This is our new bundle of joy … Indiana Jones, Indie for short. It took us a couple of days to name this little guy, but after watching him bounce around the house and fly (yes, that’s the right word) off the furniture we figured his name fit his adventuresome nature.
This little guy was the runt of the litter, but what he didn’t get in size he more than makes up for in spirit. He has learned to scale a human (back or front) in 2 seconds flat (a bad habit that we can’t stop at the moment because it’s too darn cute). He can jump at least three feet both vertically and horizontally to reach sleeping spots. And has no problem taking on our older cat (who is easily five times his size) in knock-down-drag-out wrestling matches that make me wonder if he has all his marbles. And he has most definitely wiggled his way into our hearts.
And just watching him has 
made me think about how I approach life and more specifically, my writing. There are so many new things Indie encounters every day, yet I haven’t seen him shy away from any of them. He fearlessly goes through his day with a cocky arrogance that makes me laugh … and I totally admire. Which made me think that I should approach my writing that way.
When I first began this adventure I didn’t know enough to stop my muse from playing gleefully. We romped around wherever the spirit led us. But then I learned some “rules” and well … started to worry more about whether the story I was writing would be good enough. And the more I write and learn, the more cautious I become. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve floundered because I was overthinking a particular scene, too worried about how the readers (and reviewers) might not like a particular approach.
I want to boldly write my book and shut off my internal editor. I’d love to jump into scenes with both feet, eyes closed and land where I may. I keep working on it. Perhaps some day I’ll be able to achieve that goal and get back to when writing was a joyfully journey into new settings and characters.
How about you? How do you approach life? Do you feel (like me) that more experiences seem to make you more cautious … in everything.
Maine is the lobster capital of the world! (Well, Mainers believe that anyway.) But the recession has hit the market hard … very hard. So my thirteen this week is about the spiny creature of the sea–the lobster. I’m not sure if it will encourage you to have lobster at your family get-together, but at the very least, I hope it will give you food for thought. hee hee
1. Lobsters are part of the order of Crustaceans, which means, like insects, they have their skeleton on the outside.
2. Lobsters are generally a dark green to black color and turn red only after cooking. But sometimes nature “burps” out color variations.
I don’t know what inspired it, but this week is all about babies! Enjoy these 13 facts about various baby animals and the pictures that make you go “awwww”.
1. Baby pandas weigh only 4 ounces (130 grams) which is 1/900th of their parents’ weight of about 350 pounds (135 kgs).
2. Kangaroos are born reeeeeally tiny. They crawl from the birth canal into their mother’s pouch where it nurses. It will use the mother’s pouch for up to 18 months.
3. Aardvarks are typically clumsy with poor eyesight so this little bundle was watched closely so his mother wouldn’t inadvertantly injure him. And yes … they are born hairless.
4. Grizzly bears are born blind and without fur. They have between one and 4 siblings at birth. They stay with their mothers approximately 2 years though they aren’t considered full grown until they are 11.
5. Giraffes are born live and this poor little thing had to survive a 6 foot drop at birth … ouch!
6. I couldn’t resist this picture. But there’s nothing really interesting to mention about chickens. Perhaps that you can hypnotize a chicken by drawing lines in the dirt… no? How about castrated male chickens are called capons… still nothing? I know … a female chicken can lay up to 265 table eggs a year… that didn’t do it? Well, I got nothin’. Let’s hope the picture makes you smile …
7. Elephants are pregnant for 22 months and they give birth to babies that weigh 200 pounds. Female babies stay in the herd for their whole lives, but males strike out on their own around 12 years of age. Baby elephants have been known to suck their trunks like babies suck their thumbs.
8. Koalas are marsupials which means their little babies (called Joeys) are born the size of a jelly bean and must make their way to the mother’s pouch where it attaches to one of her two teats and lives for up to 6 months. During the weaning process the mother produces special poop which the baby eats like soft baby food until it is ready to eat eucalyptus leaves … oh yummy!
9. These little white tigers are not very common. They are born to white tiger parents only about 25% of the time. These little things weighed only 4 pounds at birth. All white tigers born in captivity come from a tiger names Mohan.
10. Polar bears are born after 9 months of pregnancy where they have between 1 and 4 babies. The babies will remain with their mothers for 2 years. Since the mother doesn’t feed during gestation she can loose up to 700 pounds… that’s a heck of a diet program!
11. Bunnies are pregnant for only 36 days. A cat’s is closer to 65. A rabbit stands to nurse her young while a cat lies down. Baby bunnies only nurse once or twice a day whereas kittens nurse numerous times throughout the day.
12. I have no idea what species of monkeys these are, but they were just so darn cute I couldn’t resist! All I know about monkeys is that they’re born alive to mothers who give birth to one baby every 2 years. Babies are weaned at about 10 weeks, but remain close to their mothers for up to a year.
13. Raccoon babies are born in litters of 2 to 7 babies and are called “kits”. After they are weaned from their mother’s milk, they will eat almost anything … including your trash. So keep those lids tight on your garbage containers!
And of course … what would a Thursday be if I didn’t show some male babies all grown up?
This week’s list of gross and weird animal facts and pictures are thanks to a google search which pulled up various websites. Yay Google!
1. When the horned toad gets really scared, it shoots blood out its eyes by increasing the blood pressure in its sinuses until they explode. The predator goes for the blood and the toad can get away.
2. Male anglerfish physically attach themselves to females early in life. The females continue to grow but the males don’t. The males are parasites. Over time, they lose most of their inner organs and depend on the female’s bodies to survive. Two males may live off one female. (My friend’s ex-husband is like that.)
3. Moose have very poor vision. Some have even tried to mate with cars.
4. The Fulmar is an icky seagull that can hurl vomit up to five feet at other birds that attack them. The puke isn’t just disgusting, it’s also acidic, so it can eat through the weatherproof coating on the enemy bird’s feathers.
5. When opossums are playing “possum”, they are not playing. They actually pass out from sheer terror.
6. The male praying mantis cannot copulate while its head is attached to its body. The female initiates sex by ripping the male’s head off. (Honey I’m home … Hey, what the…)
7. A whale’s penis is called a dork. The blue whale has the largest penis at 11 feet. (Floor to basketball hoop is only 10 feet.)
8. A starfish (more accurately called a seastar) turns its stomach inside out through an opening on the underside to eat. (Not good table manners.)
9. There are more plastic flamingos in the U.S, than real ones.
10. Spider-Goat – Scientists have managed to mix a goat with a spider to create a goat that produces spider’s silk in its milk. The goats look completely normal, and they are in fact only 1/70,000th spider. By inserting just one spider gene into a goat’s egg, the adult goat produces milk that can be processed to create an incredibly strong spider’s silk fabric. The ‘Biosteel’ fabric is estimated to be five times as strong as steel, and about the same weight as cotton. (Here’s the “real” question – who got drunk enough to try this in the first place?)
11. A giraffe’s tongue is 21 inches long and it is capable of cleaning its own ear. (Beats a Q-tip every time.)
12. A pig’s orgasm lasts for 30 minutes. (I want to be a pig in my next life.)
13. A dragonfly’s penis is shovel-shaped at the end, to scoop a rival male’s sperm out of the female it’s impregnating. (Now “that’s” birth control.)
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