Flying Fish and Leaping Lizards March 11, 2010
Posted by nrhatch in Animals, Magick & Mystery, Nature.trackback
We love where we live – always a fascinating bit of nature to observe. Even on days when the skies are pouring down in buckets, and the birds are nowhere to be seen, we are still entertained by the other animals who live in close proximity to us.
I just stepped outside for a moment and saw a small fish, probably less than twelve inches in length, fly up out of the water to land a good fifteen feet away from where it exited the lagoon.
An amazing sight to see.
How do they manage to propel themselves Up, Up and Away from the watery confines of their regular habitat?
What motivates them to soar through the air with the greatest of ease?
Are they just anxious for a quick look around? Or are they escaping from an unseen predator lurking outside my view?
Turning my attention to the deck, I saw one of our ubiquitous lizards resting against the deck posts, stationary in the morning showers, puffing out its neck as if blowing a huge orange bubble.
Then, with the ease of an acrobat, the three-inch-long lizard leaped from the deck to the trunk of a palm tree, located at least 30 inches away from the deck railing.
How do they manage to leap such great distances – ten times farther than they are long – from a standstill, at that?
For the sake of comparison, imagine getting down on all fours and leaping forward at ten times the length of your trunk – somewhere in the range of thirty to forty feet – without a running start.
What type of sports contract would you be able to negotiate (with or without an agent) if you could cover those types of distances in a single bound?
What type of super-hero costume would you choose to wear?
Mother Nature . . . always a magical, mysterious, miraculous marvel to behold.
No rules. Just write!
Comments
Sorry comments are closed for this entry
Spirit Lights The Way 
Nice. You bring back memories.
I was on a cruise that started at Key West. I always wake early, so I quietly climbed up onto the shelf under the large porthole we had in our cabin and just let my eyes glaze over as I watch the sea, and our progress through it.
I was startled, almost at once, by an impossible sight. I though I’d seen a fish flying. Focusing, I looked again, and yes! There were three more, “flying” from swell to swell.
It was then I remembered reading about them years ago. Flying fish. What a notion. By then the ship was in the middle of a school of them and there were hundreds flying from wave to wave as we passed.
What an incredible sight. Thanks for reminding me of it.
That is so cool! Seeing hundreds flying from wave to wave is definitely a memory worth savoring.
Pluse, your comment {{almost}} makes me want to wake up early tomorrow morning to see what I’m missing. : )
Thanks!
Sence I was a little boy, I have had a love affair with nature. I was born
in the very heart of the northern woods, in the state of Maine.
White tale deer, moose, black bear, grouse, trout, and land locked
salmon (to mention a few) abound.
I was brought up to respect all of nature. Not only for the bounty it provided a family of seven, but the vast beauty of it all. Yes, we hunted in the fall. But we took only that which fed us. There were no
“trophy hunters” when I was a child. And conservation was as natural
a thing to do as breathing. You never bite the hand that feeds you.
I never realized the incredible life force, that I was privileged to be a part of. It was truely awe inspiring. To wake in the mornings with a crisp chill in the air. To look out across the lake we were at. To see a bull moose saundering in the reeds at the shore. To here the eerie call of a northern loon.
Yes. Nature is the divine creators canvas. And we, as art lovers, truely need to give it all the respect it so richly deserves.
Beautiful words sharing beautiful images.
Watching a moose, hearing the call of the loon, while admiring the canvas of the lake . . . magical moments indeed.
Thanks.