One of the nice things in life is that when you like something, you usually find yourself surrounded by that most of the time. I was sitting back and taking a look at my last 2 weeks since the last time I was here and I thought about my everyday life. It was amazing how many times it involved animals (other than the dog park) surrounding me.

Here is a partial list
1)Turtle Extraction - It had been quite a while since I had seen a turtle up close but I got the chance last week. Somehow a turtle made it to the middle of one of our busiest streets, Admiral Drive. I am not sure where it was trying to go, but hanging out in the middle of this road would end it's journey quick. I saw it when I crested the hill. I was not sure what it was, but when I saw a head pop-up, I realized what it was. I slowed down, opened my door, picked it up, put him in my lap and took it to the other side of the road(I was told you never put them back where they came from because they will just do it again). With him safe and no traffic snarls, I moved on and he crawled off. What was my thank you(not that I expected one)? A stream of turtle pee on my leg!

2)Ice Cream Social -
Now, before you ask...how does this figure into this wonderful list? Well, it was a Ice Cream Social for Dogs! I was lucky enough to be invited to this little gathering and man was it a good time. I took the leash of a very young and strong, mixed-pooch. Anything and everything that looked like, smelled like or was food was in this one's sight. Along with my little sled dog, there were Danes, mixes, spaniels, and all kinds of four-legged marvels. It was great to walk around Annapolis (City Dock Area) and have people ask if just came from a dog show, if we are part of a parade, or just plain cooing! The Danes are great with people(not that the others weren't) and the people went crazy for them. After a short walk, we got some yogurt (I know it is not Ice Cream!) for the humans and the dogs (Thanks, Karen!). The dogs went crazy for these frozen delights, which in turn delighted everyone outside of Ben and Jerry's. It turned into a huge sticky mess with yogurt mixing in fur, ears and chins. I want to go again!

3)The Stalker Cat - There is a cat that lives across from me who has decided it wants to stalk my apartment. It is a friendly cat, well taken care of and one that seems to have no fear of humans or dogs. Every time I step outside, this little stalker comes out of nowhere to rub against me, purr and try to get an invitation to come and play with my crew. I have tried to explain to this little guy that, even though it may seem like a great idea to play with dogs, it is not usually a good match to do so. I am not truly a cat person, I love animals of all types, this guy has won me over. As much as I like this cat, it is just creepy to look outside my window and see eyes staring back at me from the porch across the way. It is like some bad indie horror movie.

4)Deer - They are everywhere I go. They walk in front of me when I leave Quiet Waters, have jumped out at me when I was walking in my neighborhood and have taunted the dogs from the other side of the fence. The ones in Quiet Waters, I can handle. They move on when you come by or they just stay in place and stare at you. But the one that jumped out from the woods had me shrieking like a kid. I know, I am a baby. But when it is late, dark and something that is taller than you, bigger than you, has instruments of pain attached to it's head, is looking pretty pissed off and jumps out from nowhere, I challenge you to be anything else!

5)Bat Man - I got lucky and found a bat in a parking lot... Woo Hoo! I like bats, but I am never quite sure how to deal with them, not that I have been around them that much. I was walking through a parking lot, looked down, and I saw something that looked like a ball of fur. Then I saw the wings. I knew that it was a bat, but I was not sure of whether it was alive or not. As I got down closer, I realized that this one was definitely alive, but not moving. I picked it up with a box top, put it in the bottom of the box and called someone who knew something about bats(I found the numbers on the web). They informed me on how to handle the bat and that they would be by the next day to come and pick it up. Home we went. The little guy(or gal) hung out with me (outside on my deck, with me inside) overnight. After it was taken away, in a VERY COOL bat cage, I was told I could donate and check on him. I did both and I found out the reason the bat was where it was...it was malnourished. They were giving him mealworms and they where helping him out. The cool part was that it was scheduled for take off later next week. One more thing... This story has another animal popping out. When I went to check on it, before they came, I looked in the box and could not see it. I was afraid that something had happened. I turned the box around and it was under the top (see pic) sleeping. I had my hand on the top of that box top and didn't even feel him there. I almost fell over when I saw it there!

As much as I love animals and have enjoyed the last few weeks, I will be working on thinking about other topics... ones I won't get into here... to see if I can surround myself with them as well!