The Only Good 'Possum....

is a dead 'possum. I hate 'em. Larry is pretty proud that he has done away with 18 of the critters with two bullets. Why the attitude when it comes to 'possums? Well, before the animal rights activists hunt me down, it should be noted that no one minds if they are running around the majority of the 33 acres. However, when we have no tomatoes because they are pilferred from the garden, a number of ripening cantalope are clawed and chewed, broken eggs are found, AND a kitten has been taken, it's time to trap 'em. Using a humane trap set in the garden at night, Larry first trapped one 'possum, shot it in the head, and noticed movement in the belly area. Turned out to be 7 babies, which were bucketed. We were still losing produce, so the trap was set again. Caught another 'n! Once again, a shot to the head and movement. This time there were 9 little ones, which were immediately dispatched. Score 18 varmints for Larry. No more trapped, but there has to be a male around here somewhere. Fortunately, we are produce swapping with neighbors. Swapped peppers and cantalope for cherry tomatoes and squash, and eggs and cantalope for sweet corn. It'll be awhile before we have more tomatoes ripe, but we're eating a bunch of zucchini and corn, and Larry has already made salsa and some pickles. Yes, Larry has ventured into the wonderful world of food preservation. The produce was piling up, and Larry just had to do something with it. The man has too much time on his hands.

OMG! I got home from work the other night and went out to see the ponies, as I usually do. Now, little white Dezi did need his hair trimmed. We've had him and Lucy for two years now. When we got them, Dezi was really spooky. His forelock/mane hair was so long that only his little nose stuck out the bottom, but he couldn't see. If anything touched him, it startled him because he couldn't see it coming. He has gotten much better since we have kept his hair trimmed. It did need trimming,but sheesh! Oh well, it's just hair; it'll grow back.

Then Flicka walked around the corner. GASP! I gasped and Flicka startled. Typical of a prey animal, her first reaction to my alarm was, "What's gonna eat me?!!" Actually, it just looked as if something had chewed on her forelock. Larry!!!! Whatever possessed him? There was no vision compromised; in fact, she looked pretty. Did look pretty anyway. Into the house I went.

"Larry, why???"

"What?" Mister Innocence replied.

"Why did you feel compelled to cut Flicka's hair?"

"She wanted me to," Larry insisted. (???????) "I was cutting Dezi's hair, and she came over and kept rubbing her head against me. She wanted a haircut too."

OK...whatever....

" It'll be back the way it was in a week or two," he said.

Yeah, in a month or two! Larry now has strict instructions not to cut Flicka's hair...EVER!

Lucy apparently didn't want her hair cut. Good for her!

Dezi continues to dream the impossible dream. Little stud with two tall mares. You can see that the black mare is a bit taller. For two years now Dezi has chased her around with no resulting patter of little hooves. Now, Flicka is quite a bit taller, but Dezi tries anyway. She'll stand for him and chase him around when he's tuckered out. You can see a little nose on her rump occasionally, but as I said, the impossible dream. A friend of mine said I could dig a ditch for her to stand in. What???? I think not.

I went to see Wicked with some friends from Community Theatre on Sunday. I loved it, loved it, loved it. Live theatre completely absorbs me like nothing else. The sets, the lighting, the costuming... like nothing I have ever had the resources to participate in presenting. Drama requires only material to perform, actors, and an audience; and those basics are about all I've ever had to work with. But this...WOW. I found the story compelling (I hadn't already read the book; that comes next), and the acting convincing. The music wasn't ear worm material; I didn't come away humming a melody. But it was appropriate to the storyline and kept the focus on some very good messages. I enjoyed the dancing; the flying monkeys not so much. Hey, flying monkeys are scary! Larry says they're stupid, not scary. When I was a little kid watching The Wizard of OZ , those suckers were scary! Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and should treat myself to this level of performance more often. If I can just find some like-minded folks ready to shell out the bucks...