2011/02/01

new neighbors

A new family moved in next door. They seem nice enough. Different to the couple who stayed there last. Friendly and down-to-earth. Lisa introduced herself to them today, as did the fellow across the street. Both he and Lisa told about the problems we had with the previous tenants. Since Hubert died - he was the "mayor" of the neighborhood - Lisa has inherited his title; she was responsible for getting those troublesome people out.

The berries are nearly gone from the trees at last, and therefore the robins aren't hanging around so much shitting blue everywhere. Most of the year we don't have so many birds around; the winter migration brings them.

We've had an opossum in our yard of late. The raccoon moved on long ago, but the possum is far more patient. Rocko located it in the shed last week.

One day, during our morning canvassing of the perimeter, Rocko became more entranced and excited than usual when we reached the shed. Normally, he focuses on the various entrances leading under the shed; cats find shelter there on rainy days and cold nights. Instead he moved quickly to the doors, sniffing vigorously around the edges. I figured I'd humor him and opened the door. A cat was comfortably resting atop a pile of boxes that were topped with old clothing. Good dog! We scared the cat out through a hole in the back.

Rocko continued to pay attention to the doors of the shed over the next few days. I opened the door each day to see if the cat was still staying there. Nope. On the third day Rocko was especially agitated, and when I opened the door he rushed in. There was nobody on the pile where the cat had been, so Rocko investigated further and was interested in the neighboring pile of boxes. I didn't see anything in there but a white lacy thing. I picked it up, or tried to. It felt like there was an animal in there. About the size of a cat. Oh crap. A dead cat?

Bwah! It was a sleeping opossum! I put the lace back and ushered Rocko out, closing the doors behind us. Since then I've seen it twice: one morning at about 8AM ambling away to bed somewhere, and last night in the back corner of the yard.

It was on the fence and Rocko went nuts, yanking the leash from my hand (it came as quite a surprise, so I didn't have a strong grip) and jumping against the fence. I regained control and led him away. The possum headed along the fence line where it forks, and headed west, away from our yard.

But we have accelerated our plans for heading north. Lisa's mother had surgery yesterday and Lisa needs to see her. They haven't spoken in person for ten years or more. This health scare was the final straw; Lisa needs to get home, at least for a while.

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