Marching onward

I have stopped running through the woods anymore. My knee has suddenly grown old and tired and refuses to put up with that kind of behavior. Now, me and the dog, we march. Quick-step, arms flying forward and back (except when my companion stops to pee or poop or sniff something, which is pretty often, and then my leash hand stays behind me and doesn't resume the fro-ing until Miss Daisy catches up again), striding forward through tall grass (don't they mow here anymore?) and muddy bogs, I look ridiculous I think. This kind of walking looks out of place here, I am sure. This poor turkey gaped at me for a full minute and a half before turning and quickly striding off into the woods, exactly as though he was afraid to be associated with such an odd person.

 But the wildflowers didn't mind at all.

 Nor did the crooked tree.

 The dew ignored me.

And this baby toad just hoped I wouldn't step on him. So I didn't and took a picture instead.

I thought I got up early

I thought I got up early this morning but someone beat me out to the woods. Here's a bike track.

And here's a dog's paw print.

And someone thoughtfully knocked down all the spider webs before I ran into them.

Oops. Missed one.

Find the toad!

The past few weeks there has been a hatching of tiny toads out in the woods. They hop and bounce all over the trail and I dance and skip to avoid stepping on them. Finally decided I was a force of nature and quit worrying about it. The dirt is soft and my shoes have many, many toad friendly depressions in them. I took some pictures this morning and when I got them off my camera realized that I had a hidden picture game here. So, find the toad! If you need a hint, email me and I'll tell you right where to look.

Burned out

They've been doing controlled burns at the preserve again. The air is toxic. When I look at the black ground and the ashes it's impossible to remember what it used to look like only the day before. The burns are done to protect the houses that are around the preserve.
The contrast is so stark from one side of the path to the other. The morning after the burn I walked along the trail between the two different preserves, one blackened and still smoking and the other green. There was a mockingbird calling from a burned tree stump.

I've been through here after a much larger burn. That one left a haze of smoke for days. It felt like post apocalyptic hell in there. That was in December of last year.

But then, six months later, it looks like this. 

And if I didn't have the pictures I wouldn't remember what it looked like before the green.

Waiting for the dog

Sometimes, when you're waiting for the dog to finish whatever it is she's doing, you look up and there's a nice picture waiting to be taken.

What you see isn't always what you get

I found this caterpillar on an orange tree in my front yard. I've been watering the citrus, trying to help the trees weather this drought we've been having and I noticed something moving on a branch. It was a caterpillar, but with some funky coloring on it. That's when I realized it was masquerading as bird poop. I ran inside to get my camera, and miracle of miracles, managed to get a focused shot using the macro setting. He's really amazing, in a blecchy sort of way.

It got me to thinking, is he very tasty and that's why he's disguised this way? Or is he yucky tasting and this is how he advertises the fact?

Morning is best

Have I mentioned that I love walking in the woods in the morning? If I have, pardon me for repeating myself, but it's true. I hear birds singing and fluttering in the saw palmettos. The noise of early morning traffic is muffled by the trees, like distant surf. I especially love it when it's foggy out. The dog gets spooked and hangs back instead of tugging ahead on her leash. Multiple layers of trees and grasses, in greens and browns and blacks loom out at me and then, as they recede into the mist, become gray ghosts. When you look up, the sky is bright blue with pink clouds all across it, like cotton candy.