5-5-5 Beltaine Animal Report

(May 5th 2012)

Spring land

It’s spring, the beautiful green fleeting magical moment that lingers for a few weeks in these gorgeous hills while the ground still has some moisture from winter and early spring rains.   How I love it.  The aspect of Nature that arises at this time of year drives me slightly mad with it’s intoxication.  The explosion of flowers, scents, birdsongs and animal doings reaches what seems to me to be an invisible energetic peak.   

I so want to grab hold of it and say Please, stay!  Stay!   

View of my orchard, 
through the trees

Flowering Buckbrush, 
smells heavenly!

And when that transition week approaches, oh, it’s sad.  Depending on how much rain falls in the late spring, it happens any time from mid May to mid June, when it all dries up and the vibe totally changes.  Takes about a week.  The feeling of the energetic tide turning from the soft green beauty of spring to the harsher, sharper, hotter energy of summer is totally palpable here.  
Plus the landscape undergoes a most dramatic transformation, as the green dries up and gives way to a soft light brown.   One reason why CA is called the ‘Golden State’.  When you see the Golden Rolling Hills of California  what you‘re looking at is really a bunch of sharp picky California dry weeds full of stickers.


Well the animals all act up this time of year, the nights are still cool and they’re all frisky.  I had some lovely interaction yesterday on 5-5-5,  Lunar Beltaine, and what a bright super moon.  I had an idea the lions would be out prowling around.

Animals.  They love to come around.  My place is a highlight on their route.  I sat down on the throne yesterday morning only to see a deer looking at me through the new diamond shaped window, standing there munching away on a big rose bush.  Actually not one but 2.  They weren’t even terribly disturbed by me taking pictures through the window.  Brazen hussies.  Well they’re cute, but they need to leave my new landscaping around the house alone!

My plants, my plants, in ruin!!

East Side of the house

I've been working on new landscaping on the east side of the house.  I haven’t done anything on this side in some years.  A full grown lavender plant had to be moved from my lower garden, where it got creamed this winter by a eucalyptus tree and my plant gazebo getting blown over onto it by a big wind.  I’ll have to take the chain saw to the poor eucalyptus I’m afraid.  Drat, what a wreck.  I’ve been coddling this area along for 5 years and now look at it.  Fit only for wild animals to prowl 
                                       through.

Spring peak of beauty in the yard,
 just opening

I did a little work on the front this winter. My yard has a real peak of beauty this time of year, with the irises in bloom and I  

 just HAVE to show it off! 

Little Sis, Pan and the Irises

Apple Orchard in bloom

 This area here looks bare and scruffy because these beds are new as of last fall.   

New area for perennials and 
some bright zinnias

It’s actually planted with some perennials that haven’t come up yet, and I’ll fill in with zinnias later. It takes about a year to get a good perennial area going. The front entrance is a prime example -- that’s all from last year, and now look at it! Good place for the critters to get a drink of water, I caught Amon Ra lapping from the bird bath the other day.

     

This is my front entrance, the big agaves and lavender
on both sides have been there a few years.  Last
year I filled in with perennials on both sides.

New bit of landscaping around
the front entrance - flowers
and a few veggies like
kale, onions and 1 broccoli

So last evening I was sitting on the roof watching that incredible supermoon rise when I heard a most wonderful, electrifying, and anticipated sound in the distance: “Arrrrrrrgggghhhffff, Arrrrrrrrgggghhf!’. It was coming from across the canyon, repeated calling, and was soon answered by a slightly louder and deeper call coming from my big manzanita grove, who I immediately recognized as Pussyfoot. Mahas! Calling to each other in the moonlight. Checking in about going hunting.

Fresh lion prints at the pond today,
 I knew there would be

I haven’t heard hardly a peep out of that cat nearly all winter, though I do know he’s around.  I’ve seen lots of droppings in the driveway and where I like to walk to cut firewood.  Here’s a fresh one on a rock near his favorite scratching tree in the driveway.  

Pooping rock, look where it is

So I called out to him in the voice he recognizes, as I’ve done it many times:  “Pussyfoot?   You Lion!  Ha!”  And pretty soon I heard ‘arrrrgggggghhhffff’ a little bit closer.   One of the songs I like to sing when he comes around is “Pussycat Pussycat, I love you, yes I do!!!  You and and pussycat mouth, a-hem...."   So I carried on a bit with my little song ditties, and pretty soon I hear ‘Arrrrrggghfffff’  --- quite loudly nearby ---   I suspect he was either down at the lower garden or halfway between it and the house, on the lane lurking in the trees.  Checking out my presence from the safety of the shadows and saying Hi I’m here!

On the lane to the lower garden,
as you enter the trees.  He walks here.

Well he does that.   So the lil ones and I sat on the roof a while longer to see if there would be any more activity, but there wasn’t.  I’m sure he progressed on to more interesting hunting adventures but I so appreciate that he checked in.  Mahas get very frisky this time of year.  

Recent fresh footprint in the drive

Fat Houdini, quite relaxed

The other visitor a few weeks back was my skunk friend Fat Houdini.  Haven’t seen him in many months or longer.  He’s been around here for a long time.  Wondering why I call him Fat Houdini?  Because when he first started coming around I had a different cat door, it was a less nice hole in the wall of my front mud room.  When he first started coming in I was horrified!  So I blocked it with a piece of wood from the inside.  Well he still managed to waddle his fat butt in, but then he couldn’t get back out and was trapped in the house!  Hence the name, Fat Houdini. 

Going out the cat door... 

I had to open all the doors that night and let him find his way out.   As months went by, he periodically would come in to dig in the trash and eat the cat food, and we developed a kind of relationship.  It became this funny little game we’d play.  I’d hear weird noises coming from the mud room, or a different kind of crunching at the food bowls and go “Fat Houdini, is that you?  Go on you lil goof ball, go out!!” in my fairy godmother voice.   When I would get up to go see, he’d run out the cat door.  Sometimes this would happen 2 or  3 times a night.  The little booger.   But he’s totally good natured.  He never sprayed at all in the house and obviously doesn’t find me too threatening, although he did poop in the house once.  I found out that if I stay very relaxed and sweet about it he doesn’t get his dander in a huff.   When they do, YOU KNOW IT!

Digging in the garbage in the mud room

How do I know?  Because one night a while back -- before he started coming in the house -- I was sitting outside in the moonlight in a chair, quite late, when I heard this animal coming towards me.  I guess he wasn’t expecting to encounter me sitting there because he immediately went into defense and attack mode.  He rushed at me all nervous and agitated-like several times with this tail up.  I thought for sure, oh no here it comes.  There was nothing I could do but just sit there as I was blocking his path.  Finally since I made no threatening movement in his direction, he darted past instead of spraying me.  Whew!  I wasn’t looking too forward to that!

Right, Amon Ra? No ascension for me without my animals!!

Wild Animals.  I loves 'em.  They like me too.  I’ve told the Universe I’m going through the ascension with my animals.

Sugar Boy  

Happy Beltaine everyone!!

Nanna Bella

Love Whisker rolled in the dirt
 and looks like Fat Houdini