Sadie and I spent a night at my cabin last night. I spent some time taking things out of there that I don't use: cooking stoves and utensils, for example.
When I first planned the cabin, I imagined myself and my dog spending perhaps twenty-four hours at a time there... maybe more. My own little vacation hideaway. My husband doesn't enjoy camping, I do. My husband doesn't want a dog on his bed; I thought it would be a treat for Mandy, the dog I owned at the time, to sleeping with me (and she did enjoy that).
I imagined the smell of bacon wafting through the woods on the crisp, morning air, and drinking strong campfire coffee.
That didn't happen much.
Washing dishes isn't fun in a cramped space with no hot water, I found. And although the cabin is out of sight of my house, it takes only five to ten minutes to walk to the house from there and take a nice shower (to get the campfire smell off me) and make some REALLY good coffee.
Here's how a visit to the cabin usually plays out: I head back there around four in the afternoon; I spend a couple of hours getting a decent campfire started (starting fires is not one of my talents), roast a hot dog and a couple of marshmallows over the fire, read and perhaps play Frisbee or "stick" with Sadie until dark, and go to bed. I'm usually awake before daylight, heading home. This can be quite exciting, considering how much electric fence I have to avoid out there.
Sometimes I just go to the cabin for a couple of hours to hang out, then come home.
So Cliff left a trailer back there and I loaded some stuff on it. I replaced the big table with a much smaller one. I noticed a rug was in need of shaking and tossed it out on my little porch.
Coming back from a trip to the trailer, I noticed a skink, a little blue-tailed lizard that's very common in Missouri. They love to hang out in my woodpile, but I've never been able to get a picture of one. They just move so fast!
This little fellow, though, went under the rug to hide, so I ran for my camera. Sure enough, when I lifted the rug, there he was; he even lay still for awhile, long enough for me to snap a few shots of him.
Isn't that tail a lovely color of blue?
I've always loved blue-tailed skinks, as a kid and even as an adult! I was always fascinated with how they could make the tip of their tails drop off and it would keep wiggling. ;o)
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for Emmy to get old enough to appreciate lizards and other critters. She's already noticing bugs, or "boogs" as she calls them.
Hope all is well with you and yours, Donna.
Love and hugs,
Diane
That is indeed a beautiful creature. I'd take a picture of it too if had the opportunity.
ReplyDeleteWifey cannot stand lizards, but she's brave to face flying cockroaches. She loves hamsters, but irks mice.
The only similarity between the two is the slithering tail. She'll freaked out the same for snakes too.
I'm OK with all these, but I hate spiders! Not those little ones on the underside of leaves, but the larger one... those in woodpiles and in corners in the wooden houses.
Creatures that I will not stay to take photos of. I'd be gone in one direction while my camera will be in another.