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Walked home from the bus via the bank, and as I walked under a red chestnut tree, a falling conker almost hit me on the head. It seemed a bit early in the year for that, and the compartments in the seed pod were awfully small, but then I heard the scrabble of a squirrel overhead and figured it out. Sadly I failed to find where the conker itself had rolled to.
This dog barks a bit, which is good for burglar deterrence. However, I'm working on something onerous today and when it isn't her barking out the window, it's been the phone going off, presumably with spammage. I finally closed the curtains in my room and she quieted down. But then I went to get the mail and noticed a letter that belonged across the street. Put on my flip-flops and padded over there and as I turned to cross back again after sticking it in the slot, "Woof, woof, woof!" from our house.
The dog and I went out for a walkies as the eclipse was starting—a fair amount of bad driving was happening. Coverage here was less than 75%, so the light was a little more autumnal than usual but mostly it just seemed as though the sun was late burning away the morning mist. The bright light when it came back was startling. Our birds did not panic.
Always something new. Last night an elderly gent with a catheter poking out of his shirtsleeve tottered in twice. The first time he wanted to buy 2 packs of Marlboros. I sent him over to the 7-11; he acted as if he'd never heard of such an establishment. Then a bit later he came back and wanted alcoholic drinks. I sent him back to 7-11. (Meanwhile of course I'm dealing with a 3-ring circus inside the store. And we really don't look like a liquor store inside. Maybe he was blind.)
Then I came home and the ginger cat was on the porch. He (I assume) took one look at me and left.
Then I came home and the ginger cat was on the porch. He (I assume) took one look at me and left.
Saturday, so the park was even busier. In the morning the dog dragged me on the grand tour, so I observed a gaggle of young men and boys playing cricket on one of the baseball diamonds. A fair amount of hitting going on—the first crack of bat against ball startled her—but one youngster spectacularly flubbed a catch, so I moved on lest I bring more bad luck. In the evening there was a barbecue party being cleaned up after, but foil strings were left hanging in the trees and littering the ground, and another still in full swing, and a couple of young kids playing on the swings with their father's assistance were being astoundingly raucous, especially since it was an hour after posted closing time. And of course the basketball and tennis courts were lighted and in full determined use. A long row of fairly nice tract houses, with picture windows, face all of that. I wonder whether they like it.
Another delivery came in, luckily not so large, and some customers were nice enough to buy things that opened up useful spaces. Unfortunately other customers, and one who didn't spend any money, came in drunk and/or high, so it was a bit of a wild night. (It may be a factor that we seem to be the only store left that's open all night.) At least it's not boring :-)
I had to drop everything and take the bus to San Jose to renew my library card. It was very quiet in the library - between terms plus they are doing some sort of renovation that involves blocking off the central atrium, so it's unwelcoming - so while I was there, I checked out a stack of books from the research floors. The Cal State librarian who processed them for me (it still has to be done manually for us non-U peons) asked me whether I was sure I wanted all these (7) books. Well, yeah.
The dog escaped out the side door for the second time—I was trying to get out the trash. She went scooting down the driveway on one side of the car. The stripey feral cat shot out from under a bush on the other side of the car and continued until safely across the street. The dog didn't notice and continued toward the park; I eventually recaptured her and hauled her back. If she'd spotted a squirrel in a tree on the way, it would have been a lot faster.
I don't think I've seen Mr. and Mrs. Mallard at all this year. Hope they just found a nicer place to set up housekeeping.
I consumed the first half-dozen runner beans from this year's undeserved crop. They are again using the old coaxial cable hanging outside the housemate's bedroom window as an extra support to get above the pole in that corner; I had to get a stepladder to harvest the highest beans.
After appearing totally dead a few days ago, the first amaryllis in our front yard is poking out a stalk.
Walking the new dog in the evening as well as the morning, I notice that the local park is still quite busy after sundown, despite the posted hours. And not just the tennis and basketball courts, which are floodlighted and seem to always be in use. There are also walkers and other dog-walkers even in the dark.
A new cat - large, grey and white - appeared on the fence outside the housemate's study window. Going somewhere, purposefully.
It took two nights of heavy work, but I got the entirety of a huge box of lingerie labeled up and fitted onto the racks for sale. At dawn I shoved the flattened box out of the back door, prompting what was either a New York-sized rat, a nocturnal squirrel, or a kitten to scarper out the back of an old soda machine that the restaurant has left propped against the fence, and plop over into the backyard beyond.
Then I came home in really peculiar light - cloudy and fuggy, but I could see the observatory domes on Mount Hamilton lit up in the early sunlight - and started the sprinkler in the backyard ... and it started raining.
Then I came home in really peculiar light - cloudy and fuggy, but I could see the observatory domes on Mount Hamilton lit up in the early sunlight - and started the sprinkler in the backyard ... and it started raining.
Walked the dog solo. She has a fascination with squirrels and tends to lead the human(s) around in gyres seeking a squirrel. Every so often she stops dead and waits, apparently for the breeze to waft her a suggestion of where there might be a squirrel. The park has a lot of large trees. Seeing a squirrel, she will take off at a mad clip, winding up running halfway around the tree, then standing on her hind legs against the trunk, gazing upwards, then frequently she will set off for the next tree, or perhaps through a thicket. Sometimes the squirrel headed in that direction overhead; usually, so far as I can see, it didn't. Often it went straight up and may well be looking down at us, laughing its little rodent head off. This morning there was a squirrel on the sidewalk after we turned the corner out of our street. It scampered along, with the dog attempting to give chase despite the large human drag anchor, then took a sharp right and dashed through a white picket fence. When we came to that yard, I saw the squirrel insouciantly nibbling something in its paws in the front yard, but the dog dashed straight past, and was raring to go across the street. That explains a lot.
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