Random Ramblings #15

A few days ago I was enjoying a peaceful afternoon of aloneness, sitting on my patio reading a good book. I heard a rustling in my bushes and assumed it was one of the neighborhood cats who seem to like our yard better than their own. I looked up just in time to see a mommy skunk and her half grown baby waddling across my grass toward the fence. I sat VERY still, kind of holding my breath as they squeezed under the fence into our neighbor's back yard.

The next morning I saw the mama sauntering across our the grass again, and I wondered where the baby was. That afternoon I learned from the neighbor to our right that their dog had killed the baby during the night. I felt bad for the mommy, but not bad enough to want them for neighbors.

The next night, a little family showed up on Kristen's front steps. And the next afternoon, Feisty was sitting on my kitchen table playing a game with Care Bear when she looked outside and said, "Skunk, Grandma!" I couldn't believe my eyes - tiny little baby skunks were having the time of their lives back by our bushes and flowers, along the fence. They were batting each other like little kittens, cute, but again not my desired neighbors.

I talked to the neighbor behind us today and told him our suspicions that they were living under his storage shed, which he confirmed later in the day. Now the dilemma is what to do about it. Animal Control isn't a bit concerned about it, telling me that there's a repellant recipe on their web side. I want to repel them, but not into someone else's yard. The lady I talked to told me that the skunks aren't "spray happy", but will spray when they're upset about something. Well, they must have been upset about something for the last two nights, because we've been rudely awakened by horrendously odiferous olfactory attacks! Open windows, attic fans, and upset skunks make for very bad sleep and terrific headaches.

Moving along to a more pleasant topic, we took my folks up to the mountains Friday evening after work for a cook-out. It was so relaxing and pleasant, and cool. In fact, it got downright chilly before we finished, and a fire felt really good. I got some great shots, but it was pretty dark by the time I got the last two. If you click and enlarge them, I think you'll be able to see the subject fairly well. The bird is a Stellar's Jay. I wish you could see the crown on his head - or his head at all! The deer is slicking up some water on the picnic table from the rain shower that happened just before we got there.

My mom got a kick out of watching the thermometer in my van go down 19 degrees as we headed back to town. It seemed to go down a degree every couple of miles.

Remember a couple of weeks ago when my SIL, Morning Glory, was telling about her collection of little basket brooches that had gotten huge? In fact, she was now selling them back on E-bay. I commented that I wouldn't mind having one. A few days later, in my mailbox instead of only bills, credit card company come-ons, catalogs (I seem to be on everybody's list), and insurance companies bidding for my soon-to-be-retired husband's business, I had a nice little package.

I was so pleasantly surprised and promptly wore it to church the next Sunday. The little flowers bobble. Thanks MG!

Well, we're off to the park for the fireworks - we live close enough to walk so we don't have to spend an hour trying to drive back home. Our town has the reputation of one of the very best fireworks displays in the region. People come down from the big college town north of us to see ours. They shoot them on the beach of our little lake and it is glorious. We'll sit on the sloping lawn at the amphitheater and listen to a patriotic concert until dark. This will be our second trip to the park today - at noon we went for our annual greasy, yummy hamburger prepared by the guys in the Lions Club. They've been doing this for 30 years, but we haven't been going quite that long - only about the last 10-15. Great times in our town.