The dog says "Hey"

Would you throw Teddy for me? 

Tonight I arrived home late so the dog and I started our walk in the dark.  The dog only walked a little while and decided he didn't want to walk anymore and he went home.  I let him back in the gate and walked by myself down to the end of the paved road where Zig Zag the lonely bull is.   There was nothing that I could see tonight that I could photograph and I too was weary from the day so I walked on home. Night time photos on the IPhone are new to me and I am still learning how to take them.    I had to settle for a picture of the dog trying to get me to play with his torn up teddy bear while I was writing this post. He can look at you pretty intently with his eyes. Sometimes he looks kind of spooky.  Thanks for coming by this evening. Bye.

Talley me bananas

Three months to banana ice cream. 

My morning walks always start with a turn around the yard to see how the garden and fruit trees are doing.  This morning I stopped at the north side of the house and took a look at the bananas growing there.  I have been told that these are most likely the Orinoco variety of bananas by a local botanist.   They can grow to around 20 feet in height.  The last banana on the bottom of the bunch is about 9 feet above the ground so my trees are probably around 15 feet tall.  Bananas here on the gulf coast are an iffy proposition due to the fact that they require 18 month of growth to produce ripe fruit. Hurricanes and tropical depressions tend to bring winds that damage them or knock them over.  Most of the time though a killing frost  in December or January will damage the tree once it is about 10 months old and it will have to start over.   The bananas in the photo will most likely make it  to harvest which will be some time in November or December.  The taste is very different from grocery store bananas.  These bananas are almost ice-cream or butter flavored.  The flavor is hard to describe but, they are very good.  Also there is a large flower that grows at the bottom of the stalk which most people cut off.  I leave it as it attracts all types of flying insects and humming birds.  You have to be careful walking around them at night as there are green frogs all over the leaves.  The frogs will jump some times and land right on your face which is a little disconcerting.  Thanks for visiting this morning.  I hope you have a great day. 

Run rabbit run

Opponents sizing each other up. 

This evening the dog and I walked up to a culvert on the east end of the paved road to see if the crawfish have arrived.  On the way we passed a neighbors grass covered drive way where I spotted a rabbit and quietly directed the dog's attention to it.  He glanced in the rabbit's direction and walked around casually pretending not to care.  Then he stood staring for a moment as you see him in photo I took.  After about thirty seconds of staring he bolted after the rabbit which ran down the fence line when it saw the dog coming. The dog gave chase but it was impossible.  It was like the difference between a car and jet.  The dog was simply out ran by the rabbit as is usually the case.  The dog has in the past caught the rabbits but they were in a situation where they could not see him such as high grass. After the chase ended we walked on up to the culvert where we found that the crawfish had not arrived. We did see a few small bass and brim minnows making their way down through the flowing water.  Soon the crawfish will come out of the ground and begin catching the small fish as they swim by which is always interesting to watch.    They are fierce little machines that don't seem to be afraid of anything and they are tasty.  As I look for the crawfish I am aware that there may be things in bushes watching me.  Anywhere there is flowing water there is the danger of water moccasins. They are in the area of the culvert in large numbers.  The moccasins should be dispersing their broods about now so we will have to be careful. When they are small the moccasins will appear a copper or bronze color and are about a foot long.  They are very aggressive and will jump at you if they feel cornered.  The dog has been bit by snakes several times over the years.  He has apparently survived.