Finding the right home is getting more challenging every day.
Given the size her home should be, do you think the hermit crab looked at this, dejectedly but pragmatically and said, “hmmmm my Fannie, Mae fit into this if I give away a lot of the stuff I haven’t used in years and give up fries and bread with dinner?”
” Before the divorce, my house was the one on the left- now all I’ve got is this tiny studio and no damn privacy”!
These hermit crabs are fascinating to watch. Changing shells is a complex process- I’ve watched one take 45 minutes to pick one in the yard, eek it’s puny, undeveloped body out of it’s former protective covering, take another 45 minutes to use it’s antennae to scope out the insides of its’ perspective new home, and if it finds it unsatisfactory for whatever reason, take another 45 minutes to acclimate back to the previously discarded one.
They remind me of muscle bound guys in the gym- hugely developed upper bodies ( think monstrous biceps and lats ), and legs like chopsticks. Yeah, you know the guy- his name is probably Freddie Mac.
Tags: Downsizing, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Hermit crabs, humor, St. Croix
Asheville: The North West of The South East 
August 10, 2008 at 8:31 pm |
SUCH a great photo!! Funny, yet sad, and full of symbolism! A visual metaphor for the humans.
August 10, 2008 at 8:37 pm |
Excellent – a shout out from the amazing, the talented, the fearless, the 9 GB sim card holder extraordinaire, AND photographer responsible for the great masthead photo of St. Croix on the top of this blog!
August 10, 2008 at 9:21 pm |
Great post! Loved the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac allusions.
I have a nice big pot, er, house for the subject of your first photograph. The hermit crab is on its own.
August 10, 2008 at 10:24 pm |
Nathalie- Of you, may I re-iterate: You are the Zelig of blogdom. Every blogroll I see, you’re in the list.
You are single handedly raising the standard of blog content.
I’d venture to say you’re scoring more hits than the Gambino family.
Will you elevate my status to island un-slacker?
August 10, 2008 at 10:40 pm |
I say what that poor lobster says every day….My fannie mae fit into this………..(fill in the blank)
great photo even though I think lobsters are yucky.
August 10, 2008 at 10:42 pm |
Carol- this is a hermit crab- I guess I didn’t make that as clear as it’s temporary home!
I may need to edit this post to explain that better.
But anyway- yours is always a funny comment.
August 11, 2008 at 3:58 am |
They sure are creepy looking things when they are out of their shells. At least they don’t have to go into hock up to their eyestalks when they want to upgrade their homes.
On a side note, when I was a kid, I used to go swimming at a beach that had numerous soft drink cans in the water. I took a bunch of the cans out (cleaning up after jerks) and in nearly every can was a little octopus using it as shelter. The cans weren’t trash anymore, they were habitat, so I put them back.
August 11, 2008 at 4:15 am |
Love your photos and outlook on life!!
Hermit crabs ARE fun to watch. They do, however, bring back a humorous memory for me…. I used to teach teachers different ways to approach teaching science. While demonstrating a lesson on arthropods I was holding one of those critters up to show it to the group and the sucker BIT ME on the web of my finger. OUCH!! … a bit embarrassing too… On the way home at night… the containers or crickets and crayfish (also arthropods) overturned and ran amuck in my car…. yet another distressing problem…….. (NOT MY finest moment in teaching, I’ll admit) Oh well… We all learned something… perhaps not what was originally intended… but something just the same.
Be well, Bonnie…
August 11, 2008 at 1:18 pm |
My heavens! I’ve just seen Cape Cod hermit crabs, the size of a thumb nail. And, these shed in your yard? And, then scope out another habitat?? In your yard??
Freakin’ fascinating freddie and fannie. As are you!
Hey, Marian, I only have McDonald’s French fries in the back of my car. NO crickets or crayfish or those cranky arthropods.
August 11, 2008 at 1:18 pm |
Razz- you did the right thing, leaving the equivalent of a trailer park for the crabs. So many of their shells have been taken as souvenirs, others gone because of the general conditions of coral loss, overfishing, etc., that they’ve become resourceful survivors.
I recall watching an old grey plastic 35 millimeter film can walking across my deck and being so surprised at its’ contents.
Thanks for the visit.
Marian,- oh my gosh- two stories with these critters!
Each of the images you described are perfect fodder for a movie. Too bad Peter Sellers is gone!
I’m heading back to your wonderful blog to leave a comment about your paintings. Your work is so alive and lovely.
You’ve inspired me this morning.
Glad you left your story here.
August 11, 2008 at 1:40 pm |
Pat- some nights I hear scratching on the screen door, and find one climbing up the door. They’re so pre-historic looking. And I bet THEY’RE not even 60!
August 11, 2008 at 2:01 pm |
I really like the pattern on that shell. Can’t imagine wanting to trade down for a clear plastic cup. Maybe there is better milage with the smaller, lighter cup.
August 11, 2008 at 2:17 pm |
wr- it’s not that they’d want to trade down. The shells get taken by bathers and tourists and the general degradation of the seas. It leaves them no choice but to become resourceful.
Or vanish.
Or, maybe you’re on to something. It;s their version of a hybrid!
August 12, 2008 at 1:36 am |
Ah, my heart goes to that hermit crab. Perhaps he shouldn’t have divorced in the first place. That shell looks like a nice spacious villa compared to the little plastic cup.
But looking on the full half of the glass (forgive the pun), it has much more light, which might give him a better perspective on life.
But then again – we ARE talkin’ about a hermit crab…
August 12, 2008 at 1:53 am |
Nava- when they look at you with those googly bug eyes, and then you witness the exchange of the shell or whatever housing they find, and see how vulnerable their soft bodies are without a casing, it’s easy to anthropomorphize ( even spell check didn’t get that one !)
Today I drove to the post office and during the ride, a house lizard showed up on the dash of my car. The window was open. I couldn’t just flick him out while moving. I got to a light and gave him a gentle push. Went to the PO. Parked.
Came back out- he was on the rear fender of the car.
I might have driven him back home, I don’t know.
All creatures big and small……
August 12, 2008 at 10:17 am |
LOL! How interesting that they switch shells. Do you know why they do it?
Paz
August 12, 2008 at 10:48 am |
Here’s the news flash if a house lizard appears on my dash:
” R.I.P. Single for A Reason. They needed to use jaws of life to extricate her from accident site. Cause of accident unknown. Lizard observed on what was left of back bumper.”
August 12, 2008 at 11:40 am |
Paz- as they grow, they need bigger homes ( shells ), just like we need bigger clothes and then of course, bigger closets, and then bigger cars…OK I’ll stop – you get the picture.
I’ve seen hermit crabs this size of a peppercorn and others the size of your fist.
Pat- YOU? Who would get that close to photographing spiders and spuds?
Listen, just keep your windows closed, ’cause I don’t want to read about R.I.P for SFAR.
You are so funny…..
August 12, 2008 at 3:19 pm |
Ahhh! Thanks for the explanation. Never knew. 😉
Paz
August 13, 2008 at 1:02 pm |
great photos, excellent!
Funny and interesting!
August 13, 2008 at 1:32 pm |
Helene- thank you and glad you left a French calling card. Merci!
You have some fun things and thoughts posted on yours.
August 19, 2008 at 5:30 pm |
It looks like one of the Yorkville studios for Hermit Crabs…..Its a slither-in closet.
September 23, 2008 at 1:09 pm |
amazing, and a funny quip on the mortgage mess.
September 23, 2008 at 1:22 pm |
Your wordplay and your photos are perfect! Too funny!!
September 23, 2008 at 1:59 pm |
Mary- it’s even more profound some weeks later. Who’d have thought it could get worse!!
Let’s paint!!!!
Terry- thanks for visiting a few places here. I’ve missed you on these pages.
There’s always something funny or profound or newsy on your blog.