What's in a Name?

This post is like the comic relief breather in a Cirque du Soleil show after a couple of intense acts.

I thought I might explain where I came up with my blog site name; Wildwood Diva. I named my property Wildwood a few years back, because it is really wild, 20 acres situated next to 100,000 acres of forest and I've had some unbelievable experiences here. Then, I became the Wildwood Diva, well, by default. Actually, I think I have earned it with all the experiences I have had here, whether self-created (more on that in a moment) or simply the fact of being here. A few of you know some of my crazy stories....running in the dark with a flashlight, after a large Black Bear that scampered up a tree (turns out he didn't go up the tree but was in the woods). Good thing I have a strong heart and low blood pressure because it didn't stay low. There's more on that story, just ask me sometime if you want the details. How about, accidentally starting my forest on fire and then frantically having to put it out alone....Terrifying! Don't try that at home, unless you want to lose about 10 pounds in sweat, literally sweating through leather gloves, burn your face and test your heart function. Again, you can ask me for details. Going out to warm up my truck last winter when we had all that ice and snow, walking away, and then turning around to see my truck sliding off my driveway, over a garden, down the hill, and crashing into a tree. I think the driveway was all ice and slamming the door caused a rocking motion that set my truck sliding. Good thing I didn't see it until it is was already rolling down the hill, or knowing me I would have tried to stop it. I know, I'm crazy. I could keep going and going, but I'll stop at one more. How about crawling on my knees, sliding on my butt, picking my way through a frozen ditch in heels and in the dark, because the last mile to my house was covered in ice. An ice storm had hit while I was in Seattle and I couldn't drive up the hills to my house. It took me 45 minutes to slip and slide my way home. Do you think I stopped at one of my neighbors to ask for help? Of course not. Seriously, that thought didn't even occur to me. It would have been too easy!

Ok, so maybe those stories don't qualify me for the Diva part of the name, but I think these experiences do.

Trading stares, for what seemed like forever, with a Mountain Lion in the morning, 30 ft from my house. He was gorgeous, and unlike me, was not afraid. He turned and trotted away. Rescuing hummingbirds trapped in my garage, by picking them up in my hands. They don't fight. They sit calmly in my cupped hands, until I remove the top hand and they fly away. So tiny, yet so trusting. I have so many more experiences along these lines, in fact, one happened the other night. Dan and I went to walk the dogs late in the evening. I heard an owl and we followed its call toward a corner of my property. I recognized the call. It was a Spotted Owl. Yes, that's right, a Spotted Owl. We could hear him hooting loudly in the tree. The dogs waited while we listened. I wanted to go back to the house to get a recording device. We walked about 50 yards back towards the house, when we heard him in a tree right beside us. He had followed us there. We listened some more. I couldn't believe it, getting followed by a rare Spotted Owl. I figured we wouldn't have time to grab a recorder and come back before he took off, so we shined the flashlight on him to get a good look. He didn't appreciate that and took off in full view of the flashlight beam. What a beautiful bird.

Experiences such as the Spotted Owl visit or holding a Hummingbird make me realize how amazing and full of wonder life is. There is so much of it around us and outside of ourselves, if we only slow down to appreciate it.