I love nature, ask anyone who knows me...I'm the mom, the auntie, the chick who will dig up worms, pick up bugs, bait my own hooks, catch frogs, get muddy, go exploring...but it seems that I must have upset the order of nature or something lately! (Thus the overwhelming need to seek absolution by starting a green tips series!) Anyway, first there was the spider and then, a little over a week ago...I got sprayed by a ....
Oh, yes I did! I didn't think I did! But, but but ... I DID!!! Gaw head, laugh. I can hear ya all the way over here!
Here's how it happened. One evening I went into the backyard, but I didn't follow my usual route straight to the back. This particular night I went to the side of the house. It was already dark outside and the yard had an inky quality to it as the moon was obscured by cloud cover. Something shiny caught my eye *** ooooo....shiny *** so, I stepped onto the patio and walked towards a tree where the shiny thing was. I immediately realized it's was only a long forgotten nail stuck in the tree. I turned and walked back towards the patio when I hear a rustling in the leaves ...it was right next to me...I looked down and all I saw was this weird white thing moving around. I wasn't even startled at first, just perplexed as to what in the world it might be - and then it hit me....it was a tail! Instinct took over and I bolted for dear life! I ran around to the front door praying that the waft of skunk following me was only on the air and not on me.
Hurriedly, I opened the front door and faced a houseful of people - oh, yea, only about 20 or so members of our family were visiting that evening - and in with me comes the skunk smell - everyone is inundated in seconds. I start pacing before I say anything, trying to calm down and then I had to know for sure! I asked a few of them to smell my legs, back, arms, everywhere - it's quite funny in retrospect, all these people sniffing me, but they said it definitely wasn't "on" me. YAY, I hadn't gotten sprayed!
We all proceeded through the night assuming the skunk had, in fact, must have because the smell was so strong, but I'd been missed somehow. HA! Except, that I kept smelling it, and smelling it ... and smelling it. A sinking feeling, that I couldn't shake had taken hold in the pit of my stomach. But it just didn't make sense. People had smelled me...said I was fine and then I went to change for bed. I started taking off my clothes to change and more skunk smell erupted around me. It had to be somewhere!!! Sure enough, there was skunk on my SHORTS but not on ME! Can you believe it???? It sprayed, I dodged and got nailed with only a drop or two on the back of my shorts! PHEW!
Native Americans believe in animal totems, power animals, etc. that are assigned to us for various reasons. My curiosity was peaked after this experience and I had to look it up. Jill, if you're reading this...remember a few years back you had given me other information on skunk medicine...what a trip, eh?? This is the short version:
SKUNK - brings us an awareness of self-respect. When we fully accept who we are and learn to express the essence of ourselves, without ego, we attract those who share our path and repel those who don't. Skunk medicine is the original "Walk your talk." It is about developing a good self-image. It brings increased sensuality spiritually, sexuality and psychic awareness. A more in depth explanation can be found by clicking the following link: http://www.linsdomain.com/totems
Growth
Fun
Old Friends
Family
New Adventures Inspired by Old Loves
Swim Teams
New Places
Giggles and Laughter
Drums and Dancing
and... Mosquito Bites
We knew it'd be easy this time, only .5 miles ... right?
But, we missed the trail head and wound up bushwacking through the woods. We came upon this cliff and found
Then, we finally came to this...uh oh...
But we perservered and Victory!
Hmm, where's the waterfall?? That doesn't look like a waterfall.
and the rope
was just ...
too much fun!
So there!
Above and below are works in progress...all stemming from the war I waged on the Wisteria vines invading my yard.
I'm making fairy wreaths (hair wreaths) and other things as they pop into my head.
Sorting of the sandglass for jewelry while patiently awaiting the supplies. The new necklaces, bracelets, earrings I will be making are of a much higher quality than the previous ones - made with sterling silver and gold as well as leather, etc.
I've taught myself how to braid leather to enhance the pieces. Buying the leather already braided was a bit cost prohibitive, but it had such a nice look to it. So, thanks to my darlin' honey who just happened to have the above book...I started practicing.
Practice piece with silk cord - this is a round braid.
First of all...there were fish!!!
The biggest small mouth bass EVER!
The biggest bass of the week!
Many many campfires!
And...lots of new visitors!
And, some very good sports!
There will probably be more on this...but I'm off to cleanse some of the well earned northern slime that I believe may still be stuck to my legs!
We found the one and only nine-legged star fish of the week! Known for their ability to drop and regenerate a leg at will!
So many starfish that night!
The smallest I've ever seen!
How cool is that - my left hand and thumb! 
And this is even cooler!
To my amazement, the beach was completely deserted! At first I thought - wow, what luck, I'm the only crazy person out here - more shells for me! Then, it got creepy! I imagined the CSI episode being filmed already - the names and dates have been changed to protect the identity of the innocent - but I was determined!
So, I faced my fears and, dagnabbit, I shelled that beach that day. 
and walked....
and walked! I assure you, many fine shells were found that day!
As we walked the path to Bowman's Beach, we saw this rather large turtle (forgive me, tortoise). We thought it was a Loggerhead whom are actively nesting at this time on Sanibel and are protected.
What it really was, so says the Turtle Man in our family is the elusive, rather rare Gopher Tortoise, not often observed in the wild. So, to all you turtle peeps out there - this one's for you! 
