Dreaming the World

A warm, muggy day following a warm, muggy night. Nori the cat is asleep and the temptation to nod off is strong in me as well. I had the AC on in our bedroom overnight; given the gentle sea breeze I’ve opened up to house for now. That may change later.

We’ve been trying to apply Nori’s monthly flea and tick meds without success. We’ve only applied them once before but Nori seems to have identified the thin white application bottle as enemy and I am unable to get close to her with it. I’m hoping the heat and humidity will stupefy her sufficiently later, enabling me to apply the evil liquid; of course, that plan depends on me not being stupefied as well.

The drought drags on and some of the trees we planted this spring are stressed; one has begun to drop leaves, never a good sign in July. There is a chance of rain in the forecast along with the proviso that any rain will likely be scant.

Still, radar shows a cluster of showers and storms off to the south and west, heading in our direction. For the past several weeks any rain has passed just north or south of us, or dissipated just to our west, a pattern reminiscent of the drought two summers ago, so we watch with fingers crossed. Back then we lost newly planted, and some mature, trees and shrubs, so we are appropriately concerned. Watering helps but no amount of watering can make up for the present deficits.

We are told this new pattern of frequent drought is a predicted outcome of climate change. If that is so, and there is no reason to believe otherwise, we will all depend increasingly on ground and reservoir water for irrigation during the summer and resources are already strained. This was a hot topic (no pun intended) at Friday’s farmers market where there were thin pickings indeed.

We have a small circulating fountain in the back yard and a couple of birdbaths so local critter’s, including insects, have access to water. The year before last an extended family of turkeys took up residence in the yard, enjoying the shade and drinking liberally from the fountain. Turkeys can be aggressive but we all got along just fine.

When there are a number of birds and other animals wanting to access the fountain they usually take turns rather than squabbling over limited resources. Everyone seems to know just where the water sources are and that everyone is thirsty. Sometimes desperation sets in and the larger birds and animals drive the others away for a few moments before some semblance of order is restored. If all else fails, the smaller birds just pull back and wait; the wait is never long.

I’m tempted to draw some comparisons between the behavior of our backyard animal guests and their human counterparts but, hey, that is just too blatantly obvious.