Wild Weekend in Boulder

Today is my eleventh wedding anniversary.  This is Family Weekend at CU; and there's a home football game today against Washington State.  There are already several cars and trucks full of fans who were tail-gating at 7:30 this morning in our parking lot.  Lovey slipped out, saw the tents going up, and decided she was safer on my chest.  (I'm blogging using only my right hand, as Lovey is cradled with my left.)  Nedi is running in and out, but I'm sure that once the folks outside get a little noisier, he'll be content to stay in, too.  Mocha is stretched out in my small hallway.   -  I did have one strange thing happen this morning:  I finished the book I was reading at midnight, turned the light out, and fell asleep.  I awoke at 2 a.m., because the wicker chair directly under the open window had been moved; both  kits were peering out, Lovey from the cat tree, and Nedi at the corner of the sliding glass door.  I didn't have my glasses on, but I thought I saw a pale hand on the back of the chair.  I talked to the kits for a few minutes, convinced myself that a raccoon (maybe Frankie?) had knocked against the chair and moved it, and went back to sleep.  The kits rejoined me in bed about 10 minutes later.  But, when I got up this morning, my chair was sitting out in the grass in the back yard, about 3 feet from the patio edge.  I may be silly, but I know that a raccoon did not move the chair noiselessly, that far, and turn it around so it was facing my window. I reported it to the apartment manager and maintenance man this morning.

If you live in a rural area, or in an area that wildlife travels though, please be extra careful while driving for the next few weeks.  A 15-year-old black sow bear, weighing about 250 pounds, was struck and killed crossing the highway north of Boulder yesterday.  This is the time of year when critters are feeding heavily for the winter, as well as it being mating time for deer, elk, bears, squirrels, etc.  These are wild creatures; they get confused when suddenly faced by a vehicle that moves much faster than they can comprehend; they panic, and can either stand stone still, or dart away in any direction (including at the vehicle).  They are wild critters.  They are unpredictable.  Supposedly, we are smarter than they are - please drive defensively.  The wild creatures don't know that their lives are in your hands when you're behind the wheel of a moving vehicle.