My Good Luck Charm!

   For the past few days it has been sunny and that meant yard work.  I am trying to reclaim all of the mulch that the torrential rains took from the gardens and put down near the marsh.  Hauling it back up the hill is proving to be my undoing as I live in a state of soreness now.  Old ladies are not supposed to push a wheelbarrow uphill twenty to thirty times a day.  I do. I am paying for the effort.  My body is telling me to stop but the weather says "Get it done now because I am going to take a turn for the worse come the weekend."  It is that old adage of "Make hay while the sun shines." at play here.  Good news is that I only have about forty more loads to haul.  Hopefully, I have it secure enough this time that the rain does not decide to mulch the marsh again.  If it does...it can stay...I do not care.  While doing all of that raking, loading and hauling of mulch, I discovered the "motherlode" of millipedes.  It seems that the critters are in mulch heaven under that stuff.  They are fat and happy!

  I was thinking about the millipedes and decided that was to be my research project for the evening.  (Learn something new and all that.)  Anyway, after finding out all the life-habits of the critters, there was an article on symbolism and life totems or spirit animals.  Ok, so that stirred a bit of interest!  It seems that millipedes are the symbols of good luck, energy and health.  Well, now!  I think I shall just have to adopt a millipede as my good luck charm! (Or all of them!)  I sure could use all three of those things.  If you follow my lead, just make sure to adopt a millipede and not a centipede.  First off, those critters can bite!  Millipedes just sort of musk you but centipedes can pack a wallop!  Also, while millipedes represent rather nice things, in most cultures the centipede is a symbol of evil or death.  Nope, don't want that following me.  So, millipedes are where it is at, folks.  Happy little campers there!  I will keep them.

My "Spirit Animal"

  Just about daybreak, I heard the telltale scream of a red-tailed hawk just outside the back door.  That was enough for me to brave the chill and head out to find my friend.  This bird has been hanging about the Bayou for the past few months and has become quite familiar with me.  At times, the bird will even follow me about the yard as I do chores.  I am good with it as I have always held a fondness for hawks and this one is a beauty!  This morning, however, I could not find my friend.  I heard its screams but was at a loss as to where it was.  As I headed past the compost pile, the bird screamed again letting me know that it was in an oak tree behind the canebrake.  Ok...lets slip down that way. Rounding the canebrake, I heard the soft whirring of wings as the bird headed toward the Bay.  Oh, shoot!  Now I had to make my way through the garden and down the hillside.  Not that this is hard but I was barefoot and the temperature was in the 40s!  From the top of a pine tree, the bird screamed and headed back toward me.  I stopped.  The bird flew to the top of an oak nearby.  Ok...my feet were freezing!  Time to head back in and get my shoes.  

  Well once inside, I realized that the old dog needed to go out.  With camera slung on my shoulder, I hoisted the dog and headed out the front door.  My hawk had better be hanging around because it was going to take a few more moments before I could get back to it!  While Mr. PJ was doing his business, I, again, heard the whirring of wings and realized that the hawk had come to the tree behind me.  Oh, sweet!  After a few quick photographs, the session was over.  The old dog had to be toted back inside.  I bid my bird friend farewell for the time being.

  There are some legends that say red-tailed hawks are protectors of the world and that those who can befriend them (in any form) share their duties.  These folks also share the intuitiveness, the braveness and the fairness that the hawk represents.  I am not sure about all of that but I do feel that I have obtained a certain connection with this hawk. There is a mutual sense of respect between the two of us.  My "spirit animal" is a red-tailed hawk!  (Odd thing is...several years ago, one of those social media "tests" proclaimed that very same bird as my spirit animal.  According to that test, we both shared a keen insight into all that is around us.)  Sounds good to me.