The Squirrels are beating the Rabbits, 4-2

On June 26, 1999, Jim and I closed on our first home. We were celebrating 5 years together. Although it was much too big for two people—

3,984 square feet on 1.83 acres of land with a 45,000-gallon swimming pool and a 15,000-gallon spa

—we probably would still be living there if Enron of Houston had been not so greedy….

In June 2000 our gas & electric bill was $4,700, a thousand dollars higher than our monthly mortgage. We never thought prices would come down so we decided to sell. We closed escrow on the sale on June 26, 2001, exactly two years to the day after we bought it. It wasn’t until December 2001 that the world found out that Enron had been manipulating the energy markets west of the Mississippi River. After Enron’s bankruptcy, energy prices here in San Diego did come back down.

That was the largest house and the largest yard we have had. We rented a house from 2001 to 2002 while looking for a house to buy. We settled on one that was 1,588 square feet on ¼ acre. We stayed there for five years when we decided to downsize, which basically meant going someplace without a yard. My poor body just wasn’t into yard maintenance anymore.

We lived in condominiums from 2007 to 2017, one of them 50 feet up in the air, before deciding that we’d rather be back on solid ground. Our new home, which we moved into on July 21, 2017, is 1,440 square feet and has a yard which has not been landscaped. So I have a little work to do there, but the yard is not too large so I think it is manageable, especially since I’m going to switch to container gardening.

We are in the boondocks, so we have a lot of wildlife out here, and I think container gardening will be less disruptive to their way of life. The living room looks out on a corner which is conducive to watching the wildlife. That corner is where I feed and water the wildlife. This morning I got a picture of four squirrels and two rabbits sharing among themselves.

Since baseball season is nearing an end, we’ll say the score is 4-2, Squirrels over Rabbits. But it’s just the top of the second inning.

Even got a picture of a rabbit taking a bath. Who knew?

I also had two unknown birds stop by this morning for bird baths, so I guess I need a bird feeder, too.

I don’t know what kind of bird that is, but it’s quite beautiful with its long, curved beak.

I have named the corner “Wildlife Corner.”

With our new window tinting, I can now get right up against the window because the wildlife outside cannot see into the house. It will make for great picture taking, and once I get the living room floor cleaned, I’ll set up my camera on a tripod so I can take videos. These squirrels and rabbits are just way too much fun to watch.