Life

I've gotten into the habit of heading out the back door to the sunroom to sit, sip my coffee, and ponder life. When we moved in it was just a plastic wall with a mud floor and all the rain splashed up against the house. I didn't find that very useful so I made some conversions, put down a slatted floor, closed off one end with corrugated clear plastic sheets, and put in "Tug's Door" that we had custom made for Tug in the old house. Now (unless it rains... the stupid thing leaks and drips the way it was originally installed) it is a dry space away from most of the elements (most rain, unless it is hard rain) and a great place to go when you want some fresh air, sunlight and a "getaway" from being cooped up inside all day.

I usually have a rug on the floor that I just use out there to keep the drafts from coming up, but when it rains, I roll it up and put it in a corner. It has been sitting in the corner since I left for Canada, last December. Today I thought I would unroll it, lay it out and let it air.

As I started to unroll, I suddenly found this little salamander in the carpet! It was alive... blinking... breathing (shallowly)... but not running away from me as they all do. I realized that it must have been there for some time, was stuck, and probably dehydrating to death.

So I picked it up (it didn't squirm at all), put it on my hand, took it out to the garden, and before letting it down to the moist soil, looked it in the eye (it looked back at me with the most beautiful reptilian eyes), stroked it's back for a while, told it that everything was going to be OK now and that it was free to replenish it's life sources, and move on in life.

And then I let it go.

And I went back into the sunroom... and contemplated...

LIFE.

I love you!

Cam