It was a dark and stormy night...

...finally!

It took a new moon (that's the dark) to get us some rain here at the Aerie. All last week it seemed to rain all around us but last evening it started to rain HERE. A nice slow, gentle soaking sort of rain. Hopefully it will spur the plants to new life and the lawn to spread via its root systems and fill in the bald spots. I would have spread some seed but the birds would have just snatched it up.

For the second consecutive night we were awakened by some caterwauling going on outside at around 1 AM. It was clearly audible over the low drone of the window fan but I wasn't interested in getting up to see what the hell it was. I figure it was a pair or more of contentious raccoons squabbling over the sunflower seeds. (That or just one 'coon cussing about not being able to get the seed out of the stick feeder. He finally succeeded as the bottom was taken off and laying apart from the rest this morning.)

The birds finally got me out of bed around 5 AM. When I looked out the bedroom window there was a doe cropping some of the grass and making her way across the lawn and up the power line right of way. Quite a peaceful way to start the morning, despite the bird song chorus going on outside.

I fed the cats, filled the bird feeders (after reassembling the stick feeder) and sat down to a large cup of coffee and some catch up on the news.

Politics were the same old, same old. Obama is the anointed one despite Hillary winning a primary, his associates and absolutely no record of any accomplishment on either the state or federal level.

Pedro Martinez pitched 6 solid innings for the Mets in San Francisco and they scored 8 runs in the fifth inning without a homerun. But, you ask, did they win? Yes, by a score of 9-6 after giving up 3 runs in the bottom of the ninth to set up a save opportunity for Billy Wagner. Nothing is easy.

And, as I sit and surf, I hear a rattling of the large bird feeder that sounds like it might be something more than a squirrel and get up to investigate. Sure enough, there's a bear out there standing on his hind legs and tilting the feeder to pour sunflower seeds onto his tongue. It looks to be the same two to three year old that was here last fall and again earlier this spring. I tried to snap a couple of pictures of him but he hopped a dozen yards up the powerline when I slid open the door. And sat to stare at my as if to complain about my disturbing his snacks. He finally took off when I smacked the deck rail with the broom to make a loud crack. Even then he sauntered away rather than displaying any real fear.



More rain is in the forecast for today and maybe even tonight as the front seems stalled from Massachusetts to Ohio. Sounds like a good day to work on converting some tapes to CDs. Tomorrow I head to NJ for a retirement dinner for some former colleagues and then it's up to the Bolt Hole for a week. I've a few small things to do up there before I come back to the Aerie in time to head to California for my God-daughter's wedding on June 21.

I don't know which I dislike most, having to go to NJ (retirement party and flight out of Newark) or the actual four hour flight to San Francisco. Being confined to a tin can with a hundred strangers is not my idea of fun. I think I would rather drive and if they keep increasing the cost of airfare, it might be cheaper even in the Tundra. (Maybe not hauling the trailer, though.)