Too Eager of a Beaver

After 36 hours of stormy weather, it looked like we were in for some hot, steamy sunshine, at least for the foreseeable future. I was up just after 5:30am and eager to begin my Thursday. I was happy to see clear skies overhead as I glanced out the back door. I also took notice of a secured shed. That gave me a brief sense of relief.

After my exercise routine Ykraps and I headed out the door for our routine morning walk. We’ve been doing this thing for coming up on eleven years twice each day. That’s over 8,000 walks. Of course, to arrive at the exact number, you’d have to back out the vacations where I placed him in storage, but you get the idea. We’ve walked this beat together an awful lot. He and I have experienced considerable change together, and also pee’d on many a bush and mailboxes. He prefers the bushes. Me, well, I prefer the mailboxes. :O

Anyway, there was a strong scent of summer hanging in the thick morning air. It smelt so very sweet. The heavy rain from the past 36 hours did wonders for the lawns and flowers. All of my overseeded patches readily visible to my eye were suddenly flourishing. However, many of my flowers, shrubs, and plants were bent slightly due to the extra weight of the rain. But I knew that they’d bounce back after a day of sunshine.

The days high was expected to top 90 degrees for the first time all season. Needless to say, this pleased me much. Already, at 6:00am it was 68 degrees. It felt almost tropical with the high humidity. Back at home I enjoyed the morning’s first cup of coffee all while playing on the internet. I spent about fifteen minutes meditating afterwards. It was very nice. As I prepared for my run I grappled briefly with my attire. In the end, I chose to run in shorts only – no shirt. It was certainly steamy enough.

The sunshine was warm as it rose over the nearby roof and tree tops. My nagging pain eased after just a few blocks. That’s a wonderful sign. In kind, my run went very well. I finished strong and was back home in the blink of an eye.

Jacob & Bella were both up and dressed when I returned from my run. Hmm? They explained how excited they were to once again be going to Grandma Sharon’s. As we talked, I learned that Pappy, Sharon’s husband, promised that their pool would be opened today. Can I go? J Bella said that she was letting her momma sleep for a while. That brought a chuckle!

I took Mindy her coffee. She came down stairs a short while later. After breakfast and a shower I was ready to head off to work. But before leaving, I grabbed my camera and headed out to snap some pictures of my rose bushes smothered in sunshine. I took just a few. I needed to head off to work. Because the weather was so lovely, I once again drove the BM’er.

The work day went fast. I went to Office Max and Best Buy for lunch. I bought a new stack of 100 blank CD-Rs. I simply browsed at Best Buy since it’s right next door. I didn’t talk to Mindy until near the end of the day. We’d be meeting at Jacob’s ball game right around the corner from my office between 5:30-6:00pm.

I left for the game at 5:35pm on the nose. This evening was far different than the last three games I attended. Instead of being cool and windy, I was quite warm. Hey, I wasn’t bitchin’! I like it that way. But because I drove the BM’er, we didn’t have the camp chairs. Mindy pulled up right after me. She didn’t think to bring them either, but at least she packed a cooler full of popsicles and waters. She grabbed a blanket from the minivan, too.

Jacob missed last Saturday’s game and quite honestly, it showed. In fact, the whole team played a rather poor game. The other team batted around in every inning but one. We looked like the bad news bears. Purely and observation, but after 5 games, our team is the poorest hitting team I’ve seen in the league. And they’re not too far from the bottom in fielding either. Not sure why. It was still fun to watch. Meanwhile, I thought that the opposing coach looked familiar, but couldn’t be sure. At game’s end, he approached me and introduced himself. Turned out, he’s an old neighbor from a few years back. He and his wife have since moved out of the subdivision to a new one off of Alton Darby Rd. I remember him as a fellow Viking fan. Go Vikings - SKOL!!!

After the game, Jacob chose to ride home with me in the BM’er. Meanwhile, Mindy would be making a pit stop at Chipotle for dinner. It’s a real miracle that I’m not fat!
We beat Mindy home by a handful of minutes just as expected. Jacob grabbed his scooter and was going to cruise along beside Ykraps and I while we walked, but then his best buddy showed up. The company was history. I didn’t mind.

Afterwards, I hurried out to the garage to begin potting the begonia’s I bought at Home Depot the day before. I also hoped to wrap the young, fragile tree along the pond. I had enough time to pot the begonias but that’s it. It was time to eat. The kids ate on the deck while hanging with their friends. Mindy and I opted to eat inside. It was 90 degrees. After dinner I set out into the yard to access the impact of the rain on my flower beds.

The first thing I encountered was one of my pink flamingos knocked over. While setting it straight I noticed some severe digging in the same bed. Geesh! Also, just out of the bed I noticed what appeared to be about ten smallish eggs opened up. I called the oddity to Mindy’s attention, who was just coming out to chat/walk with me. She bet the ranch that they were turtle eggs. At first we surmised that they were buried in the large hole but crawled out to fully hatch, but after thinking it through a little more we decided that something dug ‘em up and ate them, probably raccoons. I spent some time filling the holes. Next, we moved back towards the shed, and then to the tree swing. What I saw next really set me off. One of the young trees along the pond was gone, and on closer inspection. I could see that it was taken down by another beaver. Oh, you can’t even imagine how upset I was. Ask Mindy! I can’t believe it. This tree was a volunteer that I transplanted along the pond and had been nurturing it for several years. And I just bought plastic tubing to wrap the trunk as a proactive measure yesterday. One stinkin day too late! I could not believe it!

Looking around the back property, we found two or three other trees taken down as well. Those, however, were in the neighbors’ yards. The beavers must’ve been busy during all the rain. I had a really hard time letting go. The irony was killing me. Plus, as I shared with Mindy, It leaves me feeling defeated. I work so hard to make the yard a min-paradise. I don’t need someone/thing following behind me destroying my efforts. In fact, even as I am writing this my blood is beginning to boil once more!

Back inside, Mindy rushed the kids upstairs for a shower. She wanted to take one, too, so she simply had the kids get in with her. While they readied for bed, I got busy updating my blog. I stopped what I was doing around 8:50pm to go up and tuck the kids in. Mindy finished their vacation packing and then retuned downstairs. I made a drink when I came back down - a stiff Jack & Coke. Together, we went down to the basement to have some loud sex, er, uh, look at the plasma TV mounting bracket in part to see what we’re up against when mounting it upstairs. The TV weighs quite a bit, so I wanted to make sure I had a good idea how it all fit together – the TV and then the wall-mount bracket. Back upstairs we looked online at pier towers to store our DVDs and such. We want something that closely matches the new TV stand. We found a couple we liked. Mindy headed to bed soon after. I stayed up another hour or so updating my blog.