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Showing posts from May 27, 2011

Magical Moment 483, "Fauna"

I met Fauna  a few days ago  in the National Park where my husband is a Park Ranger. I haven't gone back to see her yet, but I asked Eddie to keep a look out for her. I want to follow her progress, and since the Park is surrounded by an urban area, I want to make sure she stays safe from passing cars.  During one of his late security checks, he was near the parking lot and was shocked to find that he literally almost stepped on her. He was so close he could reach his arm out and touch her if he wanted. Instead, he snapped this picture for me, then carried on. He called me from work to tell me what he saw, but that he hadn't seen the mother.  I was a little worried. It may be hard to tell from this picture, but she is  tiny . Really the size of a dog, and her fur is still fuzzy. So why wasn't her mother with her late at night when the predators are out?! Google, or as I refer to it, my smart best friend, came to the rescue. It turns out that fawns who are less than 3 weeks

Magical Moment 482, "Chase"

A few years ago, I took my nephew, Ethan, to a beach in North Carolina. He was only 3 at the time and it was his first visit to the shore. He was  terrified  in awe of the ocean, and the endless sand was new and fascinating. But above all, he was  most  amazed at the seagulls.  They were  everywhere , and so close too! Why, he could almost reach out and grab one! Well, this became a novel idea and it's exactly what he tried to do. Over and over. It didn't take long for him to learn that they fly away awfully fast, and so he had to be ready to run. He would get close, they would get ready for take off, and then just like that, Ethan would be toddling down the shore at full speed trying to catch that tricky bird. When it flew away, another was right there,  so  near his grasp. He ran up and down the beach all day long and it never occurred to him that he might not catch a seagull after all. And I never told him that it was unlikely. I hope he always thinks he can catch a seagul

Magical Moment 481, "Deer Hunting"

My husband is a Park Ranger at a National Park in New Jersey. Though it's a small park, whose historical significance boasts Thomas Edison's former residence, he still sees his dose of wildlife. And since I love little critters, he took me on a mission to hunt and shoot - my camera. Our main objective was deer, but on our mission, we found some less-illusive critters to shoot.  More chipmunks that I could possibly count I find them irresistibly adorable  More groundhogs than I could possibly count See baby groundhog on the left, and lazy mamma on the right? My own pretty little critter, Joy. (She did more scaring away, than helping us find). Finally, the deer came out. But the best find, and shots of the day, were of this little baby. I named her Fauna.  Fauna was brave, but we didn't want to get too close. I'll continue to check on her. One of the best things about the return of good weather, is that critter season is open. I must remember to keep my camera ne

Magical Moment 480, "Happy Memorial Day"

I've said before that my  Grandma  is the most patriotic person I know. Her family, from Mexico, consisted of her mother raising 10 children alone. And though she is full blooded Mexican, her heart completely belongs to the United States. She is the most appreciative supporter of the military I have ever met. And so for today's post, I turned to one of her many writings to share. She wrote this for her Writer's Group with Betsy Ross and the first hand-stitched flag as her inspiration. "Red White and Blue"  by Mary M. Valencia 10/13/2009 Ripples high Red, White, and Blue Sounds of freedom alerts us to A Nation's fighting battle cry Amongst the density she flies high. Forward rushing 3,000 men Grimace boldly to defend. Battles fought on common soil Where once'st with brother they did toil. The promise of a new tomorrow Bodies buried lessen the sorrow. Atrocious battle has been fought Unmeasured calmness now is sought. Forward proudly in the lead Fife and d

Magical Moment 479, "The Expert"

I watched a young girl of about 5 years old board the subway with her father. It was a warm day and the father seemed exhausted as he scanned the car for an empty seat for him and his daughter. The young girl pushed her way through the crowd to find a vacant metal pole that she could use to steady herself on her feet as the train bounced around. She didn't seem to mind that there were no available seats. At the next stop, a swarm of people left the train and before a new swarm could board and fill the empty seats, the little girl moved quickly to take a seat and save one for her dad.  Commuters always sit in silence on the subway. There could be a singing musician passing through the car, a homeless man making a scene, or a mouse scurrying across the floor, and most New Yorkers wouldn't flinch or even look up. But something about this little girl enchanted those near her and they smiled at her. She smiled back and told her heroic tale of getting a seat for her and her dad.  &q

Magical Moment 478, "Oxyphenbutazone"

I've mentioned before that my husband and I are big scrabble nerds. I've held the title of " The Ruler of Scrabble " for a few years now. My statistics for number of games won, highest word score, and highest game score have been mine for a while. But today my husband did something that...well, I don't know if we can call it amazing, or extremely nerdy. Probably a little of both. While I was at work, he found himself bored with nothing to do. So he played a game of electronic scrabble. He went back and forth with himself as each player, and strategically set up the board in a way that would allow him to create the mother of all scrabble words. The word that if you're playing for real, the chances are about 1 in a million that you would be able to make this word legitimately. After several hours, he completed his task. Ah Eddie. Some write poetry. Some play music. And some want only to get a word score of 1,710 points:

Magical Moment 477, "By Their Fruits"

Recently I was out with some friends and we ran into someone I hadn't seen in over a year. He is a music producer with a great deal of success in NYC. I worked as his  intern for a very brief time when I first moved here, and was actually surprised that he remembered me so well.  As we all got reacquainted, my friends mentioned a play they're working on called  Children of God , to which my former producer boss asked,  "Are you all Christians too? I know  she  is," as he pointed at me.  There was no mocking tone. He asked with genuine interest, almost admiration. And it completely took me by surprise because I'm almost certain we  never  directly discussed that issue when I worked for him.  I took it as an enormous compliment. I have no idea what I did in the short weeks that we worked together to make him "know" I was a Christian. But I must try and find out, and then do more of it. "Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of th