Kissed by a Butterfly

I was kissed by a butterfly yesterday afternoon. I was walking the dogs and noticed a Mexican Sunflower, or Tithonia, bursting with flowers and covered in orange butterflies. I took the dogs inside and brought out my camera, and as I focused in on one of the flowers, a butterfly flew up and tried to land on my cheek. It was soft and gentle, like a kiss. They are so delicate. I didn't want to move in case I bumped her with the camera, so I held very still until she eventually moved away.

I had an interesting encounter with a snake, too. I was watching television and I had the strangest feeling that there was a snake in the yard. I can't quite explain it. It was almost dark and kind of cold, and I was strongly doubting myself, but I put on some slippers and grabbed a flashlight anyway. Sure enough, the snake was just outside the back door. It didn't slide away. In fact, it looked as if it had just finished eating. It was barely moving, and it's shape seemed a little, well, out of shape. I sat beside him speaking in a soft voice for about half an hour. I called my husband and described the snake, but neither one of us was sure what kind it was. It didn't have any rattles. It didn't rear back or slither away. It just watched me. Once in awhile, it stuck its tongue out at me. My feet started to hurt because of the way I was squatting on the ground and when I stood up, he slithered away.

I'm surprised by how many lizards are still out. I walked into the backyard and found a bright green anole on the picnic table. It started to run away, but I used my soft voice and it stopped and cocked its head to one side, listening. When I tried to pick it up, though, it darted into a pot that I was preparing to fill with a plant. I decided to just leave him be. I could see his little heart racing. I turned around to walk back into the house and noticed a baby anole on the aloe vera plants. It was so small, it looked like it had just hatched. It acted the same way as the adults, though. It started to run away, but as soon as I started speaking, it stopped to listen. So cute!

And something rather odd is happening in Mrs. Toady's shoes. It is colder at night, so she has obviously buried herself somewhere in the garden or in one of my plant pots. Most likely a plant pot. Anyway, someone has filled my garden shoes with sunflower seeds! It doesn't seem like the type of thing a bird would do. To be honest, I'm a little dumbfounded by the whole thing. I have no idea what kind of creature would fill a shoe with sunflower seeds!