{"id":35647,"date":"2020-09-21T17:52:11","date_gmt":"2020-09-22T01:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sparselysageandtimely.com\/blog\/?p=35647"},"modified":"2023-12-21T13:16:11","modified_gmt":"2023-12-21T21:16:11","slug":"home-sometimes-seems-like-an-animal-shelter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sparselysageandtimely.com\/?p=35647","title":{"rendered":"Home sometimes seems like an animal shelter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Caveat lectorem: When readers submit comments, they are asked if they want to receive an email alert with a link to new postings on this blog. A number of people have said they do. Thank you. The link is created the moment a posting goes online. Readers who find their way here through that link can see an updated version by simply clicking on the headline above the posting. <\/strong>All other readers already have an updated version.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Sheltering in place<\/strong> with only limited socializing definitely affects one’s thinking. It forces many of us to spend more time alone taking stock of ourselves and of our lives. It’s a humbling experience and may provide an inkling of why a prisoner behind bars cannot avoid thinking about his life. But, as I’m sure the prisoner knows, too much such thinking becomes tedious. For the moment, I’m trying to divert my attention to the creatures I find all around me.<\/p>\n

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A hummingbird<\/strong> a week ago enjoyed a few sips before the smoke from the Woodward Fire significantly dissipated. As of this writing, the fire, which a lightning strike started on Aug. 18, was 97 percent contained, having blackened 4,929 acres in the Point Reyes National Seashore.<\/p>\n

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A coyote wandered up to the greenhouse<\/strong> of neighbors Dan and Mary Huntsman on August 21. Had I been looking out my living-room window, this is what I would have seen. Alas, I wasn’t looking, but Dan was and from his home took this picture. (Photo by Dan Huntsman<\/em>)<\/p>\n

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Buzzards on Sept. 13 feast on the carcass of a skunk<\/strong> presumably killed by a great horned owl. It was the second time in recent weeks buzzards dined on a skunk near Mitchell cabin.<\/p>\n

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A gray fox<\/strong> showed up on our deck after dark last week to dine on the last bits of kibble I had given some raccoons earlier.<\/p>\n

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A skunk goes eye to eye with Newy, the stray cat <\/strong>we adopted in late July. More frequently than the fox, skunks show up after the raccoons to pick through what remains of the kibble.<\/p>\n

And in a weather vein: <\/strong>Whenever Lynn opened the bedroom window in recent days, I started sneezing and then coughing. “Do you think it’s pollen or smoke that’s causing the sneezing?” she asked me a couple of days ago. “The answer,” I told her, “is blowing in the wind.”<\/p>\n

I’ll stop here<\/strong>. There’s a lot I’m tempted to write about our political situation, but I think I’ll save that for another week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Caveat lectorem: When readers submit comments, they are asked if they want to receive an email alert with a link to new postings on this blog. A number of people have said they do. Thank you. The link is created the moment a posting goes online. Readers who find their way here through that link […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":623,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[186,10,11],"tags":[337,213,214,1086,596,1363,1356],"class_list":["post-35647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-point-reyes-national-seashore","category-west-marin-nature","category-wildlife","tag-buzzards","tag-coyote","tag-gray-fox","tag-hummingbird","tag-skunks","tag-stray-cat","tag-woodward-fire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sparselysageandtimely.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sparselysageandtimely.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sparselysageandtimely.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sparselysageandtimely.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/623"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sparselysageandtimely.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35647"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/sparselysageandtimely.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40654,"href":"https:\/\/sparselysageandtimely.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35647\/revisions\/40654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sparselysageandtimely.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sparselysageandtimely.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sparselysageandtimely.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}