you might remember my mentioning him before.

more than a year ago...was court ordered to a residential rehab program.

he's transitioned out of there. he's working. he's living with us until he finishes with his drug court obligations.

things are a bit topsy-turvy on the home front right now.

i...we...are hoping for the best. hoping that he continues on the path he is now travelling.

hoping he makes good choices.

i've been down this road with him before. many times.

maybe this time will be his life-changer.

anyway, i could go on and on...but enough of my personal sh....

just wanted to explain why i disappeared for a few weeks.

i've been a little scatter-brained...and trying to immerse myself into creativity when i can.

doing some bone art.

i finished that hog skull i posted here a little while ago.

i've also done a few "bone doodles"

*  *  *

today.

memorial day.

every day...

honor the American soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

for our freedom.

remember the fallen.

stay cool.  be safe.

lk

on the santa fe river...critters. creatures. poop. and the moon.

santa fe river - from suspension bridge

last saturday we did an overnighter at O'Leno State Park. weather was perfect.

30's at night. sunny and in the 60's during the day. great sleeping & hiking weather.

(quick side note: we left kitties at home. sam built a kitty door.

before we left, neighborhood cats started showing up. emo slyly chased them away.

hmmmmm. we think they were early...not supposed to show up 'til we were gone.

oh well. at least they cleaned up before we got home sunday. 

no furballs, signs of food fights, piles of poop or puke, or dragged in frogs or lizards.

good kitties.)

anyway...some of these pic's aren't the best. hiking early on sunday morning...

the sun was BRIGHT and so some of my pic's look kind of washed out. 

santa fe river sink

in O'Leno, 900 million gallons of water per day flows underground

at Santa Fe River Sink...flowing into a complex aquatic cave system...

and reappearing 3 miles away at Santa Fe River Rise.

(at River Rise, the Santa Fe flows for another 35 miles until it reaches the Suwannee River.)

at the river sink...all that gunky green algae stuff collects & coats just about everything!

weeeeeeeee!  get ready for take-off!

and the creature from the green lagoon rises from the swamp...

native wild azaleas grow all along the river

back to the woodsy part of the trails...

Buckeye butterfly

Red-shouldered Hawk

i am fairly certain...pretty sure...that this is a Palamedes Swallowtail. (right? wrong?) (or Black Swallowtail?)

if you know me...then you know i like to ID SCAT & TRACKS.

so here's a pile o' pOOp along the trail. BIG pile. scratch marks around it.

Coyote scat!  of this i'm certain.

finally, eh?

the end.

the moon, saturday night from the campground.

life's a journey. enjoy the ride.

be cool. be safe.

laura

o'leno's flora & fauna

nope. this picture isn't upside down.

no, you don't have to stand on your head to see it.

it's a reflection,  along the shore of the Santa Fe River,

a tributary of the Suwannee River, in O'Leno State Park...

(we love this park. not far from home, we go there a lot...for quick getaways.)

so we loaded up 'milo' (our she-cat) and got outa town over the weekend.

of course, i took an endless number of pictures...but i waded through them

and tried to pick some good ones!

enjoy your stay!

Five-lined Skink

the suspension bridge...over the Santa Fe

yep...a 'GATOR!

...waiting in line...for the rest room??!

fungi scales on a downed & rotting tree

a pile of caterpillars on the ground,,,probably got blown out of the tree the night before.
we had a ferocious thunderstorm pass through during the night.

a damselfly resting on a cypress knee in the river

weeeeeeeeeeeee.  ready for take-off...

stay cool.  be safe.

laura

Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. 

Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. 

Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.

~Martin Luther King Jr.