slothful sunday

ooh-- what is that marking on his back?  is it a marking to call attention to the ladies? maybe this is a girl sloth-- I can't tell-- the color of the spot goes with the color around the eyes in the below picture

  what a cute face!

I was driving (in my golf cart) down to meet my work crew on Thursday morning and I encountered this sloth. I have seen quite a few sloths before, but this was the closest I had seen one- I could have reached out and touched, but had no desire to do so (they have very sharp defensive claws). He/she had just gotten off the road and was heading into some trees and had started his breakfast of leaves, buds and tender plant shoots. It's very hard to break down all that cellulose, so a sloth  stomach is large, comprising 3/4 of its body weight. The plants don't give them much energy and therefore they have a very slow metabolism and move in extremely   s l o w  m o t i o n. Notice the fur-- it is an ecosystem in itself, hosting many insects as well as moss and algae. The specialty of the sloth? Hanging from trees, which is why they have such long curved claws (about 2 inches long). They eat, sleep, and even give birth in trees. This is a 3 toed sloth, a relatively rare creature. On a nearby island, there are pygmie sloths, the only ones in the world. So, that is the word on sloths for now. 

Last weekend was a wonderful whirlwind - a quick four days in Minnesota and back to Panama on Tuesday. Thursday night was Scott (my nephew) and Heather's wedding rehearsal and Caribbean theme dinner afterward (I was appropriately attired right off the plane!)   Friday night was a lovely evening with my mom and sisters, then the wedding and reception on Saturday, Sunday afternoon in Madison visiting with Bonnie, and a quick trip to Rochester on Monday to see Tara and Addie. What fun Addie is! She is crawling up a storm and she does this thing where she pumps her leg muscles from a crosslegged sitting position, and moves her whole body in the air about 4 inches off of the floor. It seems to be her way of saying, "Isn't life wonderful! I am having a blast!" I hope Tim and Tara get a video of that-- some day she will say, "Oh no, why did you get THAT on film?"  Here a some pictures-- of Bonnie and two of Addie. 

I am having some challenges moving the pictures around to a more pleasing arrangement, so will leave them as is and hope you enjoy them. Have a good week everyone!