Animals I Have Known

That was the title of a book I read when I was a kid. I don't remember what it was about. Animals, I presume. The title stuck with me longer than the content, probably because it was a little odd.

There are animal lovers, and there are animal likers. I'm an animal liker.

I don't need to have them sitting in my lap. But I really, really like watching them. Animal interactions, animal behavior in the wild, animal behavior when wild ones encounter ME...that's all very entertaining and interesting.

And I talk to animals. Which is probably kind of strange. If I see a dog sitting in the back of somebody's pickup truck in a parking lot, I will say "Hi." Yesterday when I went out in my front yard, there was a deer standing about twenty feet from the front door. The deer looked up, and didn't move. I said "You'd better run. You can see I have predator eyes!" And the deer ran.

This human/deer conversation was based on the fact that herbivores/prey have eyes located on the sides of their heads (the better to catch a glimpse of who's hunting you while you're quietly eating) and carnivores/predators have eyes in the front of their heads (the better to keep your prey in sight while you're chasing it). So that deer knew what was good for her. Even though she was eating my flowers, I wouldn't have hunted her down. But I have been known to throw things at deer when they're caught eating a particularly prized plant. I once hit a deer square in the forehead with a bottle of shampoo. It was all I had at hand. I was as suprised as she was. I'm usually not a very good shot, and it was a long throw.

I don't like hunting. I suppose if we were starving I could learn to shoot things and eat them. I can kill a rattlesnake, but it has taken quite a long time to do it without a lot of squeamishness. And I'll only do it if it's where it could hurt my kids or my dogs. I usually find out about them when the dogs have them cornered and they're already all riled up. I still feel badly when I have to do it. I have looked into getting one of those snake sticks, with a loop at the end of a pole...but once you catch it you have to let it go again....where? And where do you keep it while you're taking it where you want to let it go? A snake carrier? There's a rattlesnake removal service in a neighboring county...they'll come and rescue the snake and/or the homeowner. I think their clients are mostly terrified flatlanders who've just moved up into the hills.

And...my final thoughts. There was a recent editorial in the paper from a resident of a gated community nearby. Fairly wealthy people from the San Francisco Bay Area frequently relocate in our rural, wilderness-y county. Some of them can't quite bring themselves to let go of their love of surburbia, and so they live in communities like Lake Wildwood or Lake of the Pines, where they can continue in their tight little neighborhoods with lots of rules about fences and vehicles and what color they can paint their houses. And they have a hard time with the notion that Just Over the Fence...there is wildness. Deer and wild turkeys congregate in their front yards and sample the goodies. And, of course, raccoons and opppossums raid the garbage. But, occasionally, scary animals like bears and mountain lions will put in an appearance, and then everyone falls apart. The animals are always there. The live and hunt right in there among the nice neighborhoods with their beautiful homes. But they're pretty good at staying hidden (they have predator eyes, after all) so we don't get to see them very often. The poor lady who wrote her newspaper article was upset that a bear has been seen in Lake Wildwood. She wants to be able to walk her dog at night without fear. She is calling a meeting of the Lake Wildwood-ites to Do Something about the scary animals. Like....what? Worry about something real, like the scary people.

whew

I am not very well organized. And I am enthusiastic about too many things. And I like to start things...big things...and have a hard time finishing them. So I am feeling overwhelmed with my amazing self. I have about 18 unfinished projects around the house. Actually...more, I'll bet. And I want to do them ALLLLLL.

My current favorite project is my yard. It is a perpetual thing. I have lived in this house for over 20 years, and I am always adding a new garden, or tearing out a garden and putting something else in its place. BUT the catch is that they're never quite finished before I change them. And there's usually a half done look to them that is not very restful or lovely.

You should understand that I live on five acres in the chapparral (oak/fir woodland), so there's a vast area of potential garden out there, but no neighbors to be offended by my unfinished work...

Last year I tore out our back lawn and started creating a perennial garden in its place. It is 2/3 done. There is a very lovely (but weedy) flower/shrub area on one side of a laboriously installed cast concrete path. On the other side of the path is....a vast weed patch, three feet tall and very stickery. Eventually, all of this will be tamed and beautiful. Or will it?

I am planning on tearing out two ornamental ponds I built in my "japanese-y garden" in the front yard, because one of them leaks. My vision is to create one LARGE ornamenetal pond (with waterfall built into the slope behind it) with a flexible liner that cannot be ripped/cracked by the deer to like to stand in the pond to drink. I'm going to wait until fall to do this...it's too hot outdoors to undertake any huge digging/concrete smashing work right now.

And I have other plans after that to landscape the large area where my dogs hang out (Putz, I think I have more than you do...nine) after that. Vision: patio/firepit, surrounded by beautiful plants, and a view of the sunset. Very dog resistant plants...dogs like to pick flowers as much as I do. But they eat them.

And....you know what all of this is about? The more I have big plans like this, the less I can pay attention to the things that I SHOULD be doing, but really don't want to do. Like: study for the college class I'm taking. Do the dishes. Fold the laundry. Mop the floor. Clean the garage. Etc. Anything to avoid the boring work. And the irony is that if I just DID those other things (a little bit at a time every day) I would have lots more time for my projects. My brain knows that, but whatever bit of me is still an 11 year old slacker doesn't listen.

I am very good at all out efforts...all-or-nothing, work-myself-into-the-ground, maniacal huge superwoman jobs. I'm not so good at 15 minute chores. I like challenges, unless they're mundane little ones. I (me, personally) must be a mundane little challenge, because I never seem to be able to master it. Gotta think small.....

changes all the time

I've been gone, vacationing, reunioning, seeing a daughter home from a mission, seeing a son off on a mission. Everything keeps moving along so quickly, and I'm likc a rock in the middle of the stream, watching it all go by around me.

USCIS is still processing our I-800 A forms for Lou Juan's adoption. We did our biometrics (computerized fingerprints, kinda fun, and the Homeland Security office is like the DMV plus uniforms and guns...) We haven't heard from Lou Juan's tutor in a month. I am a little bit concerned about that, but I know she is busy, and it's Olympics time there in China, so everyone is probably obsessing about that.

We sent John off on the plane to Brazil this morning. It was a happy/sad thing. I'm VERY happy that he chooses to serve a mission and is worthy to do so. But sad, you know...I'll miss him. But it's all good. It was hard to look him in the face this morning and know I wouldn't see him for two years. And hard again this afternoon when I found a highly amusing picture of a friend of his at Senior Ball wearing a kilt...and couldn't share the joy. And, given my experiences when my first child went on a mission, it will probably be weird and difficult for about a week, and then overall VERY good with occasional bouts of missing him for the next two years. It's really fun and amazing to follow the progress of a son or daughter on a mission, and to share that experience.

And, of course, Caitlin came home from her mission in Taiwan on July 29th. This was joyful, amazing and good. But from that day until this, we've had a nonstop whirlwind of activity. The last month of summer vacation whipped by in seconds, with travel, travel, travel, visiting, visitors, getting John ready, and now....school starts tomorrow. Caitlin goes back to BYU next week. We will be able to rest maybe a tiny bit between now and then.

Life is good. I'm tired today, and still have some last minute back to school stuff to do...yeesh.
Seminary starts tomorrow as well, so we'll be up and running by 5 am. Looking forward to another year of new things.