MEET TOPPLE

I thought we were done today, but the dentist says we're not, wants me to come back next week.

But after today's office visit, I was given the same treat I had last week: Kinya came to the park with me! Altho' it was brighter this evening so we could see some of the carp in Duck Pond, it was still a little too dark to see everything clearly.

The time I really wished we had more sunlight (especially because my camera has no flash) was when we were visiting the Irrigation Ditch. At the top of the place where the water siphons off into the gulley, it really looked like I could see a claw!

"What's that?" I pointed. Kinya looked.

"A crab!" Just then, it toppled over the edge. The moonlight caught its outline then. I hadn't been fast enough to get it with my camera--well, there wasn't enough light anyway--but I'd seen it with my eye.

I wanted to draw a picture of what I'd seen but didn't have a photograph for a reference picture, so I had only that split-second mental image to go by. I looked for online images of crabs then drew until past 10:40 before I had what I knew I wanted. It may not be what the crab actually looks like, you realize--we'd seen it only for a moment, and we couldn't even tell you what color it was--this is just a guess--you'll just have to imagine with us.

But it was the first time for Kinya--and me--to see a crab at the park!

The last photo? Kinya had already said he'd come with me to the park, and God sent along a smile for him--a favorite neighborhood cat came and said hello. Kinya has a way with cats--they all seem to come to him.

What animals come to ME? Crabs, it looks like. You're not impressed?