The Family Project

Notice, once again, Gilbert takes his duties as Nap Therapy Dog very seriously. Though the napping subject may vary from one hour to the next, he can be found Napping rigorously (is that an oxymoron???) on someones lap at any given time!.

How interesting is this??? Mom took down her Christmas decorations and made a point to tell us that though this looks like a carved Crucifix...you can see clearly the head, outstreached arms and legs about 2/3rds down the center line....it is in fact the skull bone of a cat fish. Inside the round parts on either side of the center line toward the top 1/3rd can be found "pearls" she said. I'll get a picture of the earrings she made from those "pearls" for next time.

If you listen to the news or weather at all you'll already know it's unseasonably cold here in Florida lately. It will be more normal within the week weathermen say. Then we can complain again about being too warm!!! I have enjoyed walking in the mornings, even on the coldest days because while it's as cold as some of our days in MI, there isn't any ice or snow to impede progress. I can walk as I always do, unhindered by safety issues. Well, as unhindered as anyone with as klutzy a history as I have.

I don't need ice or snow to fall, as my bruised knee of November will attest. I caught my toe on an uneven sidewalk going into Hobby Lobby near home. I very ungracefully fell onto both knees and left hand. As quickly as I could I first looked to see if anyone was watching, then hopped up as if nothing had happened. I felt quite shaken up inside, and my first thought was, Oh, no. This is going to cause a Fibro Flare of mammoth proportion.

A similar fall (see I told you I don't need the elements of ice or snow!) a number of years ago happened while we were in Holmes county. The trip home that day and the days to follow were to become all too familar as it seemed to escalate symptoms that would later be identified as related to Chronic Lyme disease.

So, you can appreciate my appreciation for the elimination of any additional "help" from the weather as I enjoy my time outside. Also weather related was a little outting we enjoyed this morning. Mom was out early and upon her return announced she was headed back out, this time with her camera. The Orange Grove growers tried to spare their orange crop from freezing by turning on irrigation lines. The water is taken to each tree by a small water line near the base of each one. It wasn't as I imagined at all. I thought they'd spray water over the tops of the trees. Instead, under the trees were crystal fairylands. The mist apparently did reach up into the trees somewhat because branches, leaves and fruit in some places were encased in icy wrappings.

This gives new meaning to the term "Frozen Orange Juice" !!!

And check out this phenomenal leaf imprint. The leaf that was responsible for the frozen duplicate had pulled away leaving just this crystal shell, complete with marks where the leaf veins were. What a sight to behold. But I'm sure even the shining beauty of the sun on the ice did little to brighten the day for the orange grove owners who will no doubt be taking a serious loss in their anticipated crop this year.

And my funny story of the day...I like to walk Gilbert behind the house before we walk around the village on the paved road. I prefer not to have my pockets warmed by his fresh deposits in plastic bags because we have to "scoop the poop" if it lands in residents yards. Only fair, I wouldn't like other dogs messing up my yard either. The hill behind the house provides ample space, and is bounded on 2 sides by a fence and brush. I've mentioned before the warnings about the alligators, we aren't to be at the ponds unsupervised...that is, kids shouldn't be at the ponds without adult supervision. :-) I'm still somebody's kid!

So the warnings about the wild animals that reside on the state property that borders the village on the east side are always in the forefront of my mine. The next door neighbor goes out early in the morning quite often to hunt wild pigs (not known to be very friendly...the pigs, not the neighbor!) And even though the hill where I walk Gilbert is on the west side of the village, there is a lot of brush on the back fence line. Gilbert felt adventurous today and wanted to explore closer to the fence line than he'd ever gone before. I was either still sleepy or feeling adventurous too. We saw a Mocking bird in a tree on the other side of the fence. I was engrossed in watching it, and then finding it again when it flitted away, when all of a sudden we heard a big rustle in the brush and Gilbert took off on a dead run...in the other direction back toward the house! I was still holding the leash and walked a good bit faster myself until we got closer to the back of the house. I suspect it was just the bird getting into the branches making the racket, but neither of us were going to stick around to find out!!!

In our minds (I'm sure Gilbert smells and hears those other critters I've only heard about) it could have been any one of the assortment of animals we've heard others have sighted...fox, bear, coon, alligator, crane, or pig to name a few. It gave us an energetic start to our day, anyway. :-)

Until the next record of our escapades, I'll say good bye. Thanks for reading. It's fun writing.