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Wednesday
May182005

This Circle Of Life Thing Is Wearing Me Down

Now that the rain is slowing down and the worms have been keeping their wiggly selves off the sidewalks for the last few days, the girl who's heart bleeds for anything that doesn't have two legs has only had to deal with the roadkill.

Such a lovely word, isn't it? Roadkill.

You see, because I live out in the boonies and I leave early early in the morning, there's been no chance yet for anyone to move the nighttime caught-in-the-headlights ill-advised-dash-across-the-road animals off the... well... road. I would, you know even if it made me late every day, except that my fear of the day I find one still alive is stronger than the fear of dead animals and assorted nasty diseases.

The other day? No shit - a rabbit. A squirrel. A raccoon. A Canada Goose. Which mate for life, by the way, although much like humans they will remarry if one dies. This fact of which the little boy who was trying to chase one of our resident geese at the hospital into traffic last week will now have imprinted forever in his brain from the woman who pulled over and asked him if he'd like to have her chase him into traffic. With her car. Purely in the interest of educating our young, of course.

ANYWAYS, as I was saying, living in downtown Calgary for almost 10 years was just not conducive to co-habitating with teeny wildlife, let alone the bigger stuff, although one of you may remember the pigeon I tried to save when Billy lived with me (you know, those tuberculosis carrying birds and that COPD guy, makes me laugh now - oh wait, made me laugh then).

So apart from the occasional wasp or mosquito (or those damn pesky houseplant THINGS I had by the pound for a while), I've spent quite some time not seeing any sort of bugs at all.

Cut to living on the farm and all its associated wildlife, which I love. The other day on our walk we watched a family of swans hang out about 20 feet from four deer who were grazing 30 feet from the gaggle of golfers trying to whack their balls about.

So, I love them. But they tire me out. And I'll tell you why...

Over the last two days caterpillar season has begun and I spent most of the lunchtime walk and the back and forthing from the car walking past and then giving in and returning to move the little buggers off the asphalt.


music's in the things that matter
hear it in the kiss we hold
music is a walk outside

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Reader Comments (6)

When are you leaving, Jen? Will you be there next April, or will you be gone?
May 19, 2005 | Unregistered CommenterVanessa
in her mind, she's already gone
May 19, 2005 | Unregistered CommenterSaltation
Did you really do that? With the boy? Because if so, that's freakin' hilarious and I totally admire you...I'd be too afraid the kid's mom would come running over and kick my ass.

Anyway, here are those interview questions (finally - sorry!):
1. If you could teleport to any time period (past or future), when would it be, and why?
2. What's one thing you haven't done that you absolutely must do before you die?
3. Where were you born?
4. What are your top five favourite books?

That's all I could come up with.
May 19, 2005 | Unregistered Commenters.
i remember the pigeon. you made Bert proud.
May 19, 2005 | Unregistered Commenterjames
see! I knew you would!
and yeah, i really did, s. I'm not sure if it's more indicative of how much I *don't* like children or *do* like animals. Or maybe it's because the animals don't have anyone to stand up for them.

It's about the only thing that will actually cause me to be rude to a stranger....

Although, I have to admit I did turn to a slovenly mother outside a library who's child whined he didn't get the book he wanted who responded with a lovely whine of her very own, "oh, waah waah, just SHUT UP for christ's sake" and say, "hey, way to parent!" a couple weeks ago.

Although, she did get points for taking him to the library in the first place.
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