Petunias and Pumpkins

Today we took a trip to downtown Palo Alto to have brunch with our friend John to celebrate Thanksgiving. We have become stars at joining our parents when they go for a meal at a restaurant – eating outside of course.

On the way there, Dad missed the turn to the restaurant and ended up driving past one of the hardware stores we frequent with Dad (where we always get a treat from a vessel hiding behind the counter). Zoe got really excited and so did I – thinking that this is where we were going to have lunch. Unfortunately, they were closed.

However, when the food arrived we did have to sit up for appropriate sniffs even though we already had our lunch.

When we got home we had to take a walk to work off some of those extra calories despite not having a massive plate of turkey and carbs. On the walk we passed a sight we have never seen before on a Thanksgiving Day…Pumpkins next to Petunias. In fact, we have never seen this combination on any day where we have previously lived. Soon maybe I will opine on the skip of outside mums to outside poinsettas…

Then to cap off the afternoon we first went for a swim at the “pool” outside the building where Mom’s new office is located. Turns out it is really close to the Menlo Park dog park we have been to a few times previously (the lease includes access) – but that’s a story for another time. Finally, shortly after we dried off from that swim we went for another swim at the lake/park near our house. I enjoyed the cooling effect of the water but Zoe was mad that she couldn’t pull Mom out in the water to catch a duck for her Thanksgiving dinner.

Hope you all have had or will have as great a day as we have had. And apparently our day is going to get even better as I heard someone mention turduckens!*

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who celebrate!

The Tempest

*Editors note: Tempi heard the announcers of the Cowboy-Giants game talking about this meal. We are just going to have the chicken part which we think she’ll also be excited about.

Coyote Campus

Recently, on his bike ride into work around 9 AM, Dad came across this gal (or guy) walking down the sidewalk along one side of the Stanford campus. Of course it we had been there we would have known from their scent which sex they were but as I’ve mentioned frequently – his nose is not good for much.

When I realized that Zoe and I have driven down this road and walked on this path, it became obvious what they were doing in this area – looking for a breakfast of ground squirrels. Again, back to the nose thing, every time we are in this area we get quite excited by the smells of the small critters which have dug many holes in the dirt and around tree roots. In fact, when we were on our tour of campus when our aunt was visiting a few months ago, we caused a major commotion on campus as the squirrels sounded an alarm to each other about our presence.

On this occasion, the coyote crossed the street (after making sure it was devoid of any on-coming vehicles) to continue their hunt away from Dad. This made total sense to us as we have found him to be a horrible hunting companion.

Then dad realized there were some people nearby that were walking small dogs.

So, prior to continuing on his way to work, he took a small detour to alert these people about the presence of the coyote – including the guy whose dog was off leash and looking a little clueless – like a true city dog.

As far as we know, all the people and pups were unharmed. Not so sure about the ground squirrels though.

Suffice it to say, the next time we are walking on this path or have our heads out the window as we drive down the road our noses will be on full alert for coyote smells!

The Tempest

The Street – on 10/31/22

This is the video that Zoe put together from our time in Menlo Park on Halloween!

The Tempest

The Mask

As I mentioned in the last entry, our street was CRAZY around here on Halloween (Zoe is working on a video using some of the images and clips caught on that night).

In the meantime, I thought I could share a few pics of us in our costumes. For the first part of the evening we wore the same “cat” outfits that we’ve worn the last few years. Me as a Lion – which was amusing to the numerous children who came to our table with a similar look! Actually a vet loved it too and really wanted a photo! Zoe was the wide-eyed black kitten.

Zoe started getting a little snarky at other dogs and maybe even a child or two who she felt were taking food out of her mouth. To be fair, this was around her “hangry” time; the time when she has to wait for her Zoezymes so she can eat. I bask in this time as I am the model “good girl” while she freaks about her food. Anyhoo, this caused her to be banished to the house. Her little sad eyes looking at us from the front window wondering what caused her to be excluded from the festivities…that pout – was so endearing! The strangest part of this part of the evening was she didn’t bark once – something I don’t think has ever occurred for that long under such circumstances. And to be clear, we were fed!

Later in the evening, after Zoe was no longer Hangry – her stomach filled with kibble and Zoezymes – we switched into our Surfer Girl outfits. and she returned to hand out candy.

The Surfer look was fine by me and provided a “handle” on Zoe in case she started getting worked up again – which it so happens she did not – but I was hoping I could go as something a little more creative that I had come up with a few days prior.

Apart from missing out on the treats being served from the ice cream and taco trucks that were posted outside the “Pirate House”* the before dark time was pretty much a good time from my perspective.

The Tempest

PS – After looking at some of the photos mom made the observation that the white parts of Zoe’s mask looked a lot like her when she shows of her sclera!

*This house always has a maize and blue Block M flag flying from their garage and it turns out the main pirate had just returned back to CA after being in Ann Arbor for the intrastate rivalry clash with the Spartans. We gave him some of the credit for bringing home the victory for Michigan.

Leapin’ Lizards!

A lot of things have happened since we were in NM visiting our grandparents (road trip, tooth extraction – Dad, Halloween, etc). As a matter of fact, there were a lot of stories while we were up there too. Hopefully, I’ll get the attention of the Scribe and get those stories out to you soon.

In the meantime, I will relate a short story about what happened in our casa this afternoon.

Mom was off checking out what is (hopefully) going to be her new work office downtown and Dad came home early from work to hang out with us on account of the redecorating I did in the master bedroom earlier in the day – I think shredded toilet paper is a much under utilized item in interior decoration.

Anyhow, with him home and the back door open, I jumped up on the couch as he worked on a crossword puzzle. Zoe initially joined us on the couch but then started sniffing around our fireplace area. Then in a flash she made a lunge and caught something in her mouth which she promptly tossed to the floor.

Dad was up in a flash (but a much slower flash than Zoe…maybe a dawdle?) and got between Zoe and the critter on the floor.

Turns out it was a wee lizard. At first, Dad thought a burial was in our future but then noticed the little one breathing in and out and no signs of blood or broken body parts – at least on the outside.

Being an excellent nurse, I gave it a few sniffs and agreed the lizard was in fine shape and could be released back into the wild* of Menlo Park.

Sure enough, once Dad placed him on the ground s/he scooted off to their safe place.

The Tempest

*WILD was the word for our neighborhood on Monday (Halloween Night). I hope I can tell you about this soon.

Final Note: after doing a little work on the Google, I determined this is a Western Fence Lizard – we often see its relatives on our walks but never have we had one in our house…or Zoe’s mouth.