There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more.
~George Gordon, Lord Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage

 We have a resident black snake at our pool. I know this because I saw it fall from a palm tree out of the corner of my eye and then crawl over the tops of the bushes to get to safety. I purposely choose the table and chairs away from that palm tree now, in case he ever wants to drop from the skies again. I know he is a harmless garden snake, but he still gives me the heebee geebees. Yesterday, as the kids swam and I did some work under an umbrella, I heard rustling in the bushes behind me. Before I could react, my friend the black snake slithered by under my chair and directly to the edge of the pool. The kids were in the pool swimming and I thought they were safe in there because he would slither on the deck to his corner and be gone. I chose not to freak out and watched the snake closely. Black snake slithered to the edge of the pool, lifted his neck, stuck out his tongue a few times and proceeded to jump into the pool. I said (not so calmly) "the snake is in the pool, get to the edge and try to get out!" If this were a fire drill, my family would have failed. After a few "huhs?", and then a realization of the situation, my children scattered. The girl went left, the older son went right and the youngest swam directly toward the snake. That snake was fast in the water as he maneuvered himself around my son, out of the pool and to his corner. We stared at each other and laughed nervously at the situation. I never knew that snakes could do that. I thought by moving away from the palm tree we'd be away from the snake. It reminded me that we live in an area inhabited with animals and that we need to always be aware of their habitats.
 Every post we have lived at has had it's own share of flora and fauna.
In Alabama it was a huge Magnolia tree which smelled wonderful but dropped the biggest leaves I have ever seen. Raking up after that mammoth was a feat in itself. The fire ants,(I know they are insects, but they deserve to be categorized as animals), were huge and a force to be reckoned with.
In Fort Bragg it was endless pine trees and pine sap and red crested woodpeckers.
In Korea it was cilantro that grew in the grass ( had I only discovered my homemade salsa then!). There were these Magpies, a type of bird that always reminded me of the crows in Dumbo. I could see them throwing on top hats and grabbing cigars and discussing the world with me. One particularly harried Thanksgiving, I left my homemade sweet potato pies on the back of our truck and we drove off with them there. When I heard the "thunk" from the back, I looked in the rear view mirror to see two magpies swoop in and take care of the mess left by my flying sweet potato pies and I could swear they tipped their hats and said "Thank You". Korea also had it's cherry blossoms and lilies and amazing plants.
In Virginia it was the biggest sunflower I have ever seen. It grew in our front garden and touched the bottom of the window on our second floor. At the height of it's growth, kamikaze squirrels jumped from the roof and gnawed the flower from the stem so they could drag it away to their nest. The neighbor and I watched as the squirrels jumped from the roof four or five times until they could separate the seed filled flower from it's trunk like stem. Those squirrels ate holes into the top of the garbage cans so they could get in and out of them at will.
In Kansas it was the buffalo herd across the street. Every time we passed those giants we would think of the song "Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam....". It was also the amber waves of grain that were in the fields that we drove by.
In Germany it was the fields of poppies, waving in a bright red, or the fields of tulips or sunflowers, depending on the crop. We would see deer and horses grazing in the mornings or late afternoon on the grassy hill. There was also whatever animal moved into the attic.
 And now, here in Florida, it is hibiscus and oleander and palm trees. We have eagles and otters and ducks and birds of all kinds. And in one corner of the pool, a very long black garden snake, who happens to be a great swimmer.