Animals, real or imagined, this week

Sunset from the Residence Inn, Lebanon, NH parking lot (almost) every Sunday night

Spiderweb fireworks

     You know how when your windows are dirty (Gosh, I hope you do) and it distorts little details outside? So, I’m sitting at the dining room table Saturday morning, waiting for teenagers to awaken, looking over the kitchen bistro table out the window on the first morning’s light and there are little electrical bursts running from the deck to the pear tree…… By that I mean, I can see that spider web strands from the deck to the pear tree are catching the dew or the morning sunlight or both ---lights runs up the web like glitter…..that’s what I imagine electricity to “look” like.

Boat HERON

    It was a SUPER FATHER’S DAY with all three children home doting on their father (i.e. telling him how many lobsters to buy; asking him how many loads of laundry could get done in one weekend) and all consenting to go on a boat cruise on the Boston whaler with the Daisy dog, Sunchips and watermelon Sourpatch. Cruising the far cove on 3Mile Pond, we spotted a blue heron sitting in the marsh spotting us.  (Daisy was unable to spot the heron until it got up and flew away.) It was cool.

       

Free the Earthworms

   Seriously. I go to leave China for Lebanon (Maine for New Hampshire.) Packing up the car, I spot, in the one wet spot that is the bane of Judd’s “pave-the-driveway” project, a puddle that holds about 6 earthworms. [When we had the driveway paved, the “professional” pavers left a sort of divot in the middle of the pavement where water still accumulates. It really ticks Judd off.] We notice, together, that, where Judd has just removed a board under the boat, a puddle remains that holds 6 writhing earthworms between 1 and 4 millimeters in circumference, wiggling on the self-limited wet tar. I note out loud that they are going to fry and dessicate in the sunshine within the hour. Then I get in the car and start loading up books on CD for the 4 hour commute.  The children come out to hug, kiss an hail me farewell…….and Judd, we observe together, is over, scooping up earthworms with his bare fingers, to free into the moist grass/forest……

Whale tales

    On one weekend commute over the western Maine mountains to Burlington (for an early morning VA meeting up North….) I met a new sight in the sunset……..    Still don’t know what it means or who put them there…..