we only come out at night.

so during our beach trip we woke up several times before it was light in order to get down to the beach and get shots of the crabs. when we went to cape hatteras when i was little (and still willing to wake up before dawn), the ghost crabs were always out in the early morning light. however, they must’ve decided, like me, that they’d rather stay up late and sleep in because no crabs were ever out. sure there were some really tiny ones, but not like the kind we knew.

so one night geoff, laura, and i ventured out into the mosquito infested wildnerness covered in deet and decided to look for the crabs at night. and voila! we have crabs. we took a flashlight, but there were so many of them we were practically jumping to avoid stepping on them. they were all fiddler crabs and ghost crabs.

crab-copy“weeeeee!”

needless to say, they are terrified of my flash. they jumped into the air when i shot it. felt kinda bad.

anyway, the next night my parents took us out to dinner and we had leftover hush puppies. so of course, we all went down to the beach and tried to feed them to the crabs like any sane and respectable family would do.

but it worked! and OH MAN do crabs love hush puppies. they grab them and run. and all the while you swear you can hear them laughing:

crabhushpuppy“hahaha! so long, suckers!”

if you can’t tell, the photography skills required to catch a crab in pure darkness with a telephoto lens while laughing hysterically are hard to acquire, so i did the best i could. this was one of the crabs, running frantically away after snatching the hush puppy and presumably taking it back it’s crabby liar to feast for the next several years.

i miss the beach!

top of the dunes overlooking highway 12:

beach-352-copy“oh my god, the mosquitos are everywhereeee!”

-carolyn

for button.

on june 17th, 2009 i had to put my cat button to sleep. he was 14 years old. i got “yogurt” back when i was 9 and mercifully renamed him button after he tried to eat all of the buttons on my shirt. when i moved to raleigh a year ago he was too old and had too many health problems to come with me. he had mysterious off and on problems for several years, but our other cat, tang, had really severe asthma. taking care of tang occupied most of our waking hours for a long time before he passed away on june 26th, 2008, right before i moved to raleigh.

so i moved… and my mom and dad took great care of button who, at the time, had health problems that the vets were still trying to figure out. eventually he was diagnosed with colon cancer. he had surgery to remove a majority of the tumor in january, but we were told it would come back within 6-18 months. sure enough, 6 months later, it was back. i flew into pittsburgh to be with my mom, dad, and button to put him to sleep. he was suffering, but i got to spend one more night with him playing with his laser pointer and toy soldier.

i know a lot of people don’t understand the impact of putting an animal to sleep, but my cats have always had the personalities equal to any one of my human family members and are greatly missed. i also feel sad that i didn’t get to spend much time with him after i moved; we were constantly together for most of my life since i was 9. it is hard on me that we grew apart. like i said, most people probably won’t understand this, but my cats really are family.

today i started making a scrapbook for button just like the ones i made for tang. it is helping me remember a lot of things. i had made an online memorial for tang when i had a flickr account with a poem that reminded me of him. now it reminds me of  both of them. i hope they’re doing well… i know they are.

button

BEAMED FROM THE BRIGHT CATTERY IN THE SKY
(Michael Hatwell)

In case you have been wondering
Just how I am getting along
In my new surroundings
Or worry whether I have learned to cope
With the easy rhythm and pace
For which this place is renowned
Then listen: I have been chasing little mice again
Sweeter, lighter, infinitely more fragrant
Than any I ever brought into the bedroom
For your pleasure
In the old days.
That having been said,
I wouldn’t for all the world wish you to infer
That they stint the grub up here:
Admittedly
The celestial fish are not especially exciting
(Their natural zodiac ripeness has had to be homogenised
for the general run of feline palates)
But on the plus side
The nice cat-lady who comes round,
All gowned in blue (my favourite colour)
And with glory crowned,
Pours out a warm and creamy whiteness
That is literally
Quite heavenly.
Someone usually remembers
To cut my claws
And tickle my ear
So that side of things is catered for,
One might say,
Adequately enough.
I think of you sometimes
Certain that you will come one day
To take me on your knee
And talk to me the way you used to.
When that day comes
I shall let you know
Loudly and unambiguously
That things round here have finally begun to go
Really very well indeed:
I shall add to ordinary space and time
My own particular dimension
Of thick, soft-throated sound.

it’s not easy being green.

so when we were at the beach we spotted these crazy lizards on our deck. they were green but had stretchy red skin under their mouths that would puff out every time they breathed. sweet!:

beach-061-copy“hey ladies.”

anyway – they’re called carolina anoles and they are awesome. they can change colors kind of like a chameleon, but they can’t change their color to match whatever they’re on. they pretty much alternate between bright green and brown. sometimes they have awesome stripes and blue eyes:

beach-063-copy

beach-072-copy“no one knows what it’s like.”

they hopped around our decks all week and jumped into trees when they saw us coming. pretty cool little dudes. just part of our wildlife adventures. geoff and laura saw several bald eagles while i was driving. despite my swerving and my shouts of, “WHERE? WHERE?” i saw nothing.

and of course, despite my promises of updating every day, i forgot to update yesterday. but it was friday, ok? that should be a given. we went out to dinner with geoff’s cousin and his wife and then saw the hangover. it’s an amazing movie.

– carolynbeach-274-copy