Gone Walkies.

I think I've said my cats are nut jobs....? This is how nutty: I put down food for the boys so I could sneak out & go for a walk along the mangroves all by myself ~ which is how I like to settle my mind & grow calm again when I have been deeply unsettled. My FIL's death has been deeply unsettling for many reasons but preparing for his island farewell on Sunday stressed me to the max, mostly because I'm not a techi but had a number of changes that I had to make & check on our church computer ~ a computer that really only works in spasms & with a number of important keys that simply no longer work, like delete & enter.

See if I don't distract my boys they want to come too.  Sadly my ruse was spotted.  The MOTH informs me that I was no sooner out the door than Marlow began agitating so partway along the waterfront I could hear this pathetic mew in the distance. *sigh* Before long my cat appeared, still calling as he hurtled under fallen logs & mangrove roots in search of me. Then it was on!

The presence of my cat flushed all the bronze~wing pigeons.  Their wap~wap~wap as they hurtled out of the groundcover startled other things ~

like this huge goanna, whose swollen tummy suggests that either it was pregnant or had just eaten a large & indigestible meal.

The cormorants draped on the rocks took off in a great flurry.

On my own I like to sit out on those rocks & let the sun & the salt breeze wash away worry & irritation. The mangroves make secret tunnels & amongst the birdsong & the wash of water is always a good place to pray.

With my cat in tow it was not to be.  The waves were a threat to me & he agitated until I followed him up the path to the top of the hill.  Now that this area has been fenced off it has become a sanctuary for wildlife.  I saw, unusual for here, whipbirds, who are shy though their call is distinctive, plenty of curlews & maggies, mistletoe birds, red~headed honeyeaters & to my utter joy our paddymelon. She took off fast & silent so no pictures.  Her joey was nowhere to be seen & should be too big to still be riding in her pouch.

As we pottered about I came upon this melaleuca [paperbark tree] whose trunk was shredded with a deep gorge & all the bark scattered in a wide birth about it. When I checked with The Man he said it was likely a lightening strike that had stripped the trunk without burning it.  Never seen anything like it before!

And then the 2nd lot of yowling began.  Cat number too slid under the fence & make a great commotion about having been left behind.  What is a girl to do?!