Safety Concerns

Here I am, posting on a weekend.  A three-day weekend to be more specific!  Aside from the less than stellar weather we have been having around here, it has been a good time so far with one exception.

Yesterday, I arose at a later hour as is my custom on weekends when I have no reason to awaken early.  The house was empty which led me to conclude that my parents had taken the dogs for a walk.  Fine by me.  I went into the kitchen which overlooks the living room which overlooks the front yard and street.  As I gazed unfocused at the view from the window, I noticed a small anomaly.

There it was, the neighborhood coyote, standing in the street straight out in front of our house.  At first I thought it was a dog, but it was unleashed with no human in sight.  When I examined the profile of the creature, I realized pretty quickly that it matched a coyote description perfectly.

To get a closer look, I stepped out onto the front steps of the house (in my full pajama regalia) and stared at it (I don't know if it is a boy or girl).  As I watched, it jogged up into the relatively wooded yard of our neighbors across the street.  A minute later, it emerged on the other side of the yard, crossed the street and went into our next door neighbor's yard.  It then proceeded to lay down next to some shrubbery and scratch itself.

I cannot say that I was in full panic mode at this point, but I was concerned.  I called my father to warn him to keep an eye out when they returned with our dogs to the vicinity and then took a picture on my phone.

Later that day, my dad ran into one of the neighbors and mentioned it to her.  She remarked that she had noticed that the rabbit population had seemed much lower this year and that having a predator was likely helping that situation.  I'm not sure that I agree with this being a good thing.  I would far rather have the plant life of the neighborhood be in jeopardy than the pet population.

On a happier note, yesterday I got a new bike!  It was part of the amazing car deal I experienced last weekend.  If you bought a new car, you got a new bike.  There was a specific bike associated with the deal, but if you didn't want that you could exchange the coupon for a gift card and get whatever you wanted from the bike shop.  I chose to do this.  Not because Trek mountain bikes aren't awesome, but because the Electra Townie bike was so much more my style.

So far, I have only taken in out around the neighborhood, but when I venture out further I will keep you posted if I have any more adventures like those of my youth as outlined here.  I am pretty sure that there are no bike cops in these parts judging from the fact that most of the biking population does not seem to think that basic traffic signs and rules apply to them.  But that is a whole other rant and I am just not in the mood for that right now.

As tomorrow will be a travel day for me, I will likely not post again until the weekend is over.  I hope that everyone has safe travels and fun times.