May has been a month of memorable moments, many of them involving cute or creepy critters. From the joy of introducing my mom to the Gambia and our kittens, to the morbid intrigue of dead blowfish, it's a month best captured in photos. Without further ado, here we go...
Even though I wasn't sure what my mom would think about the Gambia in general, there was one part of the country I knew she'd love: our kittens! I don't think I've posted too many pictures of them, but let me share a few to give you a sense of how overwhelmingly adorable they are:
Doug and Squeak
Mom and Eve
How can you resist that cuteness?!
Some of the other creatures we encountered during my mom's stay weren't quite as predictably cute. During our walks on the beach, we discovered that it is the season of dead things washing up on the shore, particularly neon jellyfish and crazily swollen blowfish. I've included a scenic shot of the beach to make up for the ickiness of the dead-blowfish photo. But if you're squeamish, you may want still want to scroll quickly past the third picture, even though I can't help but stare at it in morbid fascination.
We saw some cuter critters when we hiked in the monkey forest. Actually, the monkeys make me a bit nervous, since they aren't scared of humans and will walk right up to you. They didn't bother us, but I couldn't shake the feeling that one of them might jump on me if I hesitated or stayed too close. (This could have something to do with the fact that a monkey jumped on me and gnawed through my pants pocket when I was 12. True story.) My mom, however, was totally calm, and thought the monkeys were awesome.
Mom at the edge of the monkey forest
Check out the hugging monkeys!
Perhaps the most annoying creatures in my life right now are the ones that live in my imagination. They're the invisible bugs that creep and crawl on me every day, making me scratch frantically for a moment until I realize, yet again, that these bugs are actually rivulets of sweat running down my skin. Because of them, I've fallen in love with swimming. Not only does the cool water cleanse me of sweat bugs, but the feeling of buoyancy I get as I glide through the pool is also the best antidote I've found for the stresses of work.
The other day, Doug and I were outside watering and trimming our go-go-Gadget super-growing plants when we discovered the most massive snails I have ever seen. This is a picture of the granddaddy snail, the largest of them all. Hold your hand out in front of you, and imagine a snail whose shell is the length of your index finger! These are no ordinary snails, folks. And one of our plants had SEVEN of them on it at once! Yikes! I'd hate to step on one of these in the dark...
Here we are, happily trimming and watering, oblivious to the creatures we are about to discover...
Whoa! Dude! The granddaddy of all snails!
And even though these aren't pictures of animals, I have to share them anyway because I am oh-so-proud of my first successful use of a power drill in our new home. (Don't worry, this episode was not preceded by any unsuccessful use of the power drill! :P) We decided to mount some new curtains in our living room to close off an open doorway and keep the room cooler when the air conditioning is on. Doug and I are having fun with home improvement projects like this!
Now our living room feels like a deliciously cool movie theater! Who wants to come visit?
I feel the same way about swimming! Good to know that it's a successful stress antidote in environments as varied as the Gambia and New York City :).
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your ever-growing garden and beautiful house!
I love Squeakum T on Doug's left shoulder :-) and Eve's soft, fuzzy, and oh-so-inviting belly.
ReplyDeleteI have the cutest grand kitties in the world!!
I miss them....and YOU!
Thank you for taking the picture of the dead blowfish, that I was too squeamish to capture. I do find it morbidly fascinating.
Much love, Mom <3
Great pictures. Your kittens, garden, (and snails) are growing so big. As I was reading what you wrote about swimming, before seeing the pictures, I was having a hard time visualizing you swimming in the Gambian River. -ha Glad you are enjoying that seaside resort instead.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely story and set of pictures. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThat snail was one impressive creature. Do you also have banana slugs? (Remember, from Santa Cruz?) The blowfish didn't bother me so much because Reg and I have had fish tanks in the past, and I would feel sorry when a fish died, usually. Wonder whatever happened to the big blower? Usually they puff up to scare off something, I believe. I can't imagine another sea creature eating a puffed up blowfish. Hmm.
Nice that you can swim at the pool. What color curtain did you put up by the living room?
Love, Jean