Two stages of life...

Upon arriving home this evening, I noticed something on my doormat. From my vantage point in the car, it appeared to be a large stuffed animal, or perhaps a moose.

NO, it happened to be THE LARGEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN THE CAT KILL:

OMG..this thing was so big I was inspired to get a ruler out and measure it. It was over 7 inches long!! For a mole to live that long, and then WHAM..kinda sad.

After staring at it with horror, disgust and a bit of admiration, I decide to remove the corpse to it's final resting place, aka the backyard hill...cemetery to many of the cat's unpalatable victims. On the way out, I see THIS blooming outside the door to the garden:
OMG: This thing was so big I was inspired to get a ruler out and measure it! It was over 5 inches wide! And look! It's going to have some siblings very soon:

So there you have it: Life and Death in one day, one creature taking it's last breath while a blossom unbends to the air and sun above...all while I was safely ensconced in my cubicle.