Monday Rambling

VACATION is awesome. I love my job and of course the school district I work for or why else would I have stayed for twenty two years? But vacation time is well received by me. You too? Huh, we have that in common!

However, vacation reminds me that there’s a lot of catch up to do around the homestead. I’ve said for years that it is nature vs. me and nature usually wins. Grass grows fast and hard. Vines take over. Tree limbs try to touch the ground. And weeds. Let’s not talk about that.

And summer is always busy with all kinds of family get-togethers. July 4th is my son's birthday.

Speaking of nature or more precisely wildlife, I have a story. I’ve been known to stop along the highway (if no cars are coming) and rescue box turtles. Did you know that if you do this, you need to put them on the side of the road in which they were trying to reach? Otherwise, those darn turtles will try to cross the busy highway again.

I love animals which includes the wild ones.

Anyway on to my story about another squirrel who had it in for me. (Remember Mr. Squirrel SDC?)

The other day, I was driving home from my mom and dad’s. I’d left the road they live on and was on another highway. Up ahead, I see a squirrel. The squirrel is in the middle of the opposite lane. Since I know squirrels are unpredictable, I slow down. I REALLY don’t like killing anything with my car: dogs, cats, deer, rabbits, birds—oh, and squirrels. I will do everything short of wrecking my car to avoid hitting  living, breathing things.

I watch the squirrel. He’s sitting still in the road. I can’t tell which way he’s going to run, to the safety of the ditch beside him OR in front of my car? Well, he starts running toward my lane, and I know I’m not going to miss him, so I slow down, then stop the car to save the little guy. He finally runs back to the safety of the ditch.

I start driving again and two seconds later, I hit a big beautiful monarch butterfly, well it flew into my windshield.

It gets worse. I’m hoping I can release it from my windshield wiper, in case it’s still alive.  I turn on the wiper, but this action makes everything worse. Sometimes I wonder about my timing and decision making. 

 

I love butterflies—more than squirrels.

Do you live where there is a lot of wildlife? Any holiday birthdays in your family? Do you like vacation as much as I do? Butterflies or squirrels?