Today has been fairly quiet. The birthday was pretty busy, though, with spending the day with my mom and dinner with my dad.
I stayed outside for a little while before my dad arrived. It had been a long while since I had even sent out "feelers" to the various presences on the property so I decided to do an impromptu journey to check on them. Since it is winter, many of the plant and tree spirits were, for lack of a better word, "sleepy." I did get an acknowledgement from one of the spirits associated with the huge tree in the back yard and he was happy I was checking on him.
The tree beside the porch was a little more awake as well. I asked permission to hang the birdfeeders in its branches. Not only did I get it but I got the feeling it was feeling prankish - I got an image of branches mysteriously dumping any cats that tried to take advantage of the visitors at the feeder.
Of course, as I hung the feeders, one of the cats (the male marked like Spook) decided to get a little higher in the branches to show me how futile my efforts to foil him would be. He sat right in the fork of several branches that were about the same diameter as the ones the feeders were on. I don't think he knows there is a big different between sitting on the fork of several skinny branches and trying to balance on one.
It evidently didn't take long for critters other than the birds to find the feeder. Today, while I was playing with the parabolic microphone, I found a the feeder a good bit emptier than it had been last night and deer tracks on the path running beside the it. I knew there were deer here. I've watched a fawn nurse vigorously in the field next door as the doe watched me. I've accidentally flushed other does out of the backyard and they've eaten the peas I planted in the garden. I just didn't realize they were that comfortable in coming that close to the house.
I certainly don't mind. My policy has always been "all creatures good and benevolent are welcome here." They are in good company with the opossums (opossum? opossumii?) and the big raccoon who sometimes lives under the house.
There are two potential problems roaming the neighborhood, though. A big white dog and a blue heeler. I ran them off after they were barking at the cats (who were looking at them quite scornfully from the roof) the other day and I keep seeing their pawprints and scat around the yard. After the problem we had a few years ago with dude who kept letting his boxer run and mate with the coyotes, I have a dim view on most dogs who come up like this.
Of course, there was that little Jack Russell terrier who came up a few years ago. I believe that was the turning point for Spook. Until that day, she had been the low cat in the herd and just about everyone's whipping cat. That little Jack Russell came up and suddenly there was someone smaller than she was. I remember I heard a lot of frantic yipping and yowling, only to walk outside and see this little white blur running past the house with Spook on his heels - and occasionally on top of him, letting him have it with ten claws.
After that day, Spook's name took on new meaning. She had gained confidence. Spook the Meek had died and Spook the Terror was born.
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