Woke up to joggers passing the house, some with numbers affixed to their backs. Apparently a 5k run was this morning, and I’d title forgotten about it. Allison and I started doing some housework and making breakfast when our friend Holly and her dog Cinnamon were hoofing it as part of the “fun run”, and she called as they were coming around the stretch. We poked our noses out of the burrow to cheer her on as she went by, and she said that she’d swing by after the work out.
Before the bacon had finished cooking, she made it back and visited with us most of the day. There was much consternation amongst the lads, neither of whom were fond of having a golden retriever inside the fence line. Newton’s tail was puffed to full bottle brush, and Pye hissed and took a swing on Cinnamon when taken to be introduced. I think that was possibly only the 3rd time in over six years I’ve ever seen that fluffbag be even remotely hostile to anything.
Dramatization.
During the course of our visit, the gals walked the perimeter, and discovered a baby bunny had expired amongst the lemon balm. I suspect foul play by one of the neighborhood outdoor cats, likely Sid, as I’ve seen him hunting squirrels in our yard before. (I worry about the cats our here, because cars aren’t too cautious in our area, and I also feel for the local song bird population in addition to other prey. )
I gathered up the little carcass,which had been about three days gone I guess. That explained the scent on that side of the house, especially since I’d had the Windows open earlier. The rabbit looked mostly unmolested on the side in view, but when I gathered the body with a bag, the far side had already begun consumption by cleanup insects. I walked the remains to the swamp, and along the way gathered some dandelions to place in a shallow hole that I dug for him not too far from where the squirrel I buried last year. I said a few words for myself as much as for him, covered him over, and headed home.
The neighbors I walked past on swamp walk waved and I stopped to gab a moment – they had just moved in about five houses down from us, and we hadn’t met yet. Terrence, his wife and three kids are a young family from North Carolina, nice folks. I can’t recall all the names, one son of maybe 5, two daughters maybe 2-3 and the other a toddler. Kids had Irish / Gaelic names, one was Kaitlyn, I think. He works for UPS, and has a tattoo of XVI on his forearm. I look forward to friendly interactions with them in the future.
After I returned to home, Allison, Holly and I sat out on the deck while Cinnamon alternated playing fetch the apple (I don’t have any dog toys, but she made do, and was enthusiastic about having an edible ball) with resting under the shade umbrella and drinking water.
The sun was strong! Despite her parasol, Allison got some color on her cheeks, neck and shoulders.
More neighbors walked past and we had a nice gab with Lolita and her dog Dexter, and were invited to her upcoming Special Olympics swim meet, where she hopes to get a medal She’s a nice person, and Dexter is a super cute terrier who got along well with all the folks present, human or canine. Our other neighbor Dennis’s girlfriend Leslie also swung by to chat us up, too.
That was all before 2. As a person with hermit / introvert, I enjoyed it, but was fairly exhausted afterwards. The sun was getting stronger so after everyone else headed home, Allison and I retired indoors for a bit of tv (her current obsession is Awkward) before heading out late for supper with in-laws at Mama Lucias, to watch the Bruins lose to the Caps in overtime. It was pretty cold in there which seemed to aggravate Allison’s sore shoulder. The food was good and we fairly closed them- we left at 10:45 they lock up at 11.