Local Sightings

First, because my mother isn’t on the facebook, here is a picture of the Theodore Roosevelt reenactor from A Victorian Chautauqua this past weekend. Mom has always been a TR fan, and taught me to be so and we taught daughter #4 to be so. Not a perfect man, by any means, but splendid nonetheless. Naturally, I had to get my picture taken with him.

Now for the sightings.

Possum — no picsh — too busy making sure he didn’t jump back into the road and bite my tires, stranding me within reach of his savage teeth.

I had to drive all around Robin Hood’s barn to the back of beyond (that means a long and winding way) to get a family farmed ham for the Memorial Day picnic. On the way, I passed long-horned cattle (which I did not, alas, get a snappie of) and this bird, which was wandering around in somebody’s yard like a chicken. (The bird was wandering like a chicken, I mean).

This guy moseying across the back yard. He was probably scouting the garden preparatory to raiding it for tomatoes and cucumbers. These little hard-shell pirates will sniggle into your garden and take a few bites out of whatever is within reach, then move on to another piece and take a few bites out of it. Ticks me off to have to eat a turtle’s leavings. Still, he was doing no harm this day, so I just took his picture.

Best sightings of all: blue-tailed lizards on the playhouse roof and on the back porch. They’re too speedy for me to catch on film, but every one is etched in color on my heart. I love blue-tailed lizards. Long-time readers (Hi, Mom!) know that blue-tailed lizards are #1 on MomGoth’s list of Sparks o’ Joy.

WRITING PROMPT: Have a character notice five things in his/her environment or on the way somewhere. Why does he/she notice those things?

MA
p.s. It’s Tuesday, so I’m at Fatal Foodies, posting today about a cookbook featuring edible flowers.

About

I was born in Louisville, Kentucky, but now live in the woods in southern Indiana. Though I only write fiction, I love to read non-fiction. The more I learn about this world, the more fantastic I see it is.

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One thought on “Local Sightings

  1. Barbara

    May 27, 2011 at 9:10pm

    Marian, I enjoyed this post– I love that you take notice of small and sundry visitors, marking their brief presence in your life. The phrase “hard shell pirates” is perfect!

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      May 27, 2011 at 11:38pm

      I wouldn’t mind the turtles’ depredations so much if they’d eat the whole cucumber or tomato instead of just a couple of bites and then on to the next!

      We’ve had a wild turkey strutting across our back yard the past few mornings, but I haven’t been quick enough on the shutter to get his picture. 🙂

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