Serendipity Sunday

We LOVE where we live! Not because the house is perfect, but because we live where we can experience a variety of unexpected sights and sounds, smells and tastes of nature at unexpected times. Living as we do on a natural lake, beside a nature preserve, across from a field, near swampy wetlands, we never tire of natural wonders brought our way by changing seasons. It is true that we have found the munchings of deer and rabbits, the digging of moles and groundhogs, and the cat food thieving of opossums and raccoons frustrating, but the trade off in swan and pelican sightings, black raspberry harvests, and wild flower beauty and fragrances are well worth it!

Today we have been blessed with a couple of surprise sightings that made us laugh and thank God for allowing us to see these wonders at just the right moments!

As we sat at lunch looking at the landscape plants and lake beyond, like we do every meal, Steve excitedly jumped up and said, "You are not going to believe what I just saw!" Of course, I immediately wanted to know what. "Look on the wall over there!" To my amazement and amusement we watched a ground squirrel munching on coral bells on a stem he had pulled over. We didn't know ground squirrels ate flowers. We didn't know anything liked to eat coral bells. The deer and rabbits had never bothered them and they eat most anything! As we watched, the little critter let go of the stem, then jumped up and grabbed it again and began munching. Several times he jumped up and caught the branch to munch. Perhaps he was just tasting the sweet nectar, but he was enjoying himself and so were we! He is captured in the photos below holding the stem while he eats. I wish we could have gotten an action shot as he jumped, but no opportunity by the time we had camera in hand! The pictures were taken through the window, so not as close or clear as we would have liked.

A little later we decided to take a walk the "back way" to the south down the road along the nature preserve. We were admiring the various wildflowers sprinkling the roadside, commenting on colors and shapes, when we heard a rustling in the undergrowth beside the road. We peered into the brush as deeply as we dared while avoiding the lush poison ivy (one of those natural surprises we try to avoid). Didn't see anything. Listened again, still nothing. Suddenly, Steve exclaimed, "Look!" I followed his eyes to a small branch of a bush about six feet from the ground. The cutest little sleepyhead was clinging to the small bough cozily sleeping in the sun. It was a baby opossum. Steve decided to run home for the camera and I stayed so we wouldn't lose him. He didn't move at all, eyes closed, feet tightly clenched around the branch. As the breeze moved, I just kept thinking maybe this was where the nursery song came from..."Rock a bye, Baby, in the tree top, when the wind blows the cradle will rock..." Maybe the baby wasn't human after all, and the cradle was the bough. His tiny nose was vivid pink; his body about 5"or 6" long. Just before Steve arrived with the camera, I noticed his back foot let go and then his eyes opened! Our camera captured him awake just as he began to move, but we have no photos of the baby sleeping. While we were taking his picture, Lana's father-in-law and brother-in-law drove by, slowed down, stopped, and got their camera. Two girls stopped to look, too. Disturbed by our presence, he turned to leave and fell the six feet into the soft underbrush below. In a few seconds he waddled deep into the brush and we went on our way. What a fun surprise! Fun to share, too! Hope you enjoy the pictures!