Very busy weather week in North Texas. Area-wide: Heavy rains. A bit of hail. Some high winds and resulting tree and roof damage. Flash flooding. River flooding. Half a million without power at one time or other. Some still in the dark. And at least one small tornado. I've been monitoring storms and doing event logging for the EOC, handling the Arlington frequency while logging the Tarrant County frequency used for National Weather Service storm spotter activation and in-the-field reports. See my EMVolunteer blog and my Twitter page.
Mama possum has been busy this spring. I had 2 more babies inside this week. I think they are coming in through the dryer vent, which I can't get to to block. Wednesday, when I realized I hadn't gotten garbage to street for pick up went to quickly do so. I was trying to figure out why the garbage sack had fallen inside bin yet again, reached in for edge of sack and exposed 2 sad little eyes looking up at me. No idea how long it'd been in there but it had chewed up a whole bunch of stuff. It was likely starving as not much goes in there it could actually eat. I removed what garbage I safely could, went out the back door, tipped over can, gently whopped the bottom until baby possum took off, then cleaned spilled garbage off patio. In the meantime, I missed the garbage truck. Thursday night, eating a very late supper between late storms, I heard a sack rattle. Not cat sitting at my feet so went to investigate. Heard scuffling in the empty dog food sack to be hauled out to the street Saturday am. I tilted it up and unfolded the top. After I took it's photo, I gently dumped him on the back patio as well. Then FRIDAY night, I was walking past closed garbage sack containing previously gnawed garbage to be hauled to street THIS morning and heard scrambling. Something had chewed a hole in the sack. I carefully moved ALL new and old garbage into THIRD sack. Whatever was inside had scrambled away. I set up cat carrier with food inside and door set so that if something moved inside it the door would fall shut. Hope whoever takes the bait. I can't put sacks out overnight on the street because other animals get into them, so I have to get up and take them out early = if I don't oversleep. I can't wait until baby possums they are too big to sneak in! The one in the dog food sack may be the same one I caught in the carrier last week. No idea who is back inside now. I'm apparently going to have to start taking these guys far far away to release. Baby possums are left to fend for themselves when they are about the size of a large rat. I give them credit for finding a way inside! I think they are cute, but I want them OUTSIDE. Sadly, even the most successful ones lead short little lives. Perhaps I need to post about my strangest and most miraculous encounter with the largest and oldest possum I've ever met. I still think it was heaven-sent.
Freebies: I'll be uploading a new patriotic freebie this weekend, but at moment I've GOT to get some sleep to boost my weekly sleep total up from only 12 or 15 hours since Monday morning. Since it's already 5:45 a.m. and I have to take out trash, get some sleep and still be up by 8:45 to make it to a high school alumni meeting by 9:30, and with more storms predicted for later today, looks like I'm going to remain a zombie through the weekend. I wonder why I can't get any stitching done???
[edited a few times since originally posted]
2 comments:
I do hope you get some sleep. Living in Aust, I cannot comprehend the terror of living in a tornado prone area of the world. We see the 30second news grabs, but I just get the chills thinking about living with that threat.
And I also have to remember that your possums are different critters to ours! Ours tend to stay out of bins, but play football across the rooftops at night.
Even a modest thunder storm aboslutely terrified me as a child and young adult. In fact, I moved to Colorado at 20 to get away from them. Instead, the first week I was in Denver we had a tornado AND an earthquake! I was watching Wizard of Oz at age 31 or so and suddenly realized that it had been the tornado sequence that had caused my years of fear. After that I faced my life-long demon, learned all I could, and have since gotten involved in storm spotting, etc. I promise I would be duly terrorized if I knew one was bearing down on me, but otherwise I now find bad weather absolutely facinating. Besides, doing the local emeregency radio work during severe weather keeps my mind occupied. However, when it is aimed at DD, parents, DS, etc. I always get that sick to tummy feeling regardless.
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