Garden Gold

I mentioned that I am taking an on-line writing class. I'm rather pleased with a piece I wrote for an assignment.

The assignment was to write about something we taught ourselves, in 500 words or less. Open with a quote, saying or cultural reference, and then return to it at the end with a twist. Here's mine:

Exposure

In the tide pools, lapped with free flowing sea water, there's sunlight and energy. Here creatures need strong foundations to withstand pounding waves and the pull of tides. And here, there's such an abundance of life.

Click to "embiggen"

Never resting, the waves bring constant challenge and nourishment.

What a difference

After our weekend heat wave, this is what Tuesday and Wednesday morning have been like at our house.

What a difference, huh? I've had to wear my sweater in the mornings!

Bird in the house

Picture from Wikipedia

Tonight I came home from work and when I walked in the door, I noticed that Jack was posed particularly alert in the upper hallway between the bedrooms. Then I thought I heard an odd fluttering, walked past the kitchen, and noticed debris on the floor.

There, against the high windows in the kitchen, a bird was trapped in the house.

This was a formidable bird; a Western Scrub Jay. Big and tough, scrub jays are supposed to be among the most intelligent of birds.

Not this one. This guy was a dumbshit.

First, I opened the patio door wide. It was sunset, and light was streaming in. The blinds were all drawn on the lower windows, and it should have been obvious, but the jay kept flinging himself against the clerestory windows.

Most of those windows are fixed glass, but one is an awning-type window, without a screen. I had to fetch the ladder from the basement to reach it, and managed to crank it open. This whole operation freaked the jay out so much he hid behind the vent-hood chimney, and I had to wait a while for him to calm down.

Meanwhile, brave Jack had retreated into the bedroom, and wasn't going anywhere near the kitchen.

Finally, the jay emerged from behind the hood chimney, and I used a broom to drive him toward the open window.

He fluttered in a panic and landed right on the open windowsill!! - but then he fluttered crazily back to dash his brains against the fixed glass window. I stood and watched him, wondering whether he'd find his way. Would it be cruel to use the broom to give him a nudge?

Flutter, flutter, frantic, and then  - suddenly he found the opening! Goodbye, dumbshit! Good speed!

Jack was relieved.

A woman and her dog

I stopped by the ocean yesterday. Parked the car on the shoulder and went down to the beach. It was low tide, and the rocks were exposed.

Pelicans were clustered like a pack of yelping delinquents, on one big rock out in the water.

A pure white egret waded in the tidepools, searching for something to spear.

While I watched, a woman  came down the beach with a little black and white dog. She walked among the algae-covered rocks, and took a picture or two with her phone camera, while the dog scampered up and down the sand.

Click all photos to "embiggen"

She waded a few steps into the water. She wore a long black cotton dress, and as the waves washed round her feet it soaked her up to the thighs. She looked out at the blue water and you could tell - she just didn't care.

Hot

Today at about 4:00 pm, our house.

Weekend update

Because it is my weekend; my new job works a 9/80 schedule, which means working 9 days over a 2 week period for 80 hours. It's 9 hours a day Monday through Thursday, and eight hours on every other Friday.

So tomorrow is my Friday Off!

But this isn't a time for goofing off, I've got some serious things happening.  

My task for the weekend is a messy and yet familiar one - the raccoons have attacked our fishpond. This time, they've managed to snag the pump hose out of the fountain and cause it to spray over the edge of the pond. On two different mornings, we've awakened to a green, slimy, stinking pond, with only a few inches of water remaining.  The first time, after I plugged the hose back and re-filled the pond, I could see the goldfish cautiously swimming in their new water. This second time, I can't see any fish. They are either hiding or the bastards got them.

With my work schedule and everything else, I've had to let the pond just sit. So tomorrow, I will refit the system and try to craft some kind of raccoon-proof protection. And buy new fish.

And, mind you, it's over 100 degrees during the day. A fishpond full of slimey stuff smells pretty high in that heat.

Stay cool, people. And avoid green slime if you can.

Running to catch up

Sorry for the light posting. We came off a nice holiday week, and then things heated up.

Literally, because we're experiencing a heat wave here in LA. The house is like an oven when I get home from work.

[The Man I Love] got on a plane this morning to visit family in Tampa. More on that later. It's just me and the dog, trying to keep cool.

What a blast

Red snapper, ready for dinner

 Fishing With Dynamite is a new seafood joint in Manhattan Beach - and it's just what you want when you go visit a seaside town.

Launched by Chef David Lefevre, who also runs Manhattan Beach Post nearby, it's a tiny place; so compact that the only seats we could find were two tall stools at the narrow raw bar. But they were Eames DSR barstools - supremely comfortable for the two hours of self-indulgent dining we were about to undergo.