More Scenes from Rural Life
I turned in the project on which I've been working madly this week. Fingers crossed that they want no more of my attention on this, for it would likely mean rework of something previously done.
At lunch (delayed substantially because of trying to get things done on the project), I finally remembered to take my camera to photograph a scene that has been repeating itself almost every afternoon I've been here, except when it is raining.
This is a portion of the path running between the old house and Lisa's trailer in Mehama out into the field and beyond that to her father's house. I walk this path many times a day. Two old derelict buildings flank the path. The dark swath across the path is an old concrete sidewalk laid in long before Lisa was born that is slowly being taken over by bushes, even though Lisa has pruned back the undergrowth several times.
It's always green around here, but at this time of year it's particularly bright green and growing. But there's a little bit of not-green that seems oddly out of place in the tall grass.
Hm. This cat has been sitting here almost every day, in exactly the same spot. You can tell because the grass in that spot has been matted down in a circle and is brown, not green.
I'd go closer, but it would disturb the scene. Fortunately, I have a zoom lens.
The first time I saw this cat here, last week, I thought it might be sick, or even dead. However, if you make too much noise or walk closer, the cat will jump up and run away. It never seems to close its eyes completely. I wonder if it's somehow able to sleep with its eyes open so that it can awaken to sudden movements? In any event, the cat always seems to me to be scowling at us. It's not a friendly cat at all -- none of the feral cats around here like people, and with Lisa the feeling is mutual. Besides, I give such critters a pretty wide berth because I don't want to have to get a rabies shot if one were to bite me.
Lisa and I have been trying to figure out why the cat takes up station here in a relatively exposed location. If she's pregnant and trying to nest, there are much better locations, indoors, inside or under the old buildings, or in the back of the woodshed with lots of straw for bedding, that would work better.
This exposed location doesn't look at all safe to me. Besides, eventually we're going to get back around to cutting the grass in this area, and all of the building work here will have gone to waste. Oh, well.
At lunch (delayed substantially because of trying to get things done on the project), I finally remembered to take my camera to photograph a scene that has been repeating itself almost every afternoon I've been here, except when it is raining.
This is a portion of the path running between the old house and Lisa's trailer in Mehama out into the field and beyond that to her father's house. I walk this path many times a day. Two old derelict buildings flank the path. The dark swath across the path is an old concrete sidewalk laid in long before Lisa was born that is slowly being taken over by bushes, even though Lisa has pruned back the undergrowth several times.
It's always green around here, but at this time of year it's particularly bright green and growing. But there's a little bit of not-green that seems oddly out of place in the tall grass.
Hm. This cat has been sitting here almost every day, in exactly the same spot. You can tell because the grass in that spot has been matted down in a circle and is brown, not green.
I'd go closer, but it would disturb the scene. Fortunately, I have a zoom lens.
The first time I saw this cat here, last week, I thought it might be sick, or even dead. However, if you make too much noise or walk closer, the cat will jump up and run away. It never seems to close its eyes completely. I wonder if it's somehow able to sleep with its eyes open so that it can awaken to sudden movements? In any event, the cat always seems to me to be scowling at us. It's not a friendly cat at all -- none of the feral cats around here like people, and with Lisa the feeling is mutual. Besides, I give such critters a pretty wide berth because I don't want to have to get a rabies shot if one were to bite me.
Lisa and I have been trying to figure out why the cat takes up station here in a relatively exposed location. If she's pregnant and trying to nest, there are much better locations, indoors, inside or under the old buildings, or in the back of the woodshed with lots of straw for bedding, that would work better.
This exposed location doesn't look at all safe to me. Besides, eventually we're going to get back around to cutting the grass in this area, and all of the building work here will have gone to waste. Oh, well.