This morning, while I was sitting on the deck doing some writing, our dog (Trevose — named after the street we lived on in Singapore, where we adopted her from the humane society) and a buck had a conversation through our back fence.
Moments before, a huge owl had been sitting on a limb not far above where the buck was standing in this picture. And there used to be a famiy of hawks that lived in a nearby tree, but they seem to have departed about a month ago. We have a couple hummingbird feeders, but there seems only two that frequent them. And we have a squirrel with a black head and a brown body that crosses the deck from time to time. There is a downside…
There are also more than a few mosquitoes constantly on the prowl.
We are lucky enough to live in a rural community near Lake Travis, south and west of Austin. Our home backs up to what we call around here a “wet weather” creek (it only runs when it rains and for a time after), and we have open lots on either side of us. Across the entire area, there is a lot of green space in the area. Not surprisingly, there are a lot of critters.
Several people have noted how much my upcoming Sci Fi novel, Lonely Hunter, has an “outdoorsy” feel to it, and an authentic sense of living on the land (when not in a spaceship 😉 ). The reason is that is part of how I am and how I grew up, which is is reinforced by how we now live.
Caught these guys on a video camera a few nights ago. Did not know we had another family living with us…
And the night before that, spotted this fellow…
…which kind of looks like he is from one of those goofy 1950s science fiction movies.
As a writer, one of the biggest challenges is not getting distracted. Though I enjoy our “community” of critters, sometimes it is easier to watch them than it is to stay focused on the writing that needs to get done…
Trevose! –As Sallah said to Indiana Jones — “They named you after the *dog*??” 🙂
Funny! I’m busted. 🙂