Hodgepodge; Yellow Slime; Saving Kermit; A Cardinal Display; Organizing Junk; Stayin’ Centered; Shimmies and Shivers

Today’s blog post is titled “Hodgepodge”because the entries have no apparent unifying theme. Not that there is ever an apparent unifying theme in these posts…

The photo at left was taken by My Lovely Bride – deposits of an unusual yellow substance in our front flower bed. Her first thought was that maybe a coyote with a digestive problem had visited our yard and disgorged his stomach contents. An even grosser thought was that it was from a big snake. After some sleuthing, we found that the yellow stuff was actually Fuligo septica, yellow slime mold, also called “dog vomit fungus: (I am not making this up!). It often appears overnight, growing in pine bark mulch after a heavy rain. It is indeed gross, but totally harmless (assuming you aren’t a vegan who thinks it might be a yummy snack). 

Speaking of our yard/garden, Wednesday was the day when the trash guys pick up yard waste; we had set out a big paper bag filled with hedge trimmings and six big palm fronds. I happened to be in the driveway when the trash truck arrived; a young man grabbed the big bag and tossed it into the back of the truck; a second twenty-something guy picked up the palm fronds, and after tossing them into the truck, walked back to the driveway where he carefully shooed a little frog from where he had been hiding under the palm fronds and back into the grass where he wouldn’t be run over by the car. I was touched that he took the time to look out for another creature the way he did; it may be a lesson for us all…

This next vignette actually occurred back in the Fort DeSoto campground, but I had forgotten about it until today. I was walking Rudy and Gretchen when I saw a cardinal landing on our car. He would alight on the car door, look at his image in the side mirror, flutter his wings and “strut his stuff”, then fly away, only to return in a minute or two and repeat the process. He seemed not only fascinated with his reflection, but amazed that the bird in the mirror was performing the same display (perhaps a mating ritual?) that he was performing.

Life isn’t always exciting. I mean, you can’t discover dog vomit slime fungus in your yard every day. Normal days are filled with mundane chores, like reorganizing one’s junk drawer… you know, the one that holds pens, rulers, batteries, rubber bands, stamps, flashlights, small tools, and other assorted “junk” that you can’t leave in an obvious, useful, countertop location because your spouse thinks it’s clutter. (Hey, what does she know? Smack!) Anyway, I was assigned the task of cleaning up the aforementioned junk drawer. An hour or so later, it looked quite organized, thank you very much. I just hope I didn’t throw out her favorite whatchamacallit…

After recovering from an arduous day organizing the junk drawer, I took Suzanne out to the Santos bike trails to burn off some of her excess energy. Most of the ride was through quiet forest, with hardly another rider to be seen. But near the end we found a recent addition to the trail, a wood “roller coaster”. Here is Corvette Chick practicing her technique and looking cool.”Staying Centered” has a different meaning when you’re mountain biking.

Finally, our good friends Bob and Jessica invited us to meet them for dinner at a local Greek restaurant (coincidentally, where a famous award-winning belly dancer would be performing). Suzanne thought it would be nice to see them again and have a nice Greek meal. I thought it would be nice to (a) see them again and (b) to watch a lovely, lithe belly dancer perform. (I avoided a Smack! this time by not telling My Lovely Bride about part (b).)  When Jennifer the belly dancer asked for a volunteer, Bob practically knocked me down jumping up to be her partner for the dance. I’m not sure if Jennifer’s look has to do with Bob’s (apparent lack of) belly dancing technique or something he said to her… her technique, on the other hand… Wow!