Late night scorpion

Last night, Pono found a scorpion on the floor in the kitchen.  I was working on the computer, writing another blog post for the Hwy62 Art Tours blog, the Hi-Desert Art Beat, and I was not really paying attention to one fuzzy dog.  He began to huff and snuffle, and then lay himself down in a loud, exasperated  humph!  All of this bustle finally got my attention.  I looked over at my dog, to see him, ears perked, nose down, staring at the floor in intense concentration.  There, between his paws was the invading scorpion.  It didn't seem to be moving much, nor was it dead.  It's hard to say if it stung Pono on the end of his wet, black nose.  I suspect he remained unscathed, because if he had been stung, chances are my rather timid dog would have abandoned the scorpoin.  With my tendency to walk around the house with bare toes sticking out, I finally decided to sweep it up, carefully, into a dust pan, and set it free out in the dark desert night.  Pono watched the whole procedure, and seemed rather disappointed when the object of his scrutiny disappeared. I wish he could talk, that dog.

The scorpion was not large, maybe 2 inches long, and rather pale in color.  (no- I didn't get a photo.  How unlike me!)  This is only my second scorpion encounter since moving to the desert, so I did have to get down on all fours, next to the dog, to inspect it.  The part that sticks in my mind (for some unknown reason) is that when I did sweep it into my blue dustpan, I could feel its crusty body slide into the plastic pan.  I was quite tempted to touch it, and feel the surface of its body with my finger, but the menacingly pointed tip of its tail kept me from satisfying that desire.  Another fun creepy-crawly desert encounter that I never would have had, were it not for the Pono.

I have been working on the computer far too much lately, and so this post will be a short one.  I have a photo of a recent oil painting to share.

Balancing Act, 24 x 18 inches, oil on canvas.  ©karine swenson2010