A Well Rounded Blog

According to a recent
New Yorker cartoon*
most blogs consist of

"1/3 stories about crap
somebody cooked, knitted or sewed;
1/3 self-promotion
and 1/3 conspiracy theories."

The cartoon awakened me to a basic fact.
I am way behind on my
share of conspiracy theories.

I just happened to come up with one
on my way to church this morning,
which I will now share with
a public in need of some
new paranoia.

In North Carolina there is a roundish
brown, garden eating mammal
called a groundhog.
(Click here for pictures)
We did not have them in Florida.
Apparently they are
NC's answer to armadillos.

You'll see them as you drive around town
perched on the side of the road,
facing traffic
making little chewing motions with their mouths
but always right there on the very curb
with their nose practically under the cars.

I couldn't figure why an animal,
much less an entire breed of animals
would perch so precariously
with cars whooshing by
and threatening their fuzzy existance.

Finally I realized:
they are not mammals at all.
They are electronic devices set there
to monitor us in our cars,
disguised as mild mannered
fuzzy brown garden destroyers.

I know some ground hogs are real
and a real pain in the patooty
if you are growing your own veggies.

But those omnipresent roadside hogs...
they are machines,
put there by The Man
keeping us under
his controlling eye.

Beware of both kinds.

*September 26, 2011, The New Yorker, page 90, "Blog Breakdown" cartoon.

Ode to Spanish Moss

One of the ways
I know am near my original stomping grounds
in the heart of north Florida
is to look to the trees
for the gentle drapery of Spanish Moss.

These pictures almost seem
like black and white photography,
but they are color shots on a cloudy day.

The gray of the plant
covers a green interior,
life within something that looks
not quite so living.

Gentle breezes add a certain
living movement,
but one beyond the plant's control.

While I love my home in North Carolina,
I have to visit the land of moss
(or more accurately, the land of angiosperm)
on occasion to set things right with my soul.

(Photos from the Warren W. Willis camp in Leesburg, FL, taken last February).

More on Spanish Moss

Looking Down

I am sometimes criticized
for looking down at the ground as I walk.

 

 

But it pays
to pay attention
to the ground beneath your feet.

There are treasures
all around,
just there for the looking.

Same springtime hike in Indiana....one walk, so many things to ponder and photograph.

 

Water flowing over rocks

Here's something you don't see
while hiking in Florida.
While my home state has lots of water,
they are lacking in cool rocks.

More pics from Brown County State Park.

What is better
than rocks and water
and the bright green
leaves of spring?

Brown County Trails

With four months' worth of pictures
stored on the computer
and never posted to blog,
I'm going to start back in May
and share some of my favorites.

More hike pictures from
the State Park
in Brown County
Indiana.

Wonderful place.