Report from the Wild Kingdom

I live in suburbia in a house with only a patio for a back yard. I have two tiny flower beds, a palm tree and a handful of potted plants in each of them.

The neighborhood used to look like this.

Right now, we have a possum living in this pot--or more correctly, an opossum, I guess. It always surprises me when the wildlife perseveres and stays to live with us humans.

I discovered it yesterday when I saw that the pot was tipped over and went to set it up, and a  white furry face poked up from  a pile of leaves. I'm supposing it's a female opossum and the leaves are a nest. I jumped back--not exactly in horror. But you know. A possum in a pot. Just a few feet from my patio door. My mom happened to be outside, and I suggested that she keep her distance from the pot. Hahahahaha. She walked right over. 

I'm planning to let mother nature do her thing. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with my 

mother.

My brother was bit by a possum a few years back while repairing a floor in a mobile home. He had to get rabies shots, and I teased him a bit. Like, you know know you're a redneck if....Yeah, if two people in my family get bit by a possum, I'd say our rural roots are kinda indestructible.

So here's a picture of me in France with a French winemaker. Ahem. I'm really very sophisticated. And if anybody around here gets bit by a possum, I'm gonna swear like crazy.

Saturday Morning Beach Report/ Saturday Night Street Report

Curtain of fog drawn tight around the islands. In front: sunshine, surfers, sail boats, and sea birds. People who've lived here their whole lives say they never get tired of it.

As for the streets tonight, there's no one out there as far as I can tell. Please, someone, open a tattoo parlor, a coffee house, and a night club here. I'm not going out there into deadsville tonight. The man who loves me is not on the train, so I'm heading to the couch for a trip to the virtual streets of Albuquerque on a Breaking Bad binge-watching marathon.

In other news, I got my hair cut today and found the neighborhood where I might someday live. A post-industrial live-work set up with a nearby vista to the beach that literally took my breath away. And it's walking distance to the sand too. What I see: yoga and t'ai chi chih studio. Me living upstairs.

Come visit.

Flora and Fauna

I love my place here in Margaritaville. But it's not without its drawbacks. The houses are sandwiched together--a feature I disliked from the moment I saw the place. Today, after three months of living here, I did something about it.

In a month or two the honeysuckle will completely obscure the block wall and the neighbor's window. The hummingbirds have already given their stamp of approval.

I was inspired by the project I did yesterday as a birthday present for my mom.

As the plants grow fuller and taller, the view from her room will get better and better.

The dining room and living room side windows now look like this:

And now for the fauna:

Piper gets fresh water in her water bowl a couple of times a day. But what she really likes is a glass of water served in the living room.