Table For Two

Having heard the rain beetles bumping around the night before, I got another scare yesterday morning when I got up in the dark and saw a red glow just outside the bedroom window.  Fire?!  Mike had left two chargers for his cordless tools plugged in and placed on the ledge.  Whew!!  I hadn't noticed them at bedtime because of the lights in the room.

I've been keeping a food bowl on the deck for Missy and she rarely misses a meal, rain and Mike notwithstanding.  Yesterday I heard unfamiliar scratching noises outside.  Now what?  It seems the Steller's jays have returned and one had found Missy's dish and was helping himself.  Maybe I'll need a bigger dish and a table for two.

It rained steadily all day, sometimes light, sometimes hard, but thankfully without the wind.  Mike sensibly took a day off.  I found one of Steve's big puffy jackets to wear outside and replace the red hooded sweatshirt that is my "uniform" of the day.  (Think "The Woman In Red," Gene Wilder, Kelly LeBrock,  Charles Grodin - 1984.)  Michael and I timed it pretty well morning and night and went for our walks without getting drenched.  Michael is darned near waterproof, his fur is so dense water never gets near his skin.  A quick once-over with a fake chamois absorbs the surface droplets.

These rainy days are great, but we're not out of the woods when it comes to the trees.  (Huh?  Did I really say that?)  Sustained rain loosens the dirt around the oaks and that's when they fall.  Fingers crossed.