Nothing Gold Can Stay

Those were the days: mama Veronica with 4 of her babies.

My fears have, apparently, been confirmed.  Mama Veronica is still MIA.  Even worse, it seems as though we are down to 2 groundhog babies (from 5).  I believe that an intruding adult groundhog chased Veronica away and, perhaps, 3 of her babies.  It was horrible to witness; I heard the now familiar sounds of a young groundhog crying.  She was being attacked by the intruding adult.  She ran across the grass to the other building (the one I live in).  The adult chased her: right on her heels all the way.  I heard more of her cries.  I yelled, "Leave her alone!" out my window several times.  I don't expect the adult groundhog to know English, but I was trying to break it up.  If the adult is scared, then maybe it will put an end to the assault.
However, lately I haven't even seen this intruder around.  I recently saw a groundhog that moved around strangely: like a cross between a groundhog and a sloth.  Haven't seen that one around as of late either: just the 2 youngsters.  When it's hot out, at least one likes to lie down under the shade of a nearby bush.
What a shame it is that we're living in such a violent world.  That's why I'm dead-set against bringing people, or animals, into it.  Even though my mood has been consistently better since I've been eating fresh organic spinach every day,  I still think it's an act of cruelty for a person to bring another person or an animal into this brutal world.
I have a new neighbor.  I had been living alone in my apartment building.  Then this guy moved in right under me.  So now I'm back to hearing someone living underneath me.  It would have been better for me, and for him, if he had moved into the unit that's not below, or next to, mine.  But he didn't do that, I had no control over the situation, and what happened happened.  I have heard him making noise and I don't like it.  Considering how consistently good I've been feeling lately, today hasn't been a good one.  Either way, I'll try to persevere.  I don't believe it's in my constitution to commit suicide, so I have no choice.           

Fear

Lil' furball

Fear is evil.  It keeps us from doing things we should.
However, let me make a quick detour and tell you about spinach.  I have had problems with depression and OCD.  Lately, though, I've been feeling pretty darn good.  Why?  I pondered the situation and realized that it had to be the introduction of spinach into my diet.  I always knew I hadn't been eating enough dark green leafy veggies, but after hearing Dr. Oz extol the virtues of spinach as a natural source of calcium and as something that helps detoxify the liver, I decided to make it a regular part of my diet.  Eat as much raw organic spinach as you can.  It's important it be organic, because spinach is one of the dirty dozen; it soaks up pesticides like a sponge.
Back to fear.  I was thinking this would be a triumphant blog post.  I planned to title it "3 in 2," because, I told kids to leave local wild animals alone 3 times in 2 days.  I was proud of myself.  I got better at it too.  I became nicer.  They say you'll get more flies with honey than with vinegar.  Well, the other night, a couple of young guys (20s-early 30s) were hanging out on the picnic table that can be easily seen from my windows.  They were smoking and laughing.  I'd rather hear my music than them, but, whatever, it wasn't too late for them to make some noise.  Then I noticed that one of them was approaching my building with a stick in his hand.  I immediately suspected that he picked up that stick to attack or terrorize a small wild animal.  I began to monitor the situation.  However, I was also a little scared that these guys would see me looking out the window at one of them and confront me about it.  Which I don't care about presently.  But if I were to make enemies with these guys and buy a car, then I'd be worried about it being vandalized.  So I wasn't as aggressive about looking at what they were doing had they been kids.  I never saw this man do anything wrong.  Both of them were laughing about what he was doing, or threatening, to do.  That was the end of it.  I'd like to think, that if he continued to act like that, I would have gotten involved.  Regardless, I feel like a coward when it comes to that incident.  I've pondered things thoroughly since then, and I've come to the conclusion that the nice, funny approach is the right way to go.  If you want to change the world, and I certainly do, practice nonviolence, treat people with respect, and, as Patrick Swayze's character said in the great film Road House, be nice.          

Let's Go to the Beach: Part Deux

It's Rusty (Lucinda's son) and Daisy (Bumpkin's daughter).

I opened the car doors and flipped the levers so the front seats would move forward and allow my groundhog friends, Sloopy and Lucinda, to climb into the car and onto the back seat.  Bumpkin sat up front with me.
"All right.  I guess we're ready to go to the beach!" I said.
Sloopy and Lucinda squealed with excitement, and we were off.  I couldn't help noticing that Bumpkin had used her superpowers to open the car's passenger-side window all the way.  I was hoping that she did that for the fresh air.  However, she raised her front left paw and launched several fireballs from it, in rapid-fire succession, that slipped right out the window she had opened.  Boom!  One of the fireballs hit a gas station, which caused a massive explosion.  Sloopy and Lucinda loved it.  She also destroyed some cars, and more buildings, with the first fusillade of the day.  Her actions surprised me, but I said nothing.  Bumpkin had said she was going to wage war against humans for control of the world this spring, and, obviously, she meant it.  At this point, fireballs were popping out of her left paw like popcorn.  One after the other they came.  Again, they hit cars and buildings: stores and houses alike.  The war had begun.  I looked at Bumpkin.  She appeared to be as cool as a cucumber.  Her mastery of the fireballs of destruction is complete.  She wasn't even breaking a sweat.
After causing much destruction, we arrived at the beach.  I got out of the car, opened the doors, and moved the seats forward so Lucinda and Sloopy could get out.  We walked toward the beach.  I suppose it's a bit of a strange sight to see a human walking to the beach with 3 groundhogs, so people did their share of staring.  Unfortunately, for them, Bumpkin was in no mood to be stared at.  Everyone that pointed, stared at, or talked about us got their buns toasted by one of Bumpkin's fireballs.  I saw some boats on the lake.  Bumpkin saw them too.  She sent at least one fireball to each and every one of the boats we saw.  The fireballs detonated on the boats.  There were explosions, fires, and boats were sinking.  She even flung one at a passing plane.  She nailed it.  It exploded and suddenly fell from the sky.  It crashed into the lake.
War has begun.  People get ready for a new world leader: a groundhog named Bumpkin.