View from the deck

Ever since I started this blog, the need to write is constantly with me. I have no shortage of things to write about and more and more, I am finding things other than my life story as a subject. Today, I am sitting on my deck in the sunshine listening to the water as it splashes in the ponds. The dogs are in various positions of sleep enjoying the warm sun on their backs although in Abigail’s case, her stomach as she is sleeping on her back with all four paws facing skyward as though praying to St Francis or some other god of the doggie world.Every now and then she will twitch and whine as she is dreaming about something that has aroused her curiosity today and is now reliving it as she sleeps.

It must be a great life to be so trouble-free with the only worry where and when will dad feed us today. Will he go out in which case we eat late or will he stay in and feed us early.No matter even if he goes out we will get a cookie to tide us over. Of course I have no idea what Abigail or any of them are thinking but that is what I would think if were a dog. How bad is that, I’m thinking like a dog now…

My next door Neighbour has complained that Richie keeps her awake at night so we have had to change the routines and close the doggie door at about 10:00 pm. I can’t blame her as he can be very annoying. I think that my hearing is getting worse as I usually hear him and call him in but just lately, have not heard him bark. Obviously he has been otherwise she would not have complained.Problem with him and the rest being shut indoors is that the raccoons and rats are having a field day (or should that be field night?)with the bird feeders. The rats just eat the food but the coons are much more destructive and literally will pull the feeders up into the trees in order to get at the seed. They are pretty smart about some of the things they do. They have figured out how to open the wire holders that have the slabs of bird feed in them and to turn bird feeders upside down to empty the seed. I go through about 40 lbs of birdseed a week and probably 20 lbs of that feeds animals instead of birds.

The rats are getting so bad that I have resorted to a couple of rat traps, of the live cage variety, in order to reduce their numbers.So far, I haven’t caught any but just give it time. After I catch them, I have to dispose of them and as I am not into killing anything, I will have to load the cages in the car and then take a drive out in the country and release them. Know anyone who needs a few live rats?

I was in Callahan’s general feed store yesterday. It’s been a while since I was there. The place was packed and they had a live chicken seminar going on with small piglets and goats on display. I don’t know what it is about those sort of stores that make them so appealing to some of us but it probably has a lot to do with our early years and how we spent them and the pull of the land is very strong in some of us. The people who work there are so interesting and many of them are older country folk who still talk like real Texans. They have the weathered look of those who have spent their entire life out in the sun and have worked hard all of their life. So different from the rest of us who only dream of living off the land but never will as we do not want the hard work, the dirt and toil that goes along with it.

Besides for many of us, our working days are through and we are enjoying our retirement that we will tell anyone who cares to listen that we spent x number of years working for so and so and gave them the best years of our lives and by golly,we earned this retirement.

That is how it is with me and why I can sit on my deck and write articles for my blog. Any hard work that I do now is in my own back yard or inside the house. I have no need to trade my services off for money being able to live comfortably off the outcome of my twenty-three years working for the University of Texas at Austin for which I am very grateful.