Albino Chipmunk!

I am NOT enjoying chipmunk season with Winston. He goes crazy after these little fellows each time we are on a walk. I have abrasions on my arm where I have banged into trees as my hunter quickly darts around the base...pulling me along in the hunt.

For the most part, chippies are too quick for W. They make their little warning cry and then scamper away down into fallen logs. W is quick too, but he really can't cover the distance needed to get to his prey while on a leash and pulling a dead weight. I feel for my hunter, but he is supposed to be RETIRED now.

Winston has a great sense of smell. He knows when a chippy is in a dead log, down in the rocks or burrowed into a hole. He will rip logs apart with his teeth, inhale deeply into the rocks or dig, dig, dig enlarging any hole. He is amazing to watch. Nine times out of ten, his prey escapes. Is is wrong for me to admit that I root for the chippies and run interference when I can?

While on a recent 'hunt', Winston found an unusual chipmunk...it was an albino! At first I wasn't sure I was seeing it correctly. For fun, I have posted a normal chipmunk photo along with the albino.

What an amazing hunter I have! :)

HIdden Mickey...In the Woods of Indiana?

Do you recognize the shape above? If Mickey Mouse first popped into your mind, then you know how to identify a Hidden Mickey!

Originally used as an inside joke among Disney Designers and Imagineers, common folk can search the Disney property while on vacation for these hidden symbols too. Click here for a more detailed description about them: What are Hidden Mickey's?

I found this HM on a tree base near my house. It looks like some sort of a fungus on the tree to me, but I immediately thought Hidden Mickey! before I thought fungus.

Fall! Happy October!

Yesterday morning, as the sun was coming up, I captured Fall!

The cicada stopped singing a month ago. The frogs are silent and harder to find. The butterflies are less noticeable and must be transforming into their winter states or migrating south. I saw the last of my hummingbirds on Sept. 30th for this year too.

Tomorrow I am hosting my neighborhood's 52 annual potluck. This get-together is our human way of connecting with one another before retreating, then hibernate for the cold of winter. You can count on me not to hibernate though. Winston will keep my DH and me out doors all Fall and Winter long! :)