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.

Buzzing Along

There are so many things that I want to mention right now, but I am pretty sure that I am going to forget half of them by the time I actually start listing them.  Bear with me, please. 

First of all, it is really a beautiful day.  I actually got to spend a little time experiencing it, even if it was mostly in my car.  Unfortunately this was due to the fact that I was attending a funeral for the uncle of one of my friends (and two of my followers).  It was a lovely service and there were some great memories shared.  I tend to get a little weepy, especially when siblings share their childhood memories, but it really is the best way to remember and begin to heal.

Aside from lovely sunshine, I should also tell you that I am on a caffeine high due to a latte this morning and a full bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper at lunchtime.  Why?  Apparently my eyes are getting old.  Last night, I suddenly realized that I need to get myself moving if I want to be anywhere near finished with the cross-stitch project I need to finish before the birth of my friend's baby in July.

I will now pause for those of you who are completely shocked to hear that I have such an old-lady skill as cross-stitching.  Rest assured that there is a story behind it.  Actually it is simple.  Maybe I've mentioned it before in this blog, but basically, when I was born, my aunt made me a birth announcement cross-stitch sampler.  My mom thought it was so cool that when her best friend had a baby five months later, she made her the same sampler.

Fast forward 31 years and me and the daughter of my mom's best friend are now best friends in our own right.  Now she (my friend) is having her first child - a girl.  Being the sentimental historian that I am, I thought that it would be "neat" to continue the tradition.  Oh, and to make it more challenging, we no longer have the pattern, so I am using my original sampler as a guide.  Believe me, it is not as simple as it sounds. 

Needless to say, my eyes are not what they once were and I found myself dropping off to sleep at 9:30 last night from pure exhaustion.  Ugh.

My next point of "excitement" came from a text I received from my father this morning.  On his normal morning (pre 6 a.m.) constitutional, he snapped a photo of a COYOTE by the driveway of the house two down from theirs.  In EDINA.  That's right, EveryDayINeedAttention EDINA.  Close to major freeways, shopping malls and tons of traffic. 

Now, I realize that I personally have nothing to fear from these small creatures.  At least I think so.  But they DO represent a threat to pets of the neighborhood, which include my parents' dogs and my dog.  I am not sure how one combats a coyote threatening to make off with a precious pup, but I am going to have to work on my ninja moves.  And carry a large stick.  Maybe the Acme company has some useful weapons.

Speaking of ninja moves, I received my final piece of alarming news today.  It could be that I spoke too soon when extolling the virtues of Minnesota being a scary bug free zone.  Read this.  Then help me look for new places to live.  Canada?  Siberia?  Alaska?  Hmmm... how about Sweden?  Norway?  I think that living above the Arctic Circle could be a deterrent to these sorts of scary critters.  I am just not sure that I can deal with encounters with spiders that could kill me or my loved ones.  Eek.

So....  that is my big caffeine-fueled news for the day.  I am so super unbelievably excited for my three-day weekend!  Going shopping, going to Brooten, maybe seeing my friends....  As long as the coyotes and spiders stay far away, it should be awesome.