...sudden like a Summer storm; standing out from everything...
...spinning like a Dervish; yet, "roots" running deep...
...fruit of the Earth; begging you to consume me as my "roots" reach up to greet your foot prints...
July 31, 2009
:: Snake ::
I believe this tiny baby snake to be an Eastern Ribbon Snake. He doesn’t have the black lines/marks on the side of his lips like a garter snake, but he does have the spotted pattern of a garter…any ideas out there folks? For what it’s worth, I have seen mostly Eastern Garter Snake adults around here, but I have seen a few E Ribbon adults…this is the first (of either kind of) baby for us though.
what a sweet tiny face
Glistening in the sunlight
Lovely spots & stripes
In the last picture it is in the bottom of a 1/2 pint mason jar to give you an idea of just how small this little guy is. I have yarn that is thicker than he is! Very sweet, tiny and fragile baby snake. We spent some time together this early morning and then again in the late afternoon — I found him in the same spot almost both times. Elijah and I thought about keeping him, but we don’t have anything to keep him in — though, feeding him my slugs from the garden would have been nice 
:: Squirrel ::
8 feet away...he likes almonds
3 feet away...he really likes almonds (and me too!)
Crouched on my belly/elbows approx. 1 foot away... we are becoming fast friends.
This little guy/gal was on my balcony this morning when I went out to toss some left over food over the rail (I’m lazy about that whole composting thing some days, but the wildlife appreciates it). It was on the balcony, right in front of me and only backed up slightly. I tossed food over and tossed a couple almonds his way. I went back inside to grab camera and more almonds. When I opened the door again, he was RIGHT THERE and looking at me. I stuck my hand out to toss the almonds towards him and in what seemed like a nanosecond, he ran up to my hand and grabbed an almond. I almost peed myself! He backed off to go eat it. I tossed the almonds at him and began taking pictures.
The first picture was from the door way. The next, I am out on the balcony. The last, I am down on my elbows and stomach about 1 foot away from this little guy. He hung around for some time and would come closer to me if I talked to him and moved almonds closer to him.
Later, I went out to check on my garden and he was in the maple tree just barking and chattering up a storm at me. Once I went back inside and went back out onto the balcony to see if he was still in the tree carrying on, he was back on the balcony and checking me out while getting more almonds off the floor.
We have friends a couple streets over who have a squirrel that hangs out in their yard and they feed it peanuts by hand…I wonder if this is the same squirrel…
Park Date in Sewickley
Yesterday we went to the park date that we host for home/unschooling peoples. It was hot, crowded (park is right next door to YMCA) and loud. We saw one person we knew and met another person. It was rather interesting watching just how mean the average mainstream kid is…not to mention how mean most parents & YMCA counselors are (I know I wasn’t mean when I was a YMCA counselor). But, I feel for these kids. They spend most of their time cooped up inside and “under control” (oppressed) by tons of crazy-ass rules and then once Summer hits and if they are allowed outside, they go at it full force and give little care about who is around them or what they are doing. I was practically knocked over three times and all three times, the child turned and game me a hateful look — like I can’t stand around at the playground…I *should* be out of their way! They practically binge on playing outside…like a child who binges on sweets when they can, because they never know when they will get more, because their parents limit & control their food. “Summer” isn’t forever for these kids.
Besides from lamenting the plight of all the otherwise awesome smiley children out and about, we had a good time. After the park we went to the Village Candy shop and then picked up our CSA and had a drink at Hoi Polloi.
Tubular
Happy
Climbing
9th CSA of 2009
Green Leaf Lettuce
Carrots!
Yum-tastic!
In this week’s crate:
2 heads Green Leaf Lettuce
1 gigantic head Purple (Red) Cabbage
8 ears Sweet Corn
1 gigantic Zucchini and 1 sm. Zucchini
1 sm. Yellow Squash
3 Cucumbers (I made pickles out of all the cucumbers that I received last week)
1 lg. Sweet Onion
Sm.bunch Green Onions
1 pnt. Blueberries
1 lb. Carrots
Sm. bunch Flat Leaf Parsley
Lg. bunch Basil