Morning Walk

While I was distracted by a hawk, a few feet away Mr S was staring down a coyote who was walking quite deliberately toward him down the center of the road, veering off only at the last minute to circle around the field. “He was so close!”, he exclaimed. No sooner than he finished this anecdote, a second animal came purposefully toward us, trot trot down the center of the road. I began to click away as it got closer and closer. (Extra) Trot trot. Just as I was about to back up, it veered off into the field, following the path of the first creature. I was trying to remember if this was the animal we should make ourselves big for: don’t run, maybe throw some rocks (mountain lion), or play dead for (bear?). But this was the animal who really didn’t care what I did, I was just a bump in the road and he had places to go, coyotes to see.


The Extra is the hawk, who also didn’t seem to care what I was doing as I clumsily inched closer and closer over the gravel. 

Plus a rather large herd of deer jumping so gracefully over a meandering fence. All in all, a lovely way to start the day. 



And, to finish the day, we had a masked dinner with the family! Restaurants here just opened again for outdoor dining, and it was such a warm day, so it was a good opportunity to spend a short time together. Granddaughter is a cheer coach at the high school and has gone back to work one day a week. Activity is masked, distanced and outdoors, so she feels safe. I'm a little confused because it doesn't seem like the kids are really back in class. Maybe it's just the sports that are starting up gently. But not all sports. There's a tier system. I'm glad I don't really have to decipher most of this. There were more people wandering around downtown than I've seen in awhile, and frankly I was more than a little nervous, but folks were masked and respectful. It's just that we've gotten used to being with cats and plants.