Coyotes, Blue Snakes and Christina

Haven’t blogged for awhile, but that’s not because my life has slowed down. To the contrary, it’s sped up, what with trips almost every weekend to the country. Not to mention Mary’s granddaughter coming from kindergarten every afternoon.

We’ll start with the country. For the last month and a half, my master and mistress have gone to their place in Bandera County on weekends in conjunction with some renovation work. They have cleared out rooms and sorted through the 30 years’ worth of accumulation in closets, bookshelves, cabinets--you name it.

Luckily Mary made time to take me down to the creek every day, so I’m a happy camper. Except for when she takes me too close to sunset. Mary seems mystified when I suddenly race up the hill towards the house as dark approaches. Well, the reason can be seen in the photo she took just a couple of miles up the road: a trio of coyotes strung up by a rancher on a fence. On our place, I can smell the crafty devils and feel especially vulnerable at day’s end.

To make matters worse, a couple of weeks ago Maverick saw an indigo snake down by the creek early in the morning. These large (and I do mean large) constrictors also known as blue snakes are harmless to humans and are appreciated as rodent removers. But hey, I’m about the size of the cottontail rabbits that live up there, and the thought of those squeezing serpents give me the creeps.

As to the granddaughter’s after-school visits, at least I don’t need to worry that she wants to eat me for supper. Christina does, however demand all my mistresses’ attention. Young folks make me nervous so I’m just as happy to be ignored. So when Christina’s here I bed down and wait until her mother picks her up after work. Then I go back to claiming all my mistress' attention to myself.