Of Moving Shells and Everyday Rustlings Finding Contentment at Home

by Meredith Florian

If we approach our daily lives with the same appreciation of detail that we often bring to our vacations, magic can be ours almost daily.

I began in our own garden by turning over various rocks and scraps of wood. As I moved a piece of redwood, I noticed a skinny, slimy, red creature in the mulch. At first I thought it was just a large worm, but on closer examination, I noticed its perfect tiny legs and dark bulging eyes. As I held its moist little body in my hand, I clearly saw its dark lateral stripes and complex patterns. I consulted my reptile and amphibian guide and quickly identified the creature as a California salamander. Ever since, I have wanted to discover more creatures at home, especially that elusive skunk whose unmistakable perfume wafts through the garden around sunset.

My partner Merry once forgot to remove the cat food from our porch, and she soon heard a distinctive crunching sound. Thinking it was our cat or a possum, she looked out the sliding glass doors of the kitchen and observed a skunk dining al fresco. She lay down on the kitchen floor inches from the skunk on the other side of the glass and observed the dainty critter, much smaller than a cat, with a pretty little nose, black eyes, black fur and the classic light crown (actually more tan than white) running from her head down the length of her body. She had rectangular feet with very long, even claws. After she finished her meal, she exited the porch, dragging her scrawny white tail like a bridal train. At one point she became startled and held her tail straight up in a very showy manner, rather like a boasting peacock.

Merry saw the skunk four times. Once, when she had just started an evening of gardening, our visitor skittered through the cat door in our fence. Though there was still lots of light to work in, Merry decided to retreat into the house until the creature left. It even greeted her in the driveway one night as she returned from work. Oddly enough, we have never seen the skunk since, though her perfume remains.

A rather substantial lizard paid a visit. As Merry gardened below the porch, she noticed an almost foot-long lizard down the path. It had an incredibly long tail and posed fearlessly in front of a croton bush. A complex pattern of tan, yellow, and gray, it showed little fear as Merry moved up to the grassy area of the garden to observe it. The scaly creature sat up, arched and graceful, rather like a fancy hood ornament on an expensive car or the mast of a ship. It occupied itself catching bugs, apparently gobbling them up with its mouth rather than simply using its tongue.

I'm going to step up my efforts to create and attract more wonders in my own yard. I'm hoping to create an amphibian garden and possibly purchase a bat echo locator to track down those furry critters. In the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy the comical wonders in my own world the blue jays bathing in the cat's water bowl as my cat drinks from the birdbath, and even the pesky squirrels who got half of my plums.