I'll start by saying that when Mozart and I returned from an errand in town, We found our son sneaking around a Manzanita bush with his camera.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Taking a picture of a snake.”
I thought he was kidding.
“It’s in the bushes—do you want to see it?
He wasn’t kidding.
“I held him.”
“You what?”
“It’s a gopher snake. I picked him up. Then when I put him
down he went for the bush.”
Sure enough, he had crawled into a bush—then upwards. He
threaded himself through some branches and looked quite relaxed now that he was
suspended 4 feet off the ground.
Last night we had a family of Javelinas grazing behind our
house. “They are just fine unless they feel cornered,” a neighbor told us. "You don't want to upset them."
We have also met our Italian neighbors, Michellina and Orego, who live next door. Michellina shoos Javelinas away with her broom. "Sometimes they just stara at me like I'm crazy." And once she had a mountain lion
lounging in her oak tree. She explained there are more animals in our area now, because of last year's forest fire several miles away.
The neighbor on the other side of us builds race cars. Six
are in his garage. Mozart and I were glad about his occupation—as we had worried they might be bothered by our motorcycle noise.
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| Trying to kick start my bike--about to give up. |
“Oh don’t even
worry about it,” said his wife, rolling her eyes.
And last weekend I met the neighbors across the street.
Susie and her husband have just finished building a small art studio. They had
an open house including a pillow buying party. Michellina and I decided to go together.
On the afternoon of the party I walked through the trees
to Michellina's house carrying a basket of homemade chocolate chip
cookies for Susie. I felt like little Red Riding Hood stepping through the woods
hoping the big bad
Javelina didn't show up.
The art studio had a beautiful window with a bird feeder outside, and we paused to watch assorted sparrows and blue birds enjoy a snack.
Their main house sits on a hill and I have often stared at it from our house across the street--a little jealous that they have a
great view of the sunsets. When I mentioned this too them they said it was so
hot up there with the afternoon sun, that they were jealous of our house
sitting down in the trees.
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| Our house in the trees |
