It's all about the critters!

(This photo was actually taken in Charleston, but I couldn't resist adding an "ARC" to my ark musings. Don't know what ARC stands for though.)

I'm starting to feel a bit like Noah here. While it has been almost perfect weather every day during the day, 3 of the last 4 evenings we've had heavy rain and/or storms moving through. Saturday there were severe thunderstorm warnings with threats of nickel-sized hail and 60 mph winds. We got some fairly steady rain that moved through quickly and that was about it.

Last night and tonight though, all the severe weather warnings were elsewhere. You'd never know it from watching out my windows. We had heavy, heavy rains and thunder & lightning both nights. The rains came hard and fast, and both evenings I've had a lake develop outside my door. Tonight it looks to be about 3 inches deep, judging from the way it has submerged the 2-inch board that I have leveling my picnic table. It's still raining now, but from the sounds on my roof the deluge has slowed to a light rain. There are still some rumbles of thunder, but the sun is shining to the west again.

Watching the lake grow around my RV is strange though. I really was starting to wonder if I should gather the creatures two by two. I have the two cats covered, although I doubt that 2 neutered males is what God would have in mind. But there are plenty of critters out on the beach that I could gather up.

I've already mentioned the stingrays and jellyfish during the low tides. Yesterday I watched a couple of big ol' sandcrabs skittering along the beach near where I was reading too. I've seen little bitty ones before, but these were about as big as my hands. They can sure scoot sideways across the sand fast though. Goofy looking little critters, they are!

Tonight during my walk, a guy called me over to ask if I'd ever seen 'sand fleas' before. I imagined little fleas like the ones that cats get, or that my friend Sue found biting her ankles when she lived near the beach in San Diego. I sure didn't expect what he had in his hand. He had a quarter sized bug that was just about the creepiest thing I've ever seen. It was wiggling around on his hand, and then when he put it in the water it immediately dove to the sand and burrowed down into it. I saw him again on my return walk and he called me over to show me another, bigger one. This one had eggs, that he also showed me - ugly yellow gushy stuff buried inside it's underbelly. Caviar, he said. Yum yum! (BARF!) He showed me how he would dig into the sand where the tide was going out to find these giant fleas. Not that I ever plan to do it myself.

So, 2 neutered male cats, 2 sand crabs, 2 sand fleas.... should make for an interesting start to the ark, ya think?

Outside the rain is still steadily falling, but the sun shines. I may just go wade out into my lake to see if I can find a rainbow on the horizon!