Dilemmas
(And before I get to the point, a totally nerdy aside in which I relate that today biking home as I was thinking about this post I had the revelation that the word dilemma is analyzable into multiple meaningful word parts: di for two, and lemma for argument or assumption, and the realization made me surprisingly happy. In case my utter nerdiness was in question in any way.)
I've been keeping a haphazard Wildlife Journal on my computer for about a month now, where sometime before bed I write down the day's sightings. It was a downy woodpecker feeding its baby on a tree right next to my balcony that started things off, and my hourlong bike rides to and from work and nature-oriented visits in Monterey definitely provide me with plenty of things to write down. For example, today's entry:
heron catching and eating fish (bridge at bike path), flock of starlings, cat hunting in culvert near river (hunting what?), swallows in meadow near gazebo, geese on lawn at work, house finch and red-wing blackbirds behind FDA, goldfinch near basketball court, mourning doves at usual spot at trestle, cardinal near balcony
You get the general idea -- and NB that today's heron-catching-fish incident, spotted as I very very very slowly biked across the bridge where I usually see my heronly friend, was definitely the high point of my day. Which is a bit sad when said high point comes at like 8:30 am and you know it's all downhill from there.
Anyway, the dilemma. Every time I walk down the section of my street two blocks north of my building and it's after, say, 9 pm, I see rats. The other night I saw four: criss-crossing the street, heading into ivy, heading towards garbage, etc. etc. The street is pretty quiet, and reasonably well lit, so I can see them from pretty far away right up until the moment when I walk by, at which point I sometimes manage to see them pretty close up as well. And then if I turn around during the remaining few blocks, I have the pleasure of seeing them once more. So, do I include them in my wildlife journal? Part of the reason for the journal is to focus on the positive, and notice all the nice things that surround me every day (to counteract all the terrible things out there that it's all too easy to dwell on), such that the denizens of Rat Alley don't really fit in. And yet, they are certainly memorable sightings. Of animals. That I wouldn't call domesticated. What to do, what to do...
I've been keeping a haphazard Wildlife Journal on my computer for about a month now, where sometime before bed I write down the day's sightings. It was a downy woodpecker feeding its baby on a tree right next to my balcony that started things off, and my hourlong bike rides to and from work and nature-oriented visits in Monterey definitely provide me with plenty of things to write down. For example, today's entry:
heron catching and eating fish (bridge at bike path), flock of starlings, cat hunting in culvert near river (hunting what?), swallows in meadow near gazebo, geese on lawn at work, house finch and red-wing blackbirds behind FDA, goldfinch near basketball court, mourning doves at usual spot at trestle, cardinal near balcony
You get the general idea -- and NB that today's heron-catching-fish incident, spotted as I very very very slowly biked across the bridge where I usually see my heronly friend, was definitely the high point of my day. Which is a bit sad when said high point comes at like 8:30 am and you know it's all downhill from there.
Anyway, the dilemma. Every time I walk down the section of my street two blocks north of my building and it's after, say, 9 pm, I see rats. The other night I saw four: criss-crossing the street, heading into ivy, heading towards garbage, etc. etc. The street is pretty quiet, and reasonably well lit, so I can see them from pretty far away right up until the moment when I walk by, at which point I sometimes manage to see them pretty close up as well. And then if I turn around during the remaining few blocks, I have the pleasure of seeing them once more. So, do I include them in my wildlife journal? Part of the reason for the journal is to focus on the positive, and notice all the nice things that surround me every day (to counteract all the terrible things out there that it's all too easy to dwell on), such that the denizens of Rat Alley don't really fit in. And yet, they are certainly memorable sightings. Of animals. That I wouldn't call domesticated. What to do, what to do...
posted by Pangea at 8:22 PM
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