It’s
the First Friday of the Week so forgive me if I am short today (you are most
welcome). As we all know there is an intrinsic requirement to celebrate this
most sacred of all non-holiday weekdays. There has been a major escalation in
my ongoing backyard war with the squirrels and rabbits. Since I lost my air
force when the nesting robins departed, the squirrels have had the upper hand
and established supremacy over the bird feeders. They figured out how to open
the door to one which resulted on all the seeds falling out for their leisurely
consumption. I wired that door shut but they are relentless. I’ve got a sore
arm from all the rocks I’ve thrown at them. I needed to up my game. I have been
weaponless since the whole, unfortunate, paralyzed baby bunny situation due to
my wife’s reaction to her contracting that event. She relented and I bought a
fairly mellow Walther air gun that shoots plastic BBs. This could be fun and my
Favorite Panamanian already asked for shooting instructions.
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| Squirrel Reaction to my Escalation |
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| The New Weapon |
That’s
not the only thing going on today in the back yard. We lucked out a couple
years ago when a huge pine tree was struck by lightning and then blew down away
from the house (the lucky part) a couple months later. In falling it mortally
damaged two other large pine trees that could also have reached the house if
they fell after succumbing to their injuries. The next door neighbor, whom I ‘m
building the wall for, contracted to have some of the trees behind his house
taken down. When I got back from my swim workout this morning he asked if I
wanted to talk with them. The tree guy was really cool and he pointed out there
were four trees as well as a very dead one that should come down.
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| Old Skyline |
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| New Skyline |
We
reached financial terms, very cheap, and I said not to worry about the dead one
because even if it fell towards the house it wouldn’t reach it. Fifteen minutes
later all four trees were down and a potential future catastrophe avoided. In a
bit of good luck, the second tree that fell took down the dead one as it fell
so I got that one for free. We have a whole new skyline behind the house and the
squirrels have less habitat. When you go to war you have to consider all your enemies’
vulnerabilities. I hope a few of them were in that dead tree when it came down.
War is war.
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| Debris Field |
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| Wall Progress |
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RECURRING CHARACTERS
BR3 – granddaughter #3, BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first
granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best
Family Athlete = my daughter in law; Wingman
– my son in law; Keene Friends 1 & 2
– friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend
– friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as
radical leftist to attract women; Kindergarten
Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Pittsburgh College Roommate – high
school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions
once my wife got involved in planning; Maine
and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters,
my wife is the 3rd musquetera (musketeer); Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of
my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin
Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we
have lived & their spouses; Neighborhood
Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of
course); First Friday – celebrations
to mark the First Friday of the Week; Curbside
Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in
Brooklyn
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