Even though Gary has been horrifically ill, he still fulfills his wildlife duties. He takes a 40-pound bag of shelled peanuts, lays it across the top of his walker, and inches across the yard to fill the seed trays on the other side of the house.
Until recently he did this at night so the nocturnal animals got the first shot at the food, but that’s too treacherous now. Now he does this during the day. The crows get first shot, and the raccoons just have to get anything left in the bird feeder lying on the patio.
Recently he was at the table by the garden door and heard some nighttime animals squabbling. When he switched on the patio light he saw “A RACCOON AND A BEAUTIFUL WHITE SKUNK --”
“Stop,” I said, “An albino skunk?”
“OF COURSE NOT IT DIDN’T HAVE PINK EYES, BUT IT WAS ALL WHITE AND HUGE --”
“How huge? Show me with your hands.”
He gestured to indicate a skunk the size of a sow.
“AND I SAW THEY WERE DRAGGING THE BIRD FEEDER BACK AND FORTH SO I GOT A BIG BAG OF PEANUTS FROM THE FOYER” (Because that’s where the peanuts are stored now, in the foyer, not happy about it) “AND I JUST TORE A CORNER OPEN AND LOBBED IT OUT ON THE PATIO AND LOOK THEY ATE ALMOST ALL OF IT.”
I did look, and there was only about twenty pounds of peanuts in a huge pile in the middle of our patio. I don’t know where the bag went.
So I guess that’s the new plan now. Because a patio covered with peanuts isn’t at all treacherous.
Everyone needs a hobby (or something), but it *would* be nice to have that hobby be minimally disruptive to the people you live with. Probably better than playing the drums or trumpet, though? Maybe?
Posted by: KC | March 10, 2025 at 11:33 AM
KC - He’s been too sick to play either instrument, poor guy. I would love to hear that again.
Posted by: theQueen | March 10, 2025 at 07:20 PM