April Fools
Blog #43 Our neighbor opened their pool yesterday and today I’ve been peeking over the fence to see how everything is looking. Just being neighborly. Two mallard ducks have been dipping in and out of the pool all day today. And as Meegan was sitting on our patio, a chipmunk ran directly under her chair on his way across the yard. I think the animals are staring to really enjoy this Coronavirus shutdown. In Boulder, mountain lions have been walking the streets. With less traffic and the lure of garbage cans, it makes sense. (See attached photo of the big kitties enjoying a nice day in the neighborhood.) I did a run a few years ago in the U.P. and there was a stuffed mountain lion at the state park’s information center. It said the cat had been tagged in South Dakota and traveled 1300 miles before dying of natural causes in Michigan. That’s a lot of miles. And a lot of neighborhoods traveled. I wondered what would be “natural causes” of death for a mountain lion. In most cases, unfortunately, it’s “natural” for wildlife to be killed by cars. In Michigan, we have a lot of deer and about everyone I know has had some incident/accident involving a deer. And I’m always amazed at how many dead raccoons there are on the side of the road. The ratio of dead raccoons to live raccoons that I have seen has to be 100 to 1. Not many dead opossums, though (Missouri has that market cornered). The geese in our area have always been pretty confident walking the streets. They are conditioned to know that there’s a leash law for all dogs. Sometimes they’ll taunt Franco to come chase them. He whimpers and pulls at his leash but even when we let him go the geese just rise up and land out of his range. The geese are not afraid of cars either. This time of year with goslings in tow, they take their time crossing the road, knowing the drivers will stop for them and their brood. I worry about when things return to “normal” and the cars are again crowding the roads. These poor animals will have to retreat back to the “wild” areas where they have historically been hiding out. As I was driving to the hardware store a couple weeks ago, I noticed a car in the center turn lane with its hazard lights on. As it was the only other car on the road, I slowed and started to roll down my window to see if they needed help. Then I saw the turkey that was wandering aimlessly down the center of the road. When he crossed to the side of the road I was able to get a photo (attached). On a normal morning in metro Detroit that bird would be lodged in the grill of somebody’s F150. According to the Wikipedia, every day one million animals are killed on U.S. roads. These animals must be hoping this Coronavirus does a number on us humans. At least for the time being they are enjoying having a little more freedom to roam. I know I’ll drive a little more carefully when things return to “normal”.

Quote of the Day:
“Decide what to be and go be it.” — from The Avett Brothers’ “Head Full of Doubt, Road Full of Promise”

Today’s Playlist:
1) Like a Drug by Hazel English
2) To The Ground by Death Cab for Cutie
3) Heaven or Las Vegas by Cocteau Twins
4) Farewell Transmission by Songs Ohia
5) All Used Up by Tobin Sprout

Books to Read:
1) Barcelona Days by Daniel Riley

Binge Watchable:
1) The Alienist

Yesterday’s Trivia Question: Rain contains which vitamin? ANSWER: B12

Today’s Trivia Question: What state has more shoreline than the entire US Atlantic Seaboard?