Rae Spencer

Broad-headed Skink

May 22, 2013Rae Spencer8 Comments

Skink May 22

I first saw this little skink while I was mowing today. I stopped long enough to take a picture, then continued on with the mower. Slowly, because I didn’t want to hit my pretty blue-tailed visitor if it decided to hide in the grass.

Later, I spotted the skink again as it basked on our driveway. I took several more photos, then lost track of my subject when it squeezed itself into a seam under the house’s siding. A few minutes passed before it scrambled across our porch and into the iris bed, carrying something in its mouth. I couldn’t tell what it had caught, but I was able to follow with my lens and snap a few photos as it ate.

Skink May 22

After gulping down its meal, the skink paused in a patch of sunlight before moving deeper into the irises.

Skink May 22

When I was young, Mother called these lizards “blue-tailed skinks.” I can’t remember exactly when we discovered that our blue-tailed lizards were actually juvenile skinks of three distinct species, and that their bright tails would fade as they matured, but I remember being shocked that Mother had been wrong about something. (Which means it must have been before the worst of my teenage arrogance set in, when I would have been shocked to discover that Mother had ever been right about anything.)

In trying to identify today’s photos, I decided this was a Broad-headed Skink based on the following close-ups, which show five scales on the upper lip between nostril and eye. (Click on the thumbnail at the bottom of this page on the Virginia Herpetological Society website for further explanation, and please comment if you can correct or confirm my identification!)

Skink May 22

If there had been four scales on the upper lip margin, the skink could have been either a Common Five-lined Skink or a Southeastern Five-lined Skink…

Mid-May in the Yard

May 18, 2013Rae Spencer7 Comments

Bee May 16

Earlier this week some parts of our area had overnight frost, then temperatures flared into the eighties. Bees and hover flies responded to the summer-like conditions with greatly increased activity, much to the delight of our Fourth of July rose.

Hoverfly May 15

Unfortunately, other insect activity also increased. The daisies and petunias were somewhat less delighted.

Daisy Damage May 15

Petunia Damage May 15

And this damselfly had to be rescued from an abandoned spider web.

Damselfly May 7

While increasing insect activity gave me the opportunity to experiment with my camera’s macro functions, the yard’s quickening was visible on larger scales, as well. The cardinals’ nestlings fledged last week, which led to a few days of frantic visits to the feeder, followed by conspicuous absence as the little family moved on to explore other yards.

Cardinal May 2

The squirrel kittens never returned, after that one brief visit, but the adult squirrels have been growing more playful and tolerant of each other as they approach the beginning of a new breeding season. Perhaps there will be more kittens, later this summer.

Squirrels May 2

Squirrels May 9

Perhaps there will be more of everything. Especially more long, lazy afternoons with bright pools of sunshine and breezy, open windows.

Rabbit May 2

Cat May 9

Cat May 15

In a word, more serenity.

Daisies May 15

(During my spring flower frenzy, I bought the flowers in the above photo because their labels said “Serenity”. They are Serenity series African daisies, and I’ve planted them right beside the front door…)

Treasures from Home, Part Two (The Red Chairs)

May 8, 2013Rae Spencer9 Comments

Chairs

These chairs belonged to my grandmother, and they dominate my memories of visiting her house. The red chairs seemed stern, like Grandmother (we weren’t allowed to call her anything less formal than “Grandmother”). Sitting on them reminded me that I was expected to be still and quiet during our visits.

Despite the chairs’ lack of comfort, I admired them. They were, for me, irresistibly exotic. Ornate to the point of absurdity, designed for beauty instead of utility. Only now, when it’s too late for curiosity, does it occur to me that the chairs were different from the rest of Grandmother’s furniture, which was all very sturdy and practical. So why did she keep them? What did she see, when she looked at the chairs?

I never asked Grandmother about the chairs, just as I never asked about the years she spent as a single working mother. I never asked how she managed to raise a daughter, alone, during World War II and the decade that followed. How she managed to raise a daughter, alone, while working full-time.

Time hasn’t softened the chairs, which are so uncomfortable that even the cats refuse to sit on them, but it has softened my memories of Grandmother. She wasn’t a kind, cozy grandmother, but neither was she as stiff and disapproving as I imagined. Her truth, like the chairs’ truth, is an unsolvable mystery.

But now the chairs have come to me and I have the opportunity to create a new truth for them. I keep them in our living room, one on each side of the room. As I sit between them, they remind me to be still and quiet, to listen more carefully, and to understand that some stories are told in silences, rather than words.

Chairs

More Photos from the Yard

May 1, 2013Rae Spencer6 Comments

Squirrel April 24

A few months ago, the yard’s squirrels were pairing off and building nests. Now the male squirrels have returned to their solitary ways, and the females are busy raising their young. Earlier this week, one of the females brought three kittens along when she visited the feeder.

Squirrel April 29

While she ate, her kittens zipped around the yard. They raced up and down the fence, over and under benches and planters, exploring every corner of every flower bed.

Squirrel April 29

After the little family moved on, a larger, solitary squirrel ambled through. It ate until the feeder was empty, paused for a sip of water, then spent several minutes marking the fence. It marked the entire perimeter of the yard, and I wondered if the behavior was territorial or simply a form of communication.

Squirrel April 29

I haven’t seen the kittens again, but I’ve been adding an extra handful of seed to the feeder each morning, hoping they will return. The other squirrels have noticed my generosity.

Squirrel May 1

While the squirrels are getting more numerous, the rabbits seem to be waning in number. So I was happy, this afternoon, when an adult rabbit stopped by for a bath and a nap in one of the corner flower beds.

Rabbit May 1