After a Jersey Storm

We had a pretty bad rain storm here in New Jersey, lots of flash floods. My ankle warned me that it would rain all day, and it did. We really needed the rain, it has been very dry here and my hydrangea bushes, who are so greedy for water, had begun to pack it in for the Fall. Their plush flower heads drooping from their weight dangling from parched limbs, hung on for dear life. And then the rains came, and came and came...

This morning my son yelled from the basketball court, "Mom there's a dead chipmunk in the pool." Ugh! The poor creature probably got washed in by the deluge,I knew I'd find more of his small friends lodged in the skimmer.



Last year, I lost so many small creatures in that pool. Frustrated, I went to the pool store and asked if there was any clever device one could set inside the pool that chipmunks could swim to for safety. Have you ever met any pool guys? I don't know if they are different in California or the southwest, but the guys up here are gruffy, "yo, lady better be glad they ain't bunnies, the lady who was in here before you was gettin bunnies." (Apologies to my International Swap Tote pal, she adores bunnies.) So today, I had to fish the poor chipmunk out of the pool, and true to what I suspected there were a couple of mice in the skimmer. I felt sad and just wanted to go back in the house to listen to music when I see a huge moth struggling on the water's edge. Quickly I grabbed the net - I had a chance to make a difference in one small creature's life! I fished him/her out. Can you see it...

Look closer....

Not a fancy moth, just a living one...