No, not talkin’ about a foot fetish, nor “toes up” signifying a vacation and no, not sinking my toes into the sand or dangling them in the water at a beach venue. I’m talkin’ about dinosaur toes. Every time I leave the house, I must pass my small rock garden. No grass ever grew in this small patch of land so years ago I started collecting unusual rocks and placing them there. One small, flat rock was “donated” by my boss years ago to add to my collection. He found it at the family cottage near Collingwood, Ontario and thought it unusual as do I. The rock contains a very clear imprint of a fossil – it appears to be a toe of some type, long embedded into this otherwise boring-looking brown rock. In my mind I have fashioned a tale that this particular rock was probably a dinosaur’s baby toe. Indeed, the imprint looks like toe cartilage. Growing up, we did not have the mythical movie “Jurassic Park” yet I’ve always had this fascination for dinosaurs. Perhaps that interest was fostered by many elementary school field trips to the Royal Ontario Museum and their fabulous dinosaur display. Years later, I could hardly tear myself away from the impressive dinosaur exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Heck, maybe as a child I delighted in all things dinosaur simply because my father bought Sinclair gasoline – remember their famous mascot Brontosaurus? Perhaps my favorite childhood T.V. program, The Flintstones, with the family pet “Dino” lured me into the prehistoric world of these creatures. At any rate, I’ve always been convinced that this rock is a fossil of a Pterodactyl baby toe, so there!!!

I think to enjoy nature and nature’s gifts, you need to have a child-like wonder, awe and yes, even respect, for everyday natural things. I have always had such awe and appreciation of nature; I believe that curiosity and an ever-growing love for the simpler things in life will keep me from getting old and staid.

As to dinosaurs, perhaps their images are floating around in my brain these days due to a new fruit discovery. Last week Meijer featured “dinosaur eggs” which are just pale green and purple-speckled extra-large pluots. I tried them and they taste the same as a regular pluot, but with a twist. Aw shucks, I am just a kid at heart.

P.S. – In all my travels and trails, I’ve yet to see that legendary One-Eyed, One-Horned, Flying Purple People Eater – perhaps he will be at this weekend’s Cruisin’ Downriver 2013 event. I will look for him and keep you posted.