The Love and Happiness Tour 2012

Two weekends ago, I went out of town all by myself,

to Indianapolis, where I used to live a long time ago,

where I made some of the best friends I've ever had.

One of them moved far, far away,

to Alberta, Canada,

where her girlfriend lives.

They got married there this April.

Canada is much more highly evolved than the US in such matters.

They held a reception for their stateside friends, where

we celebrated, and laughed and hugged, and all had a great time.

The reception was red carpet rock and roll glam attire.

There were two sets of the Village People,

 and a very well choreographed dance to YMCA. 

I haven't laughed this hard in years.

The next day I had a few free hours and went to the Art Museum.

 It was charming and lovely and fascinating.

Lots of intimate, surprising spaces to discover, inside and out.

This was my favorite view.

At the very end of the lawn is a wonderfully iconic sculpture.

When the museum closed, I walked down for a better picture.

It summed up my weekend perfectly.

Congratulations to two of my favorite people on the planet,
who really know how to throw a party, 

and manage to collect the best kinds of friends.

I wish them a lifetime of adventure and love, 

and hope that in the near future,

their marriage can be officially recognized in both their countries.

xxoo

I don't know how this happened

One day you send them off to kindergarten...

and before you know what hit you, this happens:

It's a mystery to me where the time went, where that little boy went and who this young man is, so mature, self assured and strong. We must have done something right.

I can't imagine what comes next, but I'm sure it will be amazing.

And happened some more...

So my smart husband gets home from his road trip, and hears the great baby opossum rescue story and says, if there's more, lets catch them in the chipmunk trap. (The chipmunk trap is an exercise in futility we experimented with a few years ago, it seems they spontaneously generate so trapping them is futile.)

We baited the trap with bananas and apples and set it by the hole under the porch. It took all of five minutes for the door to clang shut behind two hungry orphans.

I put them in a big barrel with food and warm blankets. 

We reset the trap.

Snap.

One more hungry orphan.

Reset.

Snap.

Two more.

Reset and repeat, one more.

Reset. 

I peep into the hole and see two tiny eyes watching me and the trap.

Probably wondering where everybody went. 

Cautious guy took an hour to succumb to the smell of bananas.

Husband happily worked on the firepit while he played rescue guy.

We kept the trap out until bedtime, but no action.

Grand Total = 7.

Holy crap.

Look at them, cute little buggers. They love the mashed bananas, applesauce and baby rice.

They were hungry.

 My daughter has decided opossums are her new favorite animal and she wants to volunteer at the wildlife rescue now too, on top of the animal shelter and the hospital. She was thrilled to have three at a time eating out of the spoon.  I imagine they like huddling up together under a blanket, safe and warm.

The girls at the rescue are going to love me.

I grabbed their wish list yesterday, so I'll come back bearing gifts besides babies.

Now that I know how much work and mess these little guys are, I can't imagine what their day is like. Bless their big hearts.

I hope the lone sibling at the rescue is happy to see the family.

I'm happy my husband helped out, and we saved these little critters.

I can't imagine the horror and the smell under my porch if we hadn't.

And I really, really hope we got them all.

There is never a dull moment around here, that is certain.

In other nature updates, the robin nest now mysteriously contains only 3 eggs and no sign of hatching yet.

We're still hoping.

Have a great weekend.

And then this happened...

I saw what I thought was a rat walking across the patio. Turns out it was an tiny baby opossum. Orphaned, I assume. The bug furry dog cornered mama a few nights ago. I knew something was living under the porch, and I prefer possum to raccoon so I didn't mind.

We heard the coyotes going nuts two nights ago, and figured they had caught something. Car, coyotes, dogs - it's a tough life for our marsupial friends.

So I ran to get apples, fruits, and cat food, I read they like cat food, because after the dog scared the grown up one, I put food out for it, but it wasn't inclined to stick around.

This tiny one licked the apple. Too young to chew. I ran inside, researched, found out hypothermia and dehydration are the biggest risks, and I called the local wildlife rescue who did not call me back.

I tried to catch the little guy, hiding inside a runaway patch of siberian iris, and darn if I didn't lose it. I looked for hours. Got down the old guinea pig cage, put out more food, looked everywhere but it gave me the slip.

Three hours later, I stand outside thinking if I just listen, maybe I'll hear it. And I did. It was crying for help. Took me a while to find it, where it had fallen in the window well, and one butterfly net later, I had it swaddled in a towel.

Made some homemade pedialite, added some baby rice and applesauce and once it warmed up it ate a little. Mostly it wants to curl up and rest and I don't blame it. I hope I can rest knowing I have this little baby in the house to take care of. I keep wondering if there are little siblings under the porch, because they usually come in big batches. I put food out there and that's all I can do for now.

I'm hoping it makes it through the night so I can get it to the people who know what they're doing.

Good lord, cute overload. It just took a teeny tiny bath licking its teeny tiny paws. I don't think I can stand this. Daughter is already lobbying to keep it as a pet. Wild things deserve to be wild, that's what I told her.  No matter how cute they are.

Mama's been busy

So far, so good with the robin's new nest.  Not a predator in sight.

Isn't mama cute? Looks like she and the Mr. have been very busy.

Our whole family is excited to see them hatch. I'll keep you posted.