aye, aye captain...uh...emo

before i get to the captain emo thing...

here's a Red-bellied woodpecker in side yard.

* * *

where i used to wander out back,

in the woods,

finding treasure...

like bones, owl pellets, 100 yr old turpentine clay pots...

we now have 3-4 feet deep water!

wow!!

it's been like that ever since we moved back home in november.

anyway...we decided to take the canoe out there.

we loaded up...pushed off...and then heard emo back on shore YELLING!!

we turned around to see what was up.

emo wanted to go for a ride.

he jumped in the canoe!!

rather than being a back-seat driver, he opted to ride up front...

...the captain of the canoe...giving orders...

"LOOK OUT FOR THAT DOWNED TREE!"

"WATCH OUT FOR THAT MESS OF BRAMBLES!"

and...

"HEY!!  A TURTLE! WHOAAAA!! GET THE CAMERA MOM!!"

this turtle has to be the biggest turtle i've seen in a looong time! 

bigger than the ones on the rivers, or in the lakes.

anyway, it's tough canoeing back there. lots of downed trees & thickets of dead bushes & vines.

pretty cool. and weird. 

really, i prefer the hiking. i wonder if the water table will be getting back to normal any time soon?!

a couple of days later...BOTH emo & otis are patiently waiting to go canoeing!

luckily, we haven't spotted any alligators out there!

* * *

speaking of 'gators...makes me think of dinosaurs.

i saw this lizard (anole) on the side of the house, just peeking from under the eave.

stay cool. be safe.

laura

"the world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful."  ~e.e. cummings 

sunday's shuffle

gobble-gobble!

looks like everyone's getting ready for the holidays.

o~o~o~o~o~o

i finished that 'wing, feather & pressed flower window hanger' i started a week or so ago.

if you take a look at my previous 2 posts...

you can see the 'step by step'...

from a piece of glass...

to the finished 'window hanger'.

What art offers is space - 

a certain breathing room 

for the spirit.

~John Updike

o~o~o~o~o~o

the nights are getting cooler. we can open up the windows and let the fresh air in...

without the A/C kicking on! yay!!  it's excellent cuddle weather!

and with the cooler weather...much of the underbrush dies out...

which means we can go exploring deeper into the woods out back.

(another YAY!!)

(dead) tree snail in yard

the rest of the year, the only way to get through there

 is with a machete to cut away the vines...

or follow the little critters' paths...on hands and knees. 

NAH, we'd rather wait until everything dies back naturally.

Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.

~John Muir

a woodpecker feather out front...

now in a jar with other found feathers

air fern and fungi on a fallen branch

last week we had one day with pretty strong winds.

when that happens...we always have dead branches falling out of the trees.

at least we hope...it's just branches. 

we've had entire trees fall over!

"Every now and again take a good look 

at something not made with hands--a mountain, a star, the turn of a stream. 

There will come to you wisdom and patience and solace and, above all, 

the assurance that you are not alone in the world."

~Sidney Lovett 

this is resurrection fern. growing on some of the old oak trees in the yard.

it's an air fern...that will look as though it's dead through drought season...

then 'come alive' after a good rain.

o~o~o~o~o~o

OH! i found another 'owl pellet'...

(the regurgitated stuff that the owl can't digest)

more on 'owl pellets'  here: the tiniest bones

see all the tiny bones?!! 

this pellet is NOT a fresh one, 

like the others i've been lucky enough to find.

next step - dissect - clean & sanitize -

and then try to figure out what little critter the owl feasted on.

o~o~o~o~o~o

...and so...i leave you with a few pic's of plants that are still blooming in our yard.

it's nice to see some spring color...hanging in there...

orange-barred sulpher butterfly

                                      

The earth laughs in flowers.  

~e.e. cummings

happy autumn!

'til next time...stay cool...

discover. wander. get lost.

balance.

open your eyes. open your mind. breathe deep.

harmony.

skip. hop. be silly. laugh.

laura  :]

"How old would you be if you didn't know how old you was?"   

~Satchel Paige 

...into the woods...

for about the past week, i thought i might talk about bumper stickers. you've heard the expression  'we are what we eat'.  well, i think,  'we are what we slap on our cars'...or trucks...holds true too!  =]


BUT i decided to hold off on that topic. yeah, i know...what a tease!  i'm just trying to keep you coming back. =]   i  need to finish gathering my thoughts, ok? no big deal.           so...moving on...


since you (already may) know, i live outside the city limits. in fairbanks!  nope, not alaska.  it's a small area of gainesville, florida...north of the city.  from 1909 to 1923, fairbanks a was the nation's leader in turpentine production!  so, how did they collect the pine sap?  clay collecting  pots were nailed to the pine trees...with metal strips inserted along downward  V shaped cuts in the tree, above the pots...the thick pine sap would 'bleed'  into the clay pots. this 'V' formation cut into the tree was called a 'cat face'. 

we have a (small) forest of pine trees in the woods behind us, but we've never seen one with the 'cat face'. to see one in person, chances are you'd have to go to a state park...that's where we've seen them...in the OLD forests where some of the huge, ancient pine trees still survive! BUT we have found the clay collecting pots...on our property!! just knowing that what you've spotted sticking up out of the peat and dirt...could be close to 100 years old...is...exciting...to me!!  (i have to admit, i'm easily excited when it comes to finding old bottles, artifacts...rocks, feathers...bones...) 

i LOVE to go exploring! trudging into the woods out back...fighting my way through the vines, downed trees, swampy areas, spiderwebs and underbrush. sometimes i'll drag Sam out there with me. with a roll of his eyes...he'll get ready...long sleeve shirt, jeans, high rubber boots. we usually go on our deep wood explorations during the cooler weather...when the mosquitoes and ticks aren't STARVING for our BLOOD!

we found these pots this past winter!

sam...in the wet and swamp-yish area...

tree riddled with woodpecker holes...

  evidence of DEER...(yep! POOP! SCAT!)

raccoon prints

red shouldered hawk...all puffed-up...scratching his chest...

deer in backyard

pileated woodpecker

fence lizard

           dragonflies...

spiderweb...small banana spider












if you want to see more of my pictures...local animals...birds, snakes, lizards, bugs...check out my past posts by searching through the list of labels/subject.  and in case you haven't been here before, i also like to collect animal bones...skulls...and have lots of pictures of my collections!


Let nature take you on its journey. ~Jamake Highwater 


so, that's it for now. another day. another adventure.  =]       laura