Deerly Beloved

This past week, one misty morning, we saw deer out out back window, close enough to take pictures of. They were breakfasting on the greenery in our forest. When they finally ran away, we heard what sounded like them snorting or maybe stamping their feet, or maybe both. Not being wildlife experts, we have no real idea.

Mountain Lions and Scorpions

Colleen's daughter is in a string quartet which practices in our studio almost every Sunday. The father of a girl who is part of the quartet told us he set out a trap for what he thought were bobcats (as if that is any safer an animal than a mountain lion, and what kind of trap does one set up for a bobcat?). All he caught was some hair from the beast, which he then had analyzed, and was told that the hair was probably from a mountain lion.

A lady, whose horse and dog were attacked (by what she thought was a mountain lion, and the wildlife dept said "they ain't no such thing in these here parts"), had to go out and get a permit to be allowed to shoot the mountain lion that doesn't exist if her animals are again attacked.

Since the mountain lions that don't exist are a protected species, you can kill them only if you are attacked and only if you have a permit, and, then, you have to take the body to the wildlife department so it can be recorded. Never thought country life could be so complicated. Isn't country philosophy all about "if I see it I get to kill it".

As for Arkansas scorpions - out two grandkids were stung the other night, while in bed, by two scropions. Now, in Atlanta we were used to the scorpions that crawled into our house and were, maybe, a inch long, but not any longer than that.

These two Arkansas scorpions had tails that were longer than the entire length of an Atlanta scorpion. The Arkansas scorpions appeared to be over two inches long. And they were UGLY things.

Apparently, this is a bad year for scorpions (although, technically, it is a bad year for HUMANS who are around where the scorpions are and are likely to get stung).

On the other hand, a few days ago, there was an Indigo Bunting outside our bedroom window. Oddly enough, the "indigo" bunting is not actually blue - it is black, but the light passing through the feather structure makes it appear blue. It was a cute little critter. Here is a picture of the bird, as well as picture of the ugliest cicada you ever saw.

More Critters

The other morning, we found a rabbit munching on the greens outside the back door. Here is a picture of the breakfasting critter. Here, you will also find a picture of our resident walking stick.

New Furniture

We purchased a dining room table with two benches. They are all made from parts of old barns and log cabins. It is a very rustic look. We plan on having the same company make some bookcases for us, out of the same type of wood. The company is named Timbercut. This is what they do. Their workshop and property are filled with wood from a large number of sources like the old barns and log cabins.