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

hawk.bones.fungi.lizard.spider. and emo.

since i'm trying to

balance

my time better...in 2013...i'm not online as much.

(perhaps driving travis to the day labor place by 5:45 each morning...waiting, and then taking him to the job site...

that may have a little to do with it also, since that was my usual computer time...EARLY!)

anyway,

i want to wander more.

be more creative with my hands.

take more pictures.

spend more time reading books.

so

here's a week crammed in to one post.

and that's a lot of cramming, i even cut it back!!

while we had the 'little climber' outside

i could hear the crows causing a ruckus.

i knew right away what they were up to.

they were trying to chase something away.

i found them...in the same tree with a Red-shouldered hawk.

doing their best to scare the hawk away.

but he held firm.

the crows didn't win that day!  yay!

~~O~~

i found some more bones...already pretty clean...thanks to mother nature.

and dug up some deer bones. still need to be cleaned & sanitized before i can decorate them.

~~O~~

the weather's been very strange.  freezing one day,  up to 80 the next.

the azaleas have buds, some of the lantana & blanket flower haven't stopped blooming...

and the mini daffodils are in full bloom!

i hope winter isn't gone for good.  that would be depressing.

assorted fungi is still popping up too.

fuzzy-wuzzy

mushroom colony

and a HEART 'shroom...

or a BUTT 'shroom...

however you happen to see it!

~~O~~

FENCE lizard spotted in the side yard, soaking up some sun.

now let me zoom in...crop...and take a look at the iridescent blue underside!

ooooooooh...aaaaaaah!!

~~O~~

here's a cool little spider...out back...between a couple of trees.

i've never seen one like this before!

it's a Triangle Orbweaver!!

~~O~~

bare with me.

no, no...you don't have to take your clothes off...

i mean, BEAR with me!

just a couple of more things.  i know, this is all a lot to absorb.

i guess if i had the time to sit and do this looong post, i could have divided it up into many

and just scheduled them to post every few days, eh?

but then i wouldn't have to time to visit your blogs in return, during the week.

just put up with me...for a another coupla minutes!  thnx!

besides working with bones...and doing a little sandblasting now and then...

and making window hangers with butterfly wings...and occasionally clay mushrooms...

i want to be a better watercolorer!!

is that a word?

i want to learn to use watercolors.  i love how they look.  how the colors blend.

i mentioned how i want to spend more time being creative with my hands.

so

this past week i've been fooling around a little.

playing...with pen & watercolors.

i have A LOT to learn, i know.

this weird tree, and uh...ground spiders?? bushes??  was blowing air through straw at blob of india ink. ha.

~~O~~

AND NOW,

last but not least...

it was emo's birthday on the 6th!!

he was FOUR MONTHS OLD!!!

~happy birthday emo!~

here's a good shot to show how high he climbs!!

look at that loooong neck...

i remember when mine was that long...

(te-he)

ok.

that's it.

i'm outa here.

back on tomorrow...before dawn...for more catch up and cyber-space travels!

take care & be safe.

laura

pecking order & webs

have you noticed the pecking order in nature.

this example has to do with a few birds.

looking out the back door

i see buzzards

on the ground.

then 

i see a hawk (the Red-shouldered kind).

he swoops down and chases the buzzards away.

(i wasn't fast enough to get a picture of THAT, you'll have to take my word for it)

then,

enter the crows.

who proceed to 

chase away the hawk.

they take over the yard.

one crow calls from the treetop...that the coast is clear!

for the time being...the crows rule the yard.

until they get tired of it and move along.

then the whole routine repeats itself!

maybe one day i'll see them ALL together!

getting along. sharing. 

tolerating.

(nah. i doubt it.)

~O~

it's that time of year

when the Banana spider (Golden Orb)

weaves her web between the trees.

oh.

lovely.

nothing like wandering through the yard or woods,

and getting slapped in the face by a sticky web.

then frantically brushing at yourself,

hoping the spider didn't land on your back or in your hair.

another good reason to carry a big stick...

waving it in front of yourself as you head down your path.

ok.

i'll leave you with a moon shot!

that moon shot is courtesy of Bart Simpson.

this one's from me.

1 sept 2012       9:17pm

"Let your heart guide you.  It whispers, so listen carefully."  

~Littlefoot's mother, Land Before Time

stay cool. be safe.

laura