a dog in the sky

what?!
a dog in the sky?
that title may sound a little off the wall...
but, you'll see. keep going...

milo is an indoor/outdoor cat.

she has her litter box inside, but rarely uses it.

she prefers to do her thing outside...digging a hole and then daintily squatting.

she usually comes inside just before dinner's ready, OUR dinner.

she sits patiently while we eat...hoping for leftovers.

she's especially partial to potatoes. mashed. french fries. cooked in a stew.
it doesn't matter.
miss potato head is just one of her nicknames.

so she eats a 2nd dinner...and it's not always the scraps on our plates...

but sam usually sets aside a portion of his dinner...just for her!

following supper, milo heads back outside for another hour or so.

the other night, when she didn't show up at the back door, even after we called out her name...

we decided to go on a milo hunt.

we opened the front door...

and there she was...sitting face to face with her new friend.

it's like we, the grown-ups, just walked in on something.
something they didn't want us to see.

they both had surprised looks on their faces.

(i ran to get the camera)

they both turned and looked up at us...a little annoyed.

then milo's new friend, all distracted & flustered...turned and crept 

down the porch steps. he turned as if to say goodnight

before strolling off into the darkness.

i'm not kidding!!

these two were like best friends...sitting on the front porch.

exchanging stories. (i THINK that's what they were exchanging)

i'm surprised they didn't send us back inside to fetch them a couple of beers.

or something stronger.

i wish i'd had my camera when we first opened the door!

we've been trying to sneak night time peeks...hoping to catch them together again!

"Most cats, when they are out want to be in, and visa versa, and often simultaneously."
~Louis J. Camuti 

oOo

a few other front porch visitors.

yellow rat snake climbing up the vine.

aaah. he's made it to the ceiling.
it's a wonder he didn't get all tangled up in that fancy string work.

then it was time to survey the perimeter...running along the lights.

oOo

i noticed this injured grasshopper...

it looks like she escaped from someone's hungry jaws...
and sadly, that's probably where she ended up anyway.

oOo

and here's a strange looking bug. i'm still not 100% sure what it is.

a wheel bug...i think.

oOo

with the cooler weather starting to ride in...
there aren't as many butterflies hanging around...

Gulf Fritillary

or dragonflies...

BUT...it's cool enough to DIG without breaking into a sweat.

remember the spot where i've been trying to find the bones of the Opossum i buried?
well, i found a scapula and a few other assorted bones.

i also found a dead mole. some snake skin. the biggest owl pellet ever.
AND more yard scat (not milo's!)

well i'm sorry to leave you in such suspense...
all this next time.


have a happy week.

laura


OH yeah, the dog in the sky!

do you see it? a dog...trying to catch a little something in his mouth?!

do i have to draw it out for you??  :)

"Logic will get you from A to B.   Imagination will take you everywhere."  
~Albert Einstein

excerpts from the road. part one.

...just when i thought i was finally getting over being without internet...phone...texting...here i am! back to reality! (if you read my last post from aug. 10th, then you know we took off to go camping for 2 weeks).

it all began (and ended) on a HOT MUGGY day in North Central Florida. driving in and out of dark gloomy skies. rain. pine forests and logging trucks. chicken farms. hunt clubs. cows and goats.  FIRST STOP, Torreya State Park, overlooking the apalachicola river (in Bristol, the north eastern area of Florida's panhandle).

Torreya is one of eight state parks in Florida that was built by the 'Civilian Conservation Corps' (or the CCC) from 1933 to 1942. The Great Depression...one out of every four workers was out of work. President Roosevelt's solution was to create New Deal Agencies, one of which was the CCC, to help employ young men between the ages of 17 and 25. they earned thirty dollars a month. twenty-five was sent home to their families. the young men enrolled in the CCC lived in camps that were constructed throughout the country.

in florida alone...in nine years...the "CCC boys" planted 18,924,000 trees, constructed 3,620 miles of trails and roads, built 2,736  bridges, spent 97,993 worker-days fighting fires, and developed 8 state parks. 

some of the buildings still standing today in the parks we visited...are such beautifully constructed stone buildings...as you'll see in the pictures to come.

ok, so here we are...Torreya State Park...

i'm a bug magnet. 

actually, sam's more of a bug magnet than me. he's getting bitten all the time. if there's a mosquito...yellow fly around...they'll seek him out!  i'm not usually bothered. but this vacation...we were both covered like patchwork with caladryl lotion!  i'm not sure what kind of bug this is...looks like a stink bug.

mark of a lightning strike running down a pine tree.















  raccoon family we were lucky enough to spot on one of our afternoon wanderings around the park...

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.  The next best time is now.  ~Chinese Proverb 

two caterpillars...centipedes...??  curled up together. mating?? or just hugging??

Half the fun of the travel is the esthetic of lostness.  ~Ray Bradbury 

milo...the camping cat...making sure the picnic table is...comfortable enough...

Butterflies are self propelled flowers.  ~R.H. Heinlein 

well...i don't want to bombard you with too much at once. 

i'll take a break. you take a break. 

part two...later this evening or tomorrow morn.

next stop...Oak Mountain State Park in Alabama!!  

in the meantime...stay cool...

and don't let the bedbugs bite (esp if u live in NY)...i'm sorry. that was uncalled for...(i just couldn't resist...)

laura   :)

OH YEAH!!!!!  and a PS - THANK YOU to all those people who stopped by and visited here...and left comments...while i was away!! it thrills me...to know that there are so many others out there...who appreciate all these little things of nature...

life's a garden. dig it.