Charles Towne
By Charles Towne
Some of my family are venomous, but most of us aren’t. What am I?
The ocean is my habitat, but I can walk across dry land (if I have to). What am I?
I have the ability to hide in plain sight. What am I?
I am green at times, yellow and brown at others, and sometimes red. What am I?
I can walk and swim, but if I really want to move fast I use jet propulsion. What am I?
I carry ink wherever I go, but I can’t write a word. What am I?
I have a beak like a parrot, but I can’t fly. What am I?
The ocean is a place of wonders, mysteries, and endless marvels. It is a veritable soup, a morass of organisms, both large and small, that challenges the imagination. Always changing and presenting a plethora of what can only be called magical! I have never visited the ocean without having something new presented to me every time. Yes, the ocean intrigues, challenges, and mystifies all at once, and is a place of sublime beauty and unimaginable dream-like mystique.
I have been blessed by a loving God in being able to have lived within close proximity to water most of my life. I was born on an island located on the Fox River in Illinois and raised in a wonderland of fishing, hunting and exploring that molded my destiny and set me on a path of adventure that I follow to this day. And from boyhood on, my life has been anything but boring. Take this story as one small example.
I was diving with some friends in the shallow coastal waters on Florida's west coast several years ago, and as is my custom, I was poking around in every hole that presented itself to see what innocent little 'whats-it' might be lurking there... when suddently I caught an itsie-bitsie, little tiny octopus. The poor little guy struggled mightily to avoid being caught and eaten by the mean human, but all to no avail. Soon I held the octopus in my hand, and standing in the shallow water, I called to my cohorts. Soon several of my friends were staring in awe at the little guy with me. Among the assorted "Ooos!" and "Ahhhs!" of the curious, it wasn’t long before one of the ladies asked me to let her hold the wee beastie.
Now to lend some perspective, the body of the octopus was a tad smaller than a lima bean and the tentacles when spread out would have spanned an area the size of a silver dollar. Yeah, a cute little bugger!
Well, to make a longer story shorter, I laid the little guy in the palm of her hand. It laid there for a moment, and then slowly that tiny defenseless octopus reached out and gripped her hand, blushed a brilliant red, and bit her with its little parrot beak!
That cute little octopus actually took a tiny bite!
She yelped, and at the same moment dropped her assailant into the waist deep water where it promptly vanished. Well, to end my story on a positive note, this lady now has bragging rights for having been gnawed on by an octopus, thanks to yours truly. I tried to convince her that she was lucky the octopus wasn’t any bigger, but she wasn’t having any of it.
The adventures of nature never cease to amaze and delight in unexpected ways. So take a break and get out in it. I'd love to hear your stories, too.
Dear Papa God, how I do love you! How many times have you saved me from myself? How many times have you prevented disaster in my life when I courted the very thing that assuredly would have destroyd me had you not intervened? How many times did you save me from myself? Please let my life always reflect praise and love to you. You have given me a long and joyful life in spite of myself, and I thank you so very much for blessing me and always being there for me. Thank you my friend and my God. In Jesus’ holy and beautiful name I praise you and I ask it, Amen
