{"id":328,"date":"2007-06-22T10:54:00","date_gmt":"2007-06-22T10:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/?p=328"},"modified":"2007-06-22T10:54:01","modified_gmt":"2007-06-22T10:54:01","slug":"when-nature-comes-calling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/?p=328","title":{"rendered":"When Nature Comes Calling"},"content":{"rendered":"

When nature comes calling means one thing to many of us. <\/span>It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a saying associated with our digestive system and we better listen when it calls. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Today, however, I would like to concentrate on when nature and its outdoor creatures come to visit.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Most often that kind of visit is not regularly encouraged but rather a creature from nature stumbles across us as it is heading somewhere else. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

There are a few exceptions.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I was camping this past weekend in the mountains of West Virginia<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> with some friends. <\/span>We had a master outdoor chef with us who cooked a meal Friday night that would rival any indoor gourmet chef.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

About 2:30 a.m. I awoke to hear the outdoor trash can being invaded by a nighttime visitor. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

We knew there was a possibility of bears in the forest, but it was pitch black out there and a peak through the screen revealed nothing but darkness. <\/span>We continued to listen to the invader rummaging through the trash which, I thought, likely contained bones leftover from the meat as well as some potatoes and vegetables. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Being with people who were regular campers, a red lens flashlight soon appeared and we discovered a LARGE raccoon enjoying a late night dinner from that can. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

We left the raccoon alone. <\/span>Next morning there were a few bags of chips missing, trash from the can all over the grounds, etc. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Recently, there was a very large river cooter that appeared in the backyard of my friends\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 home when I was in New Jersey<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> a few weeks before. <\/span>We had almost run over a large alligator turtle the morning before as we drove the back roads on our way to Pennsylvania<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>. Never mind the deer that appear in their yard almost every day. They are there so often that they just look up and then go back to their grazing. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

My most recent visit from nature was three feet long. <\/span>It appeared at the door of my office the first day back after my camping vacation. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Now mind you, I have been working in a portable office for almost four years now. <\/span>I have never seen a snake anywhere near. <\/span>There have been a few other creatures like those lovely palmetto bugs, and a mouse we named \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bartholomew\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he was with us so long.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

This snake, however, was slithering across the walkway right toward my workplace as I was coming to the office early that morning. <\/span>At first it just moved around and under the steps. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Then, it did something I was not suspecting. <\/span>It started going up the side of the building and around the door. <\/span>With no warning at all, and very instinctually I might add, it began to slither into the crack between the door and the inside of the frame.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I swear, it was if he had been invited for a conference and knew just where to come. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

He just didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t knock first.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I called the maintenance folks and they came down to get it. <\/span>Fortunately, it did not go all the way inside the office and one of them was able to actually pick it up and take it away.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

My wish for you today<\/strong> is that you never have to come face to face with a creature of nature unless you want to. <\/span>Zoos are good places to do that. <\/span>Just maintain a healthy respect for nature and keep your distance.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

~ Joellen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When nature comes calling means one thing to many of us. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a saying associated with our digestive system and we better listen when it calls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,27,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-events","category-living-life-to-the-fullest","category-nature-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}