Boxing Day
San Diego this morning seems stuck in that mix of sunny skies in one direction and threatening rain in another.I am adjusting more and more every day to my new existence out here and trying my best to think like someone who will be doing this for a long, long time. I am already well over any jet lag, which is to be expected since I didn’t jet out in the first place, but rather drove across in four days. You always read about how mountain climbers use several days to acclimate to differing new heights. Obviously the same holds true for time zone shifting, but I can’t say I had ever thought of it before. So, I am waking at a normal hour of the day after about seven hours of sleep and I spend my quotient of time staring out onto the distant hills from my desk, looking alternately at the ocean to my left and the distant San Gabriel Mountains straight ahead. For a break I can look to my right at what I call my Dr. Seuss cactus hillock where a dozen varieties of cacti sit with a stone pagoda in the middle. This all makes for a very serene start to the morning for me.
Good thing I get this serenity in the morning because I am still plagued by that nesting and noisy night critter, who returned with the impending inclement weather to shelter under our bedroom eaves again last night. Kim and Cecil were each fast asleep and try as I might to ignore the noises, I felt I needed to try to deal with the situation. This time I tried turning on all the outside lights I could find in that vicinity and hope that it would scare the beast away (I still cannot tell if it is as simple as a bullfrog or as complicated as a coyote or bobcat). No such luck. It kept snuffling and scratching. If it just slept quietly it would be left alone, but who amongst us as we age can attest to sleeping quietly?
It suddenly occurred to me that I had reinforcements if I wished to deal with the problem. Nephew Josh and son Thomas were in the other room, so I had reinforcements. I motivated them to join me in an expedition. I found the flashlight and Josh insisted we bring a big stick, which luckily I had in the form of a five-foot walking stick. As we headed out into the Wild, Thomas thought he had seen something run away. As we went out to the dry spot under the eaves, it became obvious with the wind whipping through the Madagascar Bottle Tree that this critter was a not-fair-weather friend. While I shone the light into the bushes, Josh rooted around with the walking stick. Nothing. Then Josh asked for the light to dig further into the brush. Eventually, with the light and the stick Josh actually crawled into the bushes in a way I would have been very hesitant to do. He was intrepid and not do worried of something jumping out of the thicket at him. Had he not seen The Ghost and the Darkness when Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer try the same trick with a lion? This trick never ends well.
But nothing came out of the bushes and if we believed Thomas, the night critter was watching us from a distance. We called off the hunt with much bravado and I went back to bed. Listening, I heard blessed silence only to start hearing the critter noises start again in ten minutes. I debated with myself about reassembling the safari, but opted to let the beast be. We had gone into the Wild and tried and now the critter deserved its warm/dry spot for the night.
I figured Boxing Day would be a good day to go to Home Depot to properly arm myself for the next adventure, when I was unlikely to have the reinforcements easily at hand. I plan to buy a few bigger flashlights, some varmint spray to make the area under our bedroom window less appealing, and maybe some sort of non-lethal weapon. I am 100% anti-gun so I will never own a proper gun, but I have to ask myself if a pellet gun offends my anti-gun sensibilities. Are there any other weapons designed to chase off varmints? That will be my Home Depot mission for today. I have to be a California home owner without offending my own liberal sensibilities. Just like my decision about keeping my driveway gate closed when we are in residence. Is that too much like a gated community or is it just sensible home security? Tough decisions ahead. I will start with varmint control.
Strangely enough, Kim’s first reaction was to let the critter be since every living thing occasionally needs shelter. When I explained it interrupted our sleep she was unmoved. I then changed tack and asked how she would feel if she took Cecil out to pee in the morning and his normal bush-sniffing resulted in him being briskly snatched away for some critter’s breakfast. All critters need food as well as shelter. She immediately saw the error in her logic and agreed that a varmint spray was called for. I haven’t discussed discouragement weapons with her yet, but I predict some resistance. Not having to go outside at night with a flashlight and stick makes her vote count a bit less on this issue.
Boxing Day is proving to be a somewhat more thoughtful day than expected. I find myself thinking about my solitary early morning existence in my new home. I think about the beasts of the field and how I can live in peace with them while maintaining my dominance in the sense that they not be allowed to disturb my peace and comfort (or carry off Kim’s dog). I think about my nephew Josh and his family heading back to Pasadena and my son Thomas and his squeeze, Jenna spending another day here before flying back to home and work in New York City. Soon, Kim, Cecil and I will be here on this hilltop alone with our thoughts and critters. I am pretty sure I can handle the critter management issues without delay. The head game is always the trickier part.
One of the reasons for moving here more than other places was being near family. Kim’s sister Sharon and husband Woo left this morning after loading up with lots of consolidation excess from Kim’s closet. Nephew Will with fiancé Ashley did likewise with XXXL excess from my closet yesterday. Kim’s brother Jeff and his wife Lisa are back to work this morning as are (I assume) my sister Kathy and architect partner Bennett. Everyone is settled into their routines except us. We are somewhere between normal seasonal pleasures and wrestling with change in our lives. Everyone else knows their program and feels like they have things to do and places to go. Kim, Cecil and I are less certain. We are enjoying an entirely different kind of Boxing Day.