Lions, Tigers, and...Coyotes?
03/01/19 07:19
I agree with Ev. Why should he take the first place he looks at? He's right to be concerned about the windows and this third floor walk-up in Newmarket that he went to look at yesterday. I'm glad that he took pictures on his phone so his mom and I could have a look at the place and offer our opinions. He was not interested in having us come along to see the place at the outset and I think that is a decision in retrospect that he regretted. He felt quite good, however, about where the unit was located relative to the other apartments in the building and he liked the fact that the flow of foot traffic in and around his unit would likely be minimal.
The kitchen looked small with next to no counter space in the pictures he shared with us, the bathroom was even smaller, and the texture and tone of the pictures was not overall positive. The word that immediately comes to mind for me is "drab." Whatever someone was doing to get the place ready to rent, I think it's safe to say that they were clearly not finished. Why would they even bother showing it if that were the case? This one and done approach to apartment shopping is for the birds. Katy needs to do better. Unless he wakes up feeling more positive about what he saw yesterday, I think we'll recommend that Evan not take this place.
I'm likely at a crossroads today with the first snow of 2019 coming down at a pretty good clip. I thought we might get a dusting and it appears we're getting that and then some. I have yet to go to the gym this year and haven't been for ten months or so since biking started in early 2018. Today is as good a day as any to start my gym workouts so we'll see how the day goes. At some point I suppose I'll not be getting in any biking days due to the snowy roads and I think we're expecting more of the white stuff next week so this might be it. I should be happy that I squeezed as many days as I did when it comes to biking so I shouldn't spend any time regretting anything. It's still painful though.
Evan came out of his bedroom just now with a smile on his face and after grabbing a drink from the refrigerator asked why we didn't let him know sooner about the snow. I don't know which made him happier, the snow which has now accumulated an inch or two, or the fact that he is down with his decision not to take the place in Newmarket. I don't know the latter to be true but I do know that he loves the snow and is happy to hunker down if and when storms are in the forecast. I hope he won't be too disappointed when he finds out that we're not expecting much although we've already gotten more than the smattering that they originally forecasted for our area.
With the arrival of the first real or near real snow of the season, I suspect we'll see a re-emergence of the local bird population winging their way as it were to our various bird feeders around the house. It's unclear to me as to why we've not seen many birds in the last month or so but it probably has something to do with the absence of snow cover and the abundance of other food sources available.
I've seen various raptors hereabouts as of late and they too might well cause the Chickadees, Woodpeckers, Cardinals, and other birds to lay low and away from the unprotected spaces around the bird feeders. Nancy expressed her disappointment the other day about not seeing as many birds at our bird feeders as one might expect this time of the year and I assured her that with the first signs of a real snow that I expected all of that to change in a good way.
As I sit here now watching the snow come down there are several Finches on the thistle feeders on our back deck. Bluebirds and Carolina Wrens come around on occasion as well and with any luck and the right kind of suet in my suet feeder we'll welcome them back after a surprisingly long hiatus. Our neighbor, Betsy, sent me an e-mail earlier asking if we'd heard the coyotes last night. Coyotes?
I heard recently that they have been trapping them in the woods near the local cemetary so maybe Betsy's e-mail shouldn't come as a surprise to me. What exactly do they do with a trapped coyote? Betsy has a small dog that would likely be nothing but an appetizer for a hungry pack of coyotes but all the same she should exercise caution when walking her animal every day and night. Rabid coyotes will attack a human and can inflict serious damage and probably even kill someone who is ill prepared to repel the attack.
I will have to discuss measures that Nancy might consider employing in her early morning walks if she even dares do that any more now that we know we have a problem. She tends to stay away from our local beaches due to the towns ordinances regarding dogs and their running off leash where they can intimidate and threaten walkers and joggers alike who might well have a preference not to interact with dogs friendly or not. With roads in and around our home being her only safe paths now available, having coyotes around starts to seriously chip away at whatever veneer of safety she thought she had left.
Ours is maybe the only town on the coast that favors dogs over locals who might otherwise prefer that people keep their dogs on a leash when walking them on the local beaches. Nancy referenced some survey recently which said that very few dogs will respond to their owners when called directly. That's a frightening thought for someone who is relying on the owners to have control of their animals when they start bearing down on you and ignore the increasingly desperate pleadings of their keepers. Poodles are one thing. Pit Bulls are quite another.
Returning to this post a day later I am happy to report that I did in fact get a bike ride in. I was careful to ride more slowly in those shadowed stretches of highway on the back roads here in town where the sun had a more difficult time warming the pavement but found my stride once out on Ocean Boulevard. I am more than mindful during these winter rides to make sure that I have enough layers on such that were I to have a problem with a flat tire or worse that I can withstand the cold temperatures while waiting for aa family member to come to my rescue.
Whether or not I will have cell service if and when that happens is another question but having enough layers on will give me the additional protection that I need to get to a spot where I do have cell service. Then again, if I had to walk home that too would be possible given that I'm usually no further than 5 or 6 miles out at the furthest point. Having put so many miles in last year I'm also keeping a close eye on the tread of my tires and would probably be well advised to throw on a new pair of tires just to be safe. I spend far too much time watching out for glass and other things on the roadway during my ride maybe to the point of distraction.
On a brighter note, Nancy's cold is getting better with each passing day. She is spending less time in bed and more time working at loose ends around the house. When I got back from my ride yesterday I found her fiddling around in the garage with the garage door open and neither the cold nor the threat of physical exertion seemed to be of concern to her. It's premature to say that we've seen the last of it although it does seem to be entering the final phase if it is in fact a "cold." She's talking openly and honestly this morning about what she's open to and capable of in the coming days. It's a moving target, my friends. Can I get you another tissue?
The kitchen looked small with next to no counter space in the pictures he shared with us, the bathroom was even smaller, and the texture and tone of the pictures was not overall positive. The word that immediately comes to mind for me is "drab." Whatever someone was doing to get the place ready to rent, I think it's safe to say that they were clearly not finished. Why would they even bother showing it if that were the case? This one and done approach to apartment shopping is for the birds. Katy needs to do better. Unless he wakes up feeling more positive about what he saw yesterday, I think we'll recommend that Evan not take this place.
I'm likely at a crossroads today with the first snow of 2019 coming down at a pretty good clip. I thought we might get a dusting and it appears we're getting that and then some. I have yet to go to the gym this year and haven't been for ten months or so since biking started in early 2018. Today is as good a day as any to start my gym workouts so we'll see how the day goes. At some point I suppose I'll not be getting in any biking days due to the snowy roads and I think we're expecting more of the white stuff next week so this might be it. I should be happy that I squeezed as many days as I did when it comes to biking so I shouldn't spend any time regretting anything. It's still painful though.
Evan came out of his bedroom just now with a smile on his face and after grabbing a drink from the refrigerator asked why we didn't let him know sooner about the snow. I don't know which made him happier, the snow which has now accumulated an inch or two, or the fact that he is down with his decision not to take the place in Newmarket. I don't know the latter to be true but I do know that he loves the snow and is happy to hunker down if and when storms are in the forecast. I hope he won't be too disappointed when he finds out that we're not expecting much although we've already gotten more than the smattering that they originally forecasted for our area.
With the arrival of the first real or near real snow of the season, I suspect we'll see a re-emergence of the local bird population winging their way as it were to our various bird feeders around the house. It's unclear to me as to why we've not seen many birds in the last month or so but it probably has something to do with the absence of snow cover and the abundance of other food sources available.
I've seen various raptors hereabouts as of late and they too might well cause the Chickadees, Woodpeckers, Cardinals, and other birds to lay low and away from the unprotected spaces around the bird feeders. Nancy expressed her disappointment the other day about not seeing as many birds at our bird feeders as one might expect this time of the year and I assured her that with the first signs of a real snow that I expected all of that to change in a good way.
As I sit here now watching the snow come down there are several Finches on the thistle feeders on our back deck. Bluebirds and Carolina Wrens come around on occasion as well and with any luck and the right kind of suet in my suet feeder we'll welcome them back after a surprisingly long hiatus. Our neighbor, Betsy, sent me an e-mail earlier asking if we'd heard the coyotes last night. Coyotes?
I heard recently that they have been trapping them in the woods near the local cemetary so maybe Betsy's e-mail shouldn't come as a surprise to me. What exactly do they do with a trapped coyote? Betsy has a small dog that would likely be nothing but an appetizer for a hungry pack of coyotes but all the same she should exercise caution when walking her animal every day and night. Rabid coyotes will attack a human and can inflict serious damage and probably even kill someone who is ill prepared to repel the attack.
I will have to discuss measures that Nancy might consider employing in her early morning walks if she even dares do that any more now that we know we have a problem. She tends to stay away from our local beaches due to the towns ordinances regarding dogs and their running off leash where they can intimidate and threaten walkers and joggers alike who might well have a preference not to interact with dogs friendly or not. With roads in and around our home being her only safe paths now available, having coyotes around starts to seriously chip away at whatever veneer of safety she thought she had left.
Ours is maybe the only town on the coast that favors dogs over locals who might otherwise prefer that people keep their dogs on a leash when walking them on the local beaches. Nancy referenced some survey recently which said that very few dogs will respond to their owners when called directly. That's a frightening thought for someone who is relying on the owners to have control of their animals when they start bearing down on you and ignore the increasingly desperate pleadings of their keepers. Poodles are one thing. Pit Bulls are quite another.
Returning to this post a day later I am happy to report that I did in fact get a bike ride in. I was careful to ride more slowly in those shadowed stretches of highway on the back roads here in town where the sun had a more difficult time warming the pavement but found my stride once out on Ocean Boulevard. I am more than mindful during these winter rides to make sure that I have enough layers on such that were I to have a problem with a flat tire or worse that I can withstand the cold temperatures while waiting for aa family member to come to my rescue.
Whether or not I will have cell service if and when that happens is another question but having enough layers on will give me the additional protection that I need to get to a spot where I do have cell service. Then again, if I had to walk home that too would be possible given that I'm usually no further than 5 or 6 miles out at the furthest point. Having put so many miles in last year I'm also keeping a close eye on the tread of my tires and would probably be well advised to throw on a new pair of tires just to be safe. I spend far too much time watching out for glass and other things on the roadway during my ride maybe to the point of distraction.
On a brighter note, Nancy's cold is getting better with each passing day. She is spending less time in bed and more time working at loose ends around the house. When I got back from my ride yesterday I found her fiddling around in the garage with the garage door open and neither the cold nor the threat of physical exertion seemed to be of concern to her. It's premature to say that we've seen the last of it although it does seem to be entering the final phase if it is in fact a "cold." She's talking openly and honestly this morning about what she's open to and capable of in the coming days. It's a moving target, my friends. Can I get you another tissue?