Camo Toad

I saw movement in the weeds next to the raised bed in the vegetable garden.
I stepped back in quick reaction and then took a closer look.

My eyes didn't focus at first. I thought I saw a rock below the stinging nettles. Then, slowly, a shape appeared.
I looked closer...

There, under the weeds, in between the dirt and rocks, was a toad. This toad was the same color as the dirt. He was so camouflaged that I almost didn't see him.
He was "walking" not hoping and he had warts, so I think he was a small toad.

 Amazing, how this little creature blended in with his surroundings. Another phenomena of Mother Nature... another lesson that we can learn about being who we are and living within the confines of our nature.

The Visitor

Late one night I was working at my computer desk and this moth flew right past my face and landed on a folder. It startled me. It must have come into the house when I went outside with Carl before bedtime. Since mine was the only light that was on in a dark house it was naturally drawn to my desk.
Pretty little thing. I looked it up in the field guide and I'm sure it's a Tiger Moth of some kind; maybe a "spotted" one. I should have caught and taken it outside but I didn't. I just finished what I was doing, turned the light off and went to bed. Now, I can't find it.









Maybe tonight it will come flying toward the lamplight, again, and I can help it find its way back outside where it belongs. Did you know that moths can hear? They have a "hearing" organ, called a Tympanum, on each side of the thorax. Amazing! Was he listening to me.


He (I'm guessing..., it could be a "she") stayed for a long time and even when I touched him he stayed. We had a "moment" this moth and I. Even when I least expect that something will happen..., something does.
It might be what Mary Oliver refers to as the "greatest gift"....,"Could it be the world itself?"...,"That you have a life that I wonder about more than I wonder about my own." and her instructions for living one's life:
"Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it...."