Life And Limb

Yesterday it rained and rained and rained all day long. Our soil is sand and water tends to quickly drain away so an all day rain was very welcomed and appreciated.

EJ has been working hard in his vegetable garden in the mornings before work and on his days off (when it’s not raining). His garden is growing nicely. He has placed fences in various places in the garden as trellises for the climbing plants to grow on–such as peas and beans. His garden reminds me of Farmville, the FB game that was popular years ago.

We are enjoying the wildlife teeming outside our window. We have several large boulders in a row at the top of our hill not far from the house. Every morning I put birdseed in a crack on top of one of the boulders as well as in several bird feeders and on the post I set up in front of the trail camera a short distance away. There are always birds, squirrels, and chipmunks stopping in to eat. An adjacent boulder is flat on top; I put a large shallow bowl of water on so the critters can drink and bathe in it. The robins, especially, like to take baths in it.

Bluebirds have nested in a birdhouse not far from the boulders. They are fierce protectors of their nest and we have seen some battles as they drive away any bird or critter that gets too close. This morning they were especially diligent at driving away “threats,” which makes me think that their young might be getting ready for their first flights.

Theo, our outside cat, has been catching chipmunks. I don’t mind because left unchecked, the chipmunks would take over. This morning I saw Theo carry off a chipmunk and later found it in his food dish in the garage, which he often does. It’s a bit disconcerting to find dead chipmunks in his dish. I got it out with a scoop and carried it through EJ’s garden to the front yard. As I passed EJ working, I told him that I was going to discard the chipmunk in front of the trail cam. He made a sound of dismay, but I told him that it was already dead and I wanted to observe what, if any, critter carried it off. I put it in the grass that was long enough to hide it from the camera, but wouldn’t hide any predators. EJ did suggest putting the next dead chipmunk near the camera so we could watch the carrion beetles go at it. I once saw the battles consume a dead chipmunk and I thought it was interesting. You might consider me macabre, but observing wildlife is very interesting.

During the day I watch birds, chipmunks, and squirrels at the boulders as I look out the window. The next morning I retrieve the SD card from my trail cam so I can observe the animals that have passed it. During the night I mostly capture deer, raccoons, and opossums, with an occasional rabbit, stray cat, and coyote. Currently I post trail cam videos I especially like on my Rumble channel, but if we ever get extra money, and if I can ever figure it out, I’d like to set up a live stream camera to observe the birds and other animals that come to the boulders. I don’t think my current camera has the capability to live stream.

Our son JJ has been back on his Great Lakes bulk carrier since mid-April. He contacted us yesterday to tell us that he had slipped and fallen on the deck and he was pretty sure he had broken his leg. This morning he informed us that he had been taken off the ship to a hospital in Duluth. The break is bad enough that he is going to have to have surgery to put a plate in. The hospital told him it would be better to get the surgery close to his home. Usually he drives a rental home to and from his ship, but he’ll be flying home instead. He will be in the same hospital EJ was in when he had his stroke last September.

JJ usually works about a month aboard ship then gets two weeks off before heading back for another stint. He had been planning to attend a school in Baltimore during his off time to train as an Able-Bodied Seaman, which is the next rank up. However, that will have to be delayed while his leg mends.