| It's not often I get a morning like this. I now further envy the friend of mine (you know who you are) who can get up early and have four or five hours to yourself before you have to go to work. I don't have to be to work today until noon. The reverse side of that is that I have to be there until nine o'clock tonight, but it doesn't happen often so it won't kill me. It might kill Calvin and the kids, though, if I don't crock something for them to have for dinner. I went back to sleep for a bit after Calvin left for work this morning. I had aspirations of house cleaning and journal writing and crockery cooking which told me I should get up right away, but really. When a nice breeze is coming in through the window and the smell of rain is in the air, and the lighting of the bedroom is dim, it's hard to resist the urge to curl up and cocoon a bit more. So I did. And had truly strange dreams. So strange, that when the dogs started barking hysterically at the lion in the backyard, I thought I was still dreaming. No, there wasn't really a lion. It was the chow mix dog owned by the neighbors behind us. It's an athletic animal - it somehow climbs up on the six foot tall dividing block wall surrounding its (and everyone's) back yard. It paces along the network of connecting walls, peering into everyone's yards. And it's groomed like a lion, with a ruff of mane around the neck, shaved body, and rope-like tail. It seems to be a friendly enough dog (tell that to *my* canines). I met it when, upon instruction of the Home Owner's Association, I polled my immediate neighbors to the left and right, front and back, to ensure that our HIPFH(tm) plans wouldn't disturb them. Anyway, this dog-lion was patrolling the top of the wall, and Gadget was flipping out. The other two dogs would put in a woof or two for moral support, but Gadget was spinning himself into the ground. Big attitude, little dog syndrome. He was disturbing my peaceful morning. I had to do something. So, I went out to the backyard. The dog-lion turned its eyes to me, and I had a moment of doubt. Sure, the animal was friendly when I was in its home surrounded by its owners, but would it now consider me to be threatening its territory if I tried to shoo it back into its own yard? This dog-lion *does* have the most disturbing yellow eyes I've ever seen on an animal. I paused. It blinked. Gadget continued to freak. Finally, I walked up to the wall, patted the top of it, and called "Go home. Go home!" It blinked again, and then did that cat-like "Oh, God, I'm up a tree, now how do I get *down*" wiggle thing with its hips, and hopped back into its yard. Heh. Laura the lion-tamer. All is quiet in the land of Animal Planet again. For now. Actually, things are too quiet. The GC was supposed to be here at 7:00 this morning, industriously working toward his next-Tuesday-there-are-no-exceptions DEADLINE. Yesterday when I came home from work there were holes in the walls. They were supposed to be there, sure, but not until the air conditioner was ready to be turned on. This *is* Arizona, after all. He's just lucky we're having a mild week - low 90's for as far as the meteorologist can see. There's dust everywhere, and plastic stapled up over the openings ("It has the same U value as the cheap single-pane windows you had up" he says), but Calvin and I are starting to see how everything is going to pull together. Light at the end of the tunnel. It's now 9:00 and I'm off to construct something in the kitchen. For everyone who has written me recently saying "Hi", it's really appreciated. You're very welcome here, and I hope you stick around. Who knows what other beasts I'll have to oust from my back yard? Stay tuned and find out! |