Ten-Finger Exercises

Fall, faller, fallen...

The streets are awash with leaves. Even though we've had some winds, the trees are not yet bare. I like to call them 'naked trees' because my grandson looks at me funny when I say it. Naked trees, I tell him, have a charm of their own. You can see their bones, see how they're made. And, you can see the little nests tucked in between the branches, and the big ball of sticks near the tops of trees that make up the nests of hawks.

It's cold too, down to 17 degrees last night. The dog's water bowl was solid ice. The fish pond had a cover of ice with leaves trapped inside. Now we have the wire mesh frame over the top, with the heater in the center of the water. The fish huddle in a hole beneath.

I had a fright the other morning as I was dressing. I happened to see movement on the screen porch, and it wasn't a falling leaf. A little gray head appeared in the dog food bowl. We kept the dry food out for Seamus, because he's a snacker. He has a heated pad out there as well, but prefers inside if we're home.

The little gray head was attached to a body too big for any little gray body that I'd want anywhere near my porch! Not that I want mice, but that it wouldn't surprise me to see them at this onset of cold. This one was too big. I guess I have to say he was a rat.

Yesterday I got him on camera, along with a lot of blurs. He does move fast. Worse yet, he had a friend with him. So, I got a box of DeCon and put it down behind the planter where I think he scurried to. When I looked later, it was gone! We have no pets (intentional ones) that could possibly get in there any more. (The cat could, if she were alive.) And no other animals come in our yard that I know of. Well, some snakes.

I'm guessing that the rat pulled the box in farther under the planter where I can't even see it. Haha, you little beastie! I hope we have the last laugh with you and our kind.