Sunday, May 16, 2021

Remember That ONE Time (Runnin' Down A Dream)

 



The Eastern fence lizard is a very common lizard but when you happen upon it as you hike, it seems a very extraordinary creature, indeed.  This photo was in very bright sun but the bronze coloring was quite beautiful. They can also be called pine lizard for their preference for pine trees which is what you see here. Notice the long legs, it is believed that this is an adaption within the last 70 years to the introduction of the imported fire ant, which can kill the lizard within one minute.  ("Take that FIRE ANT, I will just grow longer legs and get away from you!"  There, you didn't know I can read the minds of lizards, did you?)



These photos were taken at Panola Mountain State Park, which is not too far away from us, luckily. I think the hikes up the mountain have started again, so I hope to be able to go on one of those soon. If you remember, Panola Mountain is a guided hike only, and you can only climb it with a group and an employee of Panola Mountain. (Of course, there are great trails in the park that do not require a guide and are open from dawn to dusk. We take advantage of them! So many trees!)

Anybody remember that I did a moonlight hike climbing Panola Mountain once? It was magical! The moonlight lit up the granite of the mountain and it felt like I was walking on diamonds....ah, am I too old to walk that in the dark now? Oh well, at least I did it that one time!

Just that one time...can you think of something that you have done once or seen once that you will never forget? I am thinking of a place too...Lake Tahoe. Just once in my life, I saw it and I will never forget it, the color of that lake, such a gorgeous color. I was in a group and I asked if we could drive over the California state line just so I could say I had been to California! (Lake Tahoe is partly in Nevada and partly in California.) Lately, Richard and I have enjoyed watching some TV shows that were filmed in Spain and we have had fun looking up the locations and learning about them. We have never been to Spain but in my mind...that's another thing! 
















Of course, we have our own window on the world into our back yard! Richard took these photos of the female cardinal feeding one of her young. The male cardinal (the bright red one) will also feed the babies! We see this scene every year, the little birds fluttering their wings for food, we never tire of it. The cardinal itself, very common but just like the lizard, quite extraordinary.


Runnin' Down A Dream by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. 
Enjoy.

22 comments:

  1. Your Panola Mountain sounds truly magical. If I walked it at night, I'm sure I'd twist my ankle, but I'd sure like to try. That is an amazing capture of the mama bird feeding her baby. I do have to say Spain is a beautiful country. We've only been to Barcelona and Madrid though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Panola Mountain, like the other monadnocks in the area, are truly magical. Not just the mountains made of rock but all that grows on them and around them. I never tire of learning all the trees and wildflowers. Even if I never see Spain, I can learn about it from film from TV and I am grateful for just brief snippets of beauty from that country.

      Delete
  2. Our birds are a bit behind because of the bitterly cold weather and I haven't seen a single fledgeling yet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pat has shared your cold weather with me! Goodness me, you will have warm weather again, I am sure of it! You live in such a gorgeous spot!

      Delete
  3. You are blessed to be so near the park and get to visit it often, but you also have a wonderful yard to see all kinds of nature. Loved seeing the birds. Nature is so amazing it's always good to see. Never boring at all and always changing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We love "our" birds! I guess you can tell! And we do like to get out on the trails here locally. You would never believe how close this is to Metro Atlanta and tons of traffic.

      Delete
  4. I have a memory like that you mentioned. I was on vacation with two of my friends. We stayed in a hotel right on the beach in Virginia Beach. Of course we headed for the beach first thing. Wading out into the ocean I was shocked to taste the salt water. I had not yet put anything except my lower legs in the water.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah yes, you must watch out for those big waves, they can take you down in an instant! Ask me how I know!

      Delete
  5. That cardinal baby looks quite big already!
    Lizards are beautiful animals. In the post I wrote earlier today, I show some pictures of the sunset O.K. and I watched from our favourite bench two Saturdays ago. Behind that bench runs a small stone wall, and there were two lizards playing hide and seek - we believe they were male and female, since one of them was bigger and emerald green while the smaller one was brown.
    There are quite a few things in my life that I have done only once and will never forget! I treasure each and every one of those precious memories.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yay for once in a lifetime memories!
      And your walks, Meike, I am just amazed at the beauty of where you live!
      The cardinals are even bigger and still begging to be fed and the parents are feeding them! Good thing they only have to get the nice seed we have out for them and not have to work so hard finding food for the "teenagers"!

      Delete
  6. Dear Kay, thanks so much for posting about both the pine lizard and the cardinals. The thing is that I love to learn about nature, and I seem to know so little. For instance, I'm amazed--stunned sort of--that evolution/adaption can take place in the brief span of 70 years. I know how I've evolved in 85 years, but that's been an inward change, not longer legs! What an amazing world we live in. Peace.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Dee! I so agree with you! Isn't nature just absolutely amazing! I love that if you are curious about something, you can just look it up on the computer, and BANG there it is.
      In my day, we had to go to libraries and do research and beg for books, you know I did!
      Peace to you. x

      Delete
  7. Lovely photograph of the female cardinal feeding one of her young.

    All the best Jan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Jan! My husband got that photo, he with his steady hand.

      Delete
  8. Seeming to be walking on diamonds. It sounds amazing! A memory I would like to have!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Walking on diamonds, I think that should be in a song lyric, don't you? The moonlight through the pines was lovely too but that's already in a song! LOL.

      Delete
  9. Nice to get out again.
    Great pics also.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We've never stopped getting out, I think the lockdown was more strict in your neck of the woods. They did close the trails here in our county for a good part of 2020 but we just went to the next county over which is only about 8 miles from us. We wore our masks there even though some didn't. I am a big believer in masks...BIG!
      Oh and you know that Richard took most of the photos, I took that 2nd one.

      Delete
    2. The second pic was the best!

      Delete
    3. Thanks, Adman! You've made my day.

      Delete
  10. There are many things...many special moments (and some not so pleasant), I will never forget.

    The below special memory is one that will always remain with me...

    Notoring slowly back from Freshwater Creek, along Missionary Bay, heading towards the resort I was then managing on Hinchinbrook Island in North Queensland, with a couple of staff members on board with me, we stopped the boat, sat very still, in awe, as we watched the dugongs leisurely cruise around our boat. They were awesome moments spent watching the wonderful creatures.

    Dugongs are cousins of manatees and share a similar plump appearance, but have a dolphin fluke-like tail. And unlike manatees, which use freshwater areas, the dugong is strictly a marine mammal. (https://www.barrierreef.org/the-reef/animals/dugong-facts)

    My apologies for my lengthy response, Kay. Take care. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What a beautiful memory. It reminds me of the book by Louis Zamperini. When he was in the South Pacific on a tiny raft with two other men. They saw a very large group of dolphins swimming to them. They were frightened, they just knew their raft could be swamped by them. Just as the dolphins got to them, they gracefully parted so as not to disturb the boat. Mr. Zamperini had mostly memories of horror being at sea like that, but I think that was a special memory.

      Delete