Ms. Toady and the Old King

  One good thing that has come from my being confined to the outdoor space of the Small Gardens.  It has made me aware of all the special things that are often hidden in plain sight.  In just the past four weeks of my realm being greatly diminished from the entire eight acres to a mere garden plot, I have discovered many interesting things.  Perhaps it is more the idea that I am appreciating things that I overlooked.  Small things are now stupendous.  There is not a day that goes by that I am not spellbound by an otherwise "normal" thing.

  Today, I found a toad.  While that may not seem to be earthshaking to others, the toad kept me fully entertained for nigh on a half hour.  Some may find that a tad ridiculous but, since my time is plentiful, the half hour was well spent.  I pondered the life of a toad...this toad...Ms. Toady.  The critter lives in the roots of an old oak tree that stands just outside the pergola that surrounds the french doors.  The tree is dying so many of its large roots are hollow.  In fact, the entire tree is hollow which makes for perfect dwelling places for so many critters.  The toad shares its root "cave" with a lovely old skink.  The skink was, at one time, the "King Skink" but he has been ousted by an upstart.  So, the toad very kindly let the Old King share her abode.  The two get along divinely and seem to have a great working partnership.  The toad, being younger, ventures further to hunt for prey allowing the Old King to stay near the doorway to their root home.  Also, the toad is active at night and wishes to settle in for rest during the heat of the day.  The skink is diurnal so vacates the root except when an escape is necessary.  It seems to be a win/win situation for the pair.

  Early this morning, I sat on the little foot bridge crossing the Pebble Creek.  The creek empties into the Puddle Pond with a delightful sound of water dripping over the ledge.  As I sat there enjoying life, I noticed the toad hippity-hopping from the Pebble Creek.  She was heading back to the root home for the day.  I thought of how her night had been busy catching the night bugs..many of which linger around the gardens.  Her belly was fat so pickings must have been good.  It gave me a sense of satisfaction knowing that the little toad was well fed and had a cool place to spend the heat of the day.  She and the Old King have an unusual friendship but it works.  I wish them both well.

What a pair!

  If you read at all, you will eventually come across tales of unusual friendships in the animal world.  Critters have a decent amount of love to share given a half of chance.  I don't care if it is a rhino that has befriended a sheep or a chicken that loves a cat, their friendships seem to flourish because there is no interruption by meddlers.  To my way of thinking, people are the only critters that show a bit of jealousy when it comes to other people and their friendships.  It is ridiculous!  But, that said, those in the critter world just don't care about all of the drama in the human world.  They just live the way they feel.  Pretty neat.

  The old dog, Mr. PJ, has been feeling a good bit better since his surgery.  He now actually looks forward to his daily walks.  While he was ill, his walking was more like trudging and at a tremendously slow pace.  I had time to observe a lot of things during these snail-paced meanderings.  One of the things that I noticed was that a juvenile gray squirrel seemed to be following us.  At first, it lingered in the treetops but was never too far from our path.  Later, the little squirrel would often come down from the tree and busy itself on the ground.  Now that the old dog is better, our hikes have sped up a bit.  He does his own thing off-leash.  He takes a walk down the lower part of the yard near the marsh.  That little squirrel seems elated that Mr. PJ is better as now the squirrel follows more closely.  As soon as we get down near the old oak in the front yard, the squirrel stays within a few feet of the dog.  The dog, however, seems oblivious to the friendship-offering critter.  He plods along unaware that he has a miniature shadow.  

  It amuses me that this unlikely pair take the daily walks together.  Normally, the dog would be chasing the squirrel and the squirrel would be high in the treetops but not with this duo!  They are buddies to the end!  I am supposing that as the weather chills and food gets hard to find, I had better stick a few dog treats in my pocket so Mr. PJ can share a snack with his little buddy.  That would be a nice gesture.