Platypuses in the Pond

It's been a hard week and it's only Tuesday. First my perception of the name Colin has been forever changed. Prior to last week, the name Colin, held only a vague distaste for me. I used to work with a strange man named Colin. He was sort of a combo preppy and hippie.  (The only hippie I ever knew who wore Italian loafers instead of sandals. Lots of the guys walked barefoot.) Even in the 1970s he stood out from the crowd.

But no, Colin was one of the names on the World Meteorological Assn. list from which the names of storms are given.  These lists repeat every six years. Some of the bad ones, i.e. Katrina, are forever retired.

This time, Colin was a minor blowhard in the form of a minimal tropical storm.

My anticipation was worse than the actual event itself.  Don't you hate it when that happens? Plus, in the past, my plan would have been to retreat to my father's big, well built house with my little dogs. But Dad is no longer with us. His house sold five months ago.

So I faced Colin all alone - not a pleasant prospect. I went out and got a few supplies. Then the day before Colin was due to come to town I moved the plants in my container garden out of harm's way.  The ones on the back patio were moved up by the building out of the wind entirely. There is an overhang covering a good-sized patio.

My precious plumeria plants were transported to my kitchen, along with an orchid cactus.

Nervous and glued to the Weather Channel as Colin huffed and puffed his way toward us, I slept less than usual.  Doesn't make clear thinking, let me tell you. The night before he got here, I didn't sleep more than two hours.  Naturally on THE day, I was a tired grumpy mess of nerves. The last thing I need these days is more stress.

Sigh, it will probably result in my serial killer in my work-in-progress committing one more murder.

We made it through the day and night with our power intact, no trees crashing down on the building, no rains entering my place from the roof or the foundation.

I slept okay last night after I checked the radar to make sure Colin was making a quick exit. But with all the stress, I woke up woozy, read out-of-it, lacking in energy.

Making through the morning, I watched the noon news and saw the damage caused by tornadoes around the area. Then I decided to go out, so I took my dogs outside before I left.

While they were enjoying the sunshine and wandering around in the grass, something drew my attention. Movement as something ran down the bank off to my right, and then jumped in the water. It immediately went under but not very far.  I could still see it just under the surface.

It wasn't too big, maybe twelve to eighteen inches long with a wide body and either flippers or paws. It swam, dog-paddle style.  It had a long snout, though I never got a good enough look at it to really see the face.

I wondered if it could be an otter or a muskrat, both species have been seen in the pond before.  But the long nose didn't look right. We do have cormorants who dive under water, but they don't jump in the water, they fly to the surface and land on top. I thought is it a strangely shaped gator? No, gators slide into the water and swim on the surface trolling for food before going under. Couldn't figure it out.

When I was out on my errand, I realized what it looked like - a platypus!! This is the second time I thought I saw a platypus in that retention pond.

Only problem is, there aren't any in Florida...I checked. I suppose the odd one could have been smuggled in, but they are not native to this continent. They are only indigenous to eastern Australia.

So how could they get here? Would a dingo bring them?!!!

I looked up the reason a platypus would appear to someone as a spirit animal. Okay, yes, I'm weird, but I deal with the world as I see it...Said if the platypus has appeared to you, you enjoy a solitary profession...duh, I write in my private little office, accompanied by Amazon Prime Radio and my two elderly tzus.  It also said I should embrace my weirdness or something to the effect...

The ship has long since sailed on that one, platypus.

I will be putting up a post on Kristin Painter's wonderful series of novels entitled, Nocturne Falls, in a few days.

Take care and avoid blowhards named Colin.

Until next time...