Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Rocks In My Dryer...

Thing Three scared the bejeebus out of me yesterday--I washed a pair of his cargo shorts--one pocket of which he'd stuffed an impromptu "rock collection" into--and they held during the wash cycle, but the pocket came open in the dryer, and I honestly thought my dryer was going to hoist itself up on slimy hind legs like out of some horror movie and devour us all. The sound was THAT scary.

Thing Three knows we always "check our pockets" before we throw things in the dirty clothes hamper now. Of course, how much you want to bet he'll forget?

The Turkeys and their babies were out again today. Yesterday we were all in the basement, doing assorted things, and Thing Two noticed there were two big turkeys by our windows. We went upstairs to look, and there were two females, and FIFTEEN little baby turkeys with them. (What do you call them? Turklings?) They were all adorable. I worry, though with all the loose cats in the neighborhood.

This morning they were in our back yard again, same place, and they went into the empty wooded lot next to us. They must be roosting in there. I just hope every day we see them, there are still fifteen babies. I'll be sad if there are any less.

Oh, and SCARY--we were driving off the freeway about two miles from our house on Sunday, and I saw a COYOTE standing by himself in a field.

WTH?????

Thing One and her girlfriend went for a walk a few weeks ago and she called me on her cellphone, screaming that there were coyotes in the empty cornfield right next to our subdivision. I didn't really believe her, because that would be FREAKY. We concluded they were just the farmer's dogs.

Well, after seeing that one coyote so close, I am worried. There probably were coyotes in that cornfield. Right at the edge of our subdivision. I mean, I have a BABY, and small children. Coyotes EAT small children. I am going to talk with the neighbors and see what they think about it. Granted, I would never leave the baby in the back yard by himself, but my smaller-than-average seven year old is out there all the time. Should I worry?

*Shudder*

I'm struggling with the name for my protagonist's sister. I settled on Rebekah (a bible name) but let's be honest, there are only a handful of women's names in Biblical canon, and frankly I think they're overused. This person lived in Central America in A.D. 34, so her name could pretty much be anything, but her ancestors migrated from Jerusalem 600 years earlier, so I figured "Rebekah" might work.
I need to get creative. Hmmm....

Time for our morning walk!

6 comments:

Michelle Miles said...

I would worry for sure. Getting the neighbors together is a good idea and don't let the kids out after dark for sure.

Get thee to babynames.com for a biblical name. Bet you find one you can use that's not overdone. :)

Anonymous said...

Dan suggests "turkey tenders" which brought on a few giggles from me. And for the coyote, it might be more interested in the "tenders" or mice, they generally eat small things and fruit rather than people; however it's still uncomfy to have them around I'm sure (just keep that prize watermelon inside)! You should post some pics of the Turkeys, I honestly don't think I've ever seen a baby one!

-Sis

wfbdoglover said...

We had a coyote problem here in the city. They came from Estabrook Park and the bluffs by Lake Michigan. They ended up shooting a couple of them because they had mange. I've seen them by my house over the years - we had one stalking us because of our cat going outside. They do not bother our dog, he is too big.


It was a "hot topic" a while back here, some simple internet research can aide you with information to speak with your neighbors and then your local government.

If you don't mind me suggesting. Keep a notepad with the sightings and time of day. It will give you more leverage when speaking to officials. You may want to ask your neighbors to do the same.

Day sightings are not positive. If they see a heavy pattern of day sightings, they maybe more apt to do something. With your list of sightings, they would be more apt to take you seriously, rather than another complaining citizen. (only because so many people complain all the time - I think you have a good one here)

Unknown said...

Baby turkeys are called poults!

Anonymous said...

Oh, Karen beat me to it: baby turkies are POULTS. Though I think "goblettes" is more appropriate ;)

Anonymous said...

Look on the international baby name sites for the region of her origin. I always find them inspiring.

RE: The coyotes. Do you have a fence? Coyotes can't jump tall fences. I seem to remember you saying at some point you "can't" have a fence (I'm hoping it wasn't you -- I wouldn't live anywhere that wouldn't allow a fence).

If you can't/don't have a fence, teach your smaller children how to deal with the coyotes. Coyotes don't like loud noises, nor do they like sticks. If you can keep a baseball bat on the porch, or near where they play, they can yell loudly and wave the baseball bat.

If you hear a coyote call and HEAR ANOTHER ONE ANSWER -- get the kids inside and keep them in. You can chase off one, but not a pack. And call animal control.

Believe it or not, we're having a coyote problem around here. There are several on the property of one of the people one town over for whom I dogsit. Even though the dog's a labrador, I never allow her out alone after dark. I'm always out there with her.

I'm not afraid of the coyotes -- they've actually run off some people who tried to break in -- but I'm also not going to be careless around them.