Foxes, nekkid ladies, a kite and more stuff...A Mississippi kite which was found at an Anna residence is receiving some tender loving care at Free Again Wildlife Rehabilitation in Carterville.Before the rain...these nekkid ladies were taking a stand in the hot and humid summer weather.....after a recent downpour, as in 2.66 inches, or more of rain, the ladies appeared to be a bit down on their luck.

Foxes, nekkid ladies, a kite and more stuff...

Please read this. . .

This week, how ‘bout a fox, or two, on the run, and a little bit of magic?

One morning last week, yours truly was motoring to Anna to begin another exciting day at The Paragraph Factory, where production was slated to once again focus on stringing together some vowels and consonants into coherent, albeit fake, news.

Morning, as you may recall, or may not recall, is not the favorite time of day for your writer. I am not a morning person. I’m still convinced it has something to do with my upbringing in certain urban and suburban settings.

One would think that after so many years of living in the country, mornings might come a little bit easier. Nope. 

So, I’m motoring to Anna, just heading out of the town we call home, when a glance to the right reveals a pair of foxes, heading west, in the direction of a steep embankment. At the top of the embankment is the Canadian National railroad track.

Being the silly boy that I am, I threw caution to the wind, stopped my car right in the middle of the road, and starting shooting pictures of the foxes.

Such behavior sometimes results in a good picture or two. More often than not, however, the end results are blurred images of whatever happened to be wandering around when yours truly spotted it.

This time, circumstances worked in my favor. The foxes even helped out by not moving very fast. At one point, one of the foxes even paused for moment, looked back in the general direction of the goofball who was stopped in the middle of the road, and then continued on its journey.

The critters scampered, or loped, or did whatever foxes do, to the top of the embankment, and disappeared. 

Disappear likely is what the topic of this week’s string of words and sentences will be doing soon.

You’ve probably seen them. This time of the year, they seem to be everywhere. 

“They” are magic lilies. They’re also known as resurrection lilies. And surprise lilies. And March lilies. And Belladonna lilies. And, the one makes people giggle, or change the subject, “nekkid ladies.”

Once again, thanks to the wonders of the internet, which used to be spelled with a capital “I,” but is no more, for reasons unknown to me, yours truly was able to learn things about nekkid ladies which, previously, I did not know.

The website for the South African National Biodiversity Institute explained that the appearance of nekkid ladies “is a sign that summer is coming to an end in the Cape.” 

I believe that in this case, they are referring to Cape Town, as in South Africa, and not Cape Girardeau, as in Missouri. I have not been to Cape Girardeau lately, so I do not know if there are any nekkid ladies to be seen on the other side of the river.

I also have not been to Cape Town, or any other place in South Africa, or any place on the African continent, for that matter. However, I do have a fossil seashell from South Africa, thanks to somebody special in our life. 

And, I suppose it is interesting to note that the end of summer in Cape Town would actually be the end of winter in Cape Girardeau, which is neither here nor there. Actually, both Capes are both there, not here.

Technically, I think, the nekkid ladies are called Belladonna Amaryllis. Unless you happen to be looking at americanmeadows.com, which calls them Amaryllis belladonna. 

“And there’s more,” americanmeadows.com shares. Of course. There’s always more. The Belladonna is a wildflower in South Africa, but it’s also associated with the Isle of Jersey in the English Channel Islands. 

“The Belladonna Lily is often called The Jersey Lily because of a famous painting of the very famous and beautiful English actress, Lily Langtry, holding the flower. The artist titled the painting ‘A Jersey Lily’ referring to Miss Langtry who was from the island. She and this painting became so famous, the name for the flower just ‘stuck’.”

Oddly enough, I have never heard of the very famous Miss Langtry. Or the famous painting of the very famous Miss Langtry. Oh, well.

I have no idea how so many nekkid ladies plants got to our yard from South Africa. I do know that the plants do not do well in a Southern Illinois deluge. See the pictures for confirmation.

Well, enough for this week...almost...

...allow me to close...almost...with a bit of a note about the picture of the bird. The picture was shared by a Fellow Traveler on the Journey Through Life. No, the bird is not an Australian wood duck. (And you thought we were finished with that particular subject.)

The bird is a Mississippi kite, which was found at an Anna residence. The bird has been taken to Free Again Wildlife Rehabilitation in Carterville and was reported to be doing well.

...and, speaking of being way too windy this week...

...during my journeys, both here and there, during the past week, I happened to see yet another armadillo, which appeared to be a rather permanent state of non-movement...

...finally...yes, really...while walking through my hometown last Sunday afternoon, I happened to spot several road-killed Tootsie Rolls...leftovers, I am assuming, from a big parade last Saturday afternoon...I wonder if vultures like Tootsie Rolls...

...that is all. 

 

The Gazette-Democrat

112 Lafayette St.
Anna, Illinois 62906
Office Number: (618) 833-2158
Email: news@annanews.com

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