March 17, 2004

Wildlife

I'm so damn

Don't worry, nobody actually hacked my diary. ;) Crude and mindless as they are, I've got a soft spot in my heart for Beavis and Butthead. What can I say? They crack me up. But the previous entry was especially for my friend Miles, who really needed something goofy. I can't be right there to do the B&B dance with him, it'll have to do for now. Since it also made my restless girl laugh, then it served its purpose very well.

I had my second interview for that job today. If all goes well *crossing my fingers* I'll be getting to work more closely with all my critters starting June 26. Speaking of which, I went out to get the mail this morning and three tiny lizards ran across my toes! I just love the way Florida is so alive. Everything is green all year round, and the wildlife is amazing. Tiny green, black or brown lizards scatter when you step outside the door. Butterflies float past on warm breezes. Cranes, Ibises, Seagulls and Turkey ducks (to name just a few) stroll across lawns after a rain to snack on the insects driven to he surface. You might get lucky (or unlucky, if you don't share my love for the scaly and legless) and see a snake sliding along the grass. To quote the legendary Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbes), "The world's not so bad if you can just get out in it."

Even the Earthworms down here are different. You've never seen a worm boogey down 'til you've seen a Florida Earthworm. I've long been in the habit of picking up worms if I find them on a dry sidewalk in hot sun or if they're in a road where they could get run over, and putting them in some damp soil. The first time I went to pick up a Florida worm (Are they the ones called red wigglers? Does anyone know?) it literally leaped out of my hand! It's taken some practice to be able to scoop them up safely and deposit them in a safe, inviting (to a worm, anyhow) place. The easily 3-foot-tall sand cranes down here took me by surprise as well! The first time I saw one was in the parking lot of a supermarket. There were three of them standing around looking for all the world like they were deep in conversation. So I had the bright idea to see how close they'd let me get to them. I got pretty close, but I must have startled them because they all turned towards me making angry crane sounds. Since it would be unspeakably embarrassing to see in the newspaper "Local woman maimed by large, cranky birds!" I hopped back in the car. There are lots of ducks here, too. I love bringing bread down to the lake to feed them. What is it about ducks? There's just something so appealing about them. I love their quacking, the way they waddle, their territorial sqabbles that always seem to result in a bunch of them all quacking indignantly at one of their brethren who has broken some rule of duck social protocol.

I think the wildlife down here is sort of like my rock, if that makes sense. No matter what happens, they're out there. If I'm feeling hurt or sad, if I'm sick or I've had a bad day, the tiny lizards still scatter and the ducks are still waddling down the street and paddling in hose-water puddles after someone's washed their car. It's solid and comforting.

Have a great day and thanks for reading.

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