I read a lovely poem the other day to my husband. It was about a duck sitting peacefully in the middle of a calm lake while the sun set. So peaceful. So serene. My husband raised one eyebrow. "The duck's probably sitting there because if it gets too close to the reeds a coyote or fox will finish it off". My husband. Always the pragmatist. And the trouble is he's turned me into one as well. I used to have a romantic notion about nature and life. As a city girl transplanted to the country I used to see a deer and get excited, now I watch it with a wary eye to make sure the dumb thing doesn't suddenly decide to spin around, jump the fence and hit my vehicle. Which has happened. Too many times. I used to love the sound of coyotes serenading us at night. Until they started eating my chickens and luring my dog into the bush and attacking it. And then there's squirrels. So cute. So fun to watch. Until they chewed a hole in the screen of my kitchen and promptly chewed a chunk out of ten loaves of home made bread cooling on the counter, made merry in the house pooping as they went knocking down ornaments and dragging sundry items to sundry places. Me and the squirrels are now at war. Me and nature have a different understanding now. And while I can still enjoy a sunset, appreciate the changing seasons, revel in a long walk outdoors, I know that deep in the bushes are the coyotes and the deer and the squirrels. And they are watching me.
6 comments:
Hi Carolyne, just so you know that other people besides perverts are reading your blog... yikes.
I remember some coyote pups coming right under my bedroom window to serenade me. Such nerve. And deer eat the garden and bunnies eat the bushes, but even if we don't like Bambi any more, he is still an improvement over the neighbor's yappy cockapoo (or whatever it is) that they let out every night just after my husband nods off to sleep!
A toast to those eyes in the bush!
elsie
Something about age and experience that ruins everything! We had our first little snowfall the other day (we've had a pathetic start to winter in CT). I watched out the window while my labradors cavorted with wild abandon, chasing each other and plowing their little noses through the strange white stuff. The little boy at the bus stop across the street made snow balls, then threw them up and caught them. He kicked the snow, tasted it. But how many adults were grumbling- too cold, too slippery, I hate shoveling..
Carolyne; very funny! I'm a country girl too, so hear the coyotes howling out in the fields and see the deer traipsing around. No squirrels, however, where we lives (thankfully!). Our biggest problem was the fox taking the chickens... until we decided we didn't want chickens anymore, and he solved our problem of having to get rid of them...
Carolynne,
Can you tell us all some more about how you dispatched the squirrel?
Carolyne, could you tell the world how you dispatched one of those squirrels? And how you did it?
Wow, this was so descriptive. And really, you just write about wildlife entering your home as if it's a nuisance, and that's all. I'd be screaming all over the page! This was a lovely post.
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