A Flytrap Flower

I woke up this morning to find the squirrel feeder knocked off the fence entirely -- lying on the ground in pieces with its payload of peanuts spilling out. Someone got a little too aggressive in the night!

I took Olga on our West Heath walk yesterday, and she was a wild thing. I mean, she always has fun, but this time she raced off into the woods on several occasions and I couldn't even see her. She reminded me of my coworker Lindsey's dog, Nell, who does the same thing -- ranges far and wide during her walks. I'm not sure I like it. I'd rather Olga stay more or less within visual range. But I'm not sure how to prevent it, either.

Anyway, we had fun, as usual, and no squirrels were harmed as far as I could determine.

I also worked more on transcribing my old journals. I have to amend something I said a few days ago, about being a deeply unhappy young person. I went through an unhappy phase, it's true, in the two years I lived in Winter Haven immediately after college. But I'm discovering now that things got much better after I moved back to Tampa, especially once the promise of joining the Peace Corps began to pan out. I'm relieved to be reminded that I wasn't unhappy overall -- I just had an unhappy spell. I had to find my path.

Some of you wanted to see the flower from our venus flytrap when it finally bloomed. Well, here it is! The flower is on a stalk a good six or eight inches above the plant itself. I think this flowering may be the death of our flytrap, which is looking pretty bad these days. Or it may just be going dormant for the winter, which apparently happens. Dave fed it another caterpillar yesterday, so maybe that will give it an energy boost.

Speaking of winter, we've turned on the heat! It's been so chilly the last few days we need a little burst in the mornings and evenings. Hopefully it will also help prevent the autumnal dampness that led to last year's mold problem.