The PW

Diddy Didn't Do It

   I was really looking forward to seeing Round 2 of Ticketpalooza, Diddy at the Midland tonight, but alas, the show was cancelled due to poor sales. (At least I assume that's why it was cancelled. I posted the question on Diddy's Facebook page and my comment was removed! So I guess it's a sensitive topic...) SO, so glad I had synchronicity on my side and got to see him in SF last week. But I have to admit, I'm a little bummed tonight that my big plans were cancelled. I'd see them again in a heartbeat!

Here's my post on the B.O.B. show

Foreshadowing

   Last night I went out for my run, and over by Strang Park I was stopped in my tracks by an overwhelming, horrible smell. I knew it was the smell of death. I turned to see a very large, very dead possum on the side of the road in a serious state of decay. It instantly reminded me of the demons overtaking the giant boar in Princess Mononoke. I shuddered and kept running, but of course couldn't help thinking of my little possum at home.
   I came home and fed him again, and he seemed okay, though a little quieter than he has been, and he wanted to go right back into his makeshift pouch, the inner pocket of my fleece jacket. When I took him out for his late night feeding, he was even more sluggish but did eat a little. I could see the writing on the wall.
   So I wasn't terribly surprised that my furry lil' mascot didn't make it through the night. I suppose his injuries were just too great. It makes me sad; I knew his paralysis was a huge concern, but he seemed to be rallying, so I had hope. Prey animals are hard to keep because they will hide their pain and injuries at all costs.
   If his story and photos convinced even one person to look at possums as more than a nuisance than he fulfilled an important purpose. I buried him in the side yard under the lilies of the valley, covered his site with azalea blossoms, and will keep fond memories.

Fun with Possums

If you love possums, scream real loud!

    Terry posted a question on my Facebook page tonight: "I wonder if Darwin is posting his adventure on PossumBook?" So I did a little surfing and... voila!

   My buddy John S said, "Some night in the future, you will hear a noise coming from your garbage cans outside, and you'll pick up a broom to investigate, and find a giant possum digging through your trash, and as you raise the broom to whack him away you two will lock eyes and have a mother and child reunion. Cue the Simon & Garfunkel song."

Awesome cartoon by Gary Pratt

Just so you know....

   Possums aren't the only ones good at playing possum.

   Darwin seems to be doing okay so far, inasmuch as he is lively and eager for meals. But he's still dragging his back legs, which makes me worry that he may be paralyzed permanently. Time will tell, but he's getting the best shot at life—I'm making sure of it!

   The dogs are living up to their reputation as hunters and are driving me bonkers. They know that there's an animal in the house and are determined to find him. They're jumping all over me, sniffing and searching frantically, and whining, all the while with eyes 3x their normal size, giant goofy grins, and tongues hanging to the ground. If it weren't so hot I'd keep him in the garage, but he's comfortable wrapped in a fleece jacket in a small kennel... as long as it's out of reach of certain nosy Shibas!

We can has possum... pleeeeeeese?!!?

We help you eet possum?

Darwin, Ready for his Close-Ups

   A few more photos of the little guy. Even Aki seems to be warming up to him.... though I'd never leave them alone together!

The Jig is Up: Aki Catches Her Quarry

   Today started off like a normal weekday; I woke up and went downstairs to feed the dogs and let them out. Then I came back upstairs to shower. But as soon as I turned off the water, I could hear the dogs barking frantically. "Awesome—at 6:30. My neighbors are going to shoot me!" I thought. I threw on my robe and raced downstairs, expecting them to be playing together.
   Looking out in the backyard, I could see that Taylor was circling a lifeless gray body—and Aki had her jaws around it! I yelled "DROP IT!!!" and ran outside. Fortunately, Aki dropped it.

Looks pretty dead, doesn't she?

    The possum had blood on her sides and appeared to be dead. My heart sank. But suddenly movement in the grass caught my eye. There were three small babies walking all over the place, distraught by their unresponsive mother, and no doubt by the obnoxious barking.

"Back off, or I'll bite!"

Taylor maintains a safe distance...

    I grabbed Taylor to shut him up and dragged him into the house. When I turned to go back for Aki, to my horror I saw that she had picked up Momma Possum again and shook her. When I yelled again, Aki complied, and I was able to drag her inside. She had blood on her chin and on her neck. I wasn't sure whose blood it was. I knew the mom was injured, but hoped it wasn't critically. She sure looked dead, but her skin was warm to the touch. I collected the babies and placed them on their mother and headed inside, hoping that if she were faking, she'd soon take off. I went back to preparing for work.

"Mom? Let's get out of here!!!"

    A few minutes later I heard the dogs whining excitedly, and got downstairs just in time to see Mom staggering off with one of the babies clinging to her back. She slid under the fence into the neighbors yard, so I ran out to check on the family. I hoped the second baby was also with her, because I couldn't find it. The third baby must have broken its back legs, because it was dragging them. It dragged itself under the fence in the direction mom fled, calling out to her with his tiny wheeze, but she knew he was hurt and had left him. Totally broke my heart.
   Since I had to go to work, I put the little orphan in a dog crate in the back of my car (ironically, a crate on loan from Midwest Shiba Inu Rescue... now Midwest Possum Rescue!) and parked in the Hallmark garage in a shady spot. I went out at lunchtime to check on him, and was shocked that he was still alive, but could tell he was getting dehydrated. I tried to get him to take some milk but needed an eyedropper.

He looks just like Remy from Ratatouille!

If you think he's not cute, you have a heart of stone.

    I told Laurie about my traumatic day during our staff, and she jokingly dubbed the baby "Darwin" since he seemed doomed to his fate, which I think is actually a cute and fitting name. So Darwin it is!
   After work I rushed back to the car and was relieved that Darwin was still alive. I stopped by CVS to get baby formula, chicken baby food, and eyedroppers and headed home to attend to my little patient. Wanting to ensure that he was safe, warm and secure, I've been carrying him in my own pouch of sorts—an inside pocket in my fleece jacket. He loves it.

   I feel like I should acknowledge that most people probably think I'm crazy for finding "vermin" like possums to be cute, let alone that I would go out of my way to save one. I wish more people would give them a chance. People say they are mean, that they hiss, that they have beady eyes, hairless toes and rat-tails. I say they aren't mean: they just try to intimidate anything they view as a threat. Their sound does sound like hissing, until you hear it from the babies. They communicate with each other and with their mothers in hushed whispers. I could hear urgency in his voice when Darwin knew Mom was leaving. Their eyes are dark but surprisingly warm and friendly. And their amazing toes and tail serve an important purpose. They have great dexterity and grip strength, and their tails are prehensile, so they can use them as another tool for climbing and hanging on. I'm not the only one who thinks they're cool.
   At the very least, you have to give them credit for playing dead so convincingly that they can fool a possum-killing dog and a human critter-sympathizer. But check this out: I took a short video and it wasn't until I reviewed it that I realize you can see Mom breathing!

The Return of the Possum

   I'm assuming I know what THIS means:

   The possum friend has returned from her winter vacation in some tropical climate and has taken up residence under my deck again. The possum sits there just under the deck, with her hair poking through the boards, and her beady little eyes glancing up to taunt my dog. Aki won't leave that spot. She's scratched all the stain off the deck in that corner. She won't go out in the yard to relieve herself. She doesn't want to eat. I have to drag her inside, and as soon as she's in, she's desperate to get back out. Sigh. Their persistence astounds me—both are too stubborn to leave!
   In case you need a refresher on my two-year Saga of the Opossum, check out my earlier posts:

Houseguest

Possum Watch 2010

Possum Watch 2010 Heightens

Sad Surprise

Happy Mother's Day!

    I was returning from SF today and though I left a message for Mom, I haven't been able to catch her to wish her a happy day "in person." But I did get a text from David with a cute photo of the girls. It makes me so happy to know that he & the pups are happy!!!

   My own pups had spa day today (bath, nail trim, brushing) and enjoyed hanging out in the yard all afternoon while I mowed, though it was nearly 90 degrees. Ugh. A huge change from SF, which was in the 50s all day yesterday, and cold this morning. Too much of a change for me; I nearly passed out from hypothermia when I deplaned in KC. Between the mowing, taking care of the animals, doing two loads of laundry, and, oh yeah, getting up at 4 am to go to the airport... it has been a long (but good) day!

Taylor hates being brushed... can't you tell?!

Dog hair explosion!

   I'm fortunate that Dave was able to fix my gazebo for me (after the snow caved it in), as it was nice to be able to put the laundry outside to dry.

   I was also fortunate that I had a bunch of really good pizza toppings in the fridge & freezer, so I was able to cook at home without venturing to the grocery store: sausage, turkey pepperoni, red peppers, yellow heirloom tomatoes, Kalamata olives, onion, mozzarella and goat cheese crumbles.

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!

Fate... again?

    As the shuttle picked me up at 5 am (shudder) to take me to the Oakland airport, I boarded and settled next to a friendly-looking woman who was clearly perkier in the early morning than me. She introduced herself as Pam, which of course made me do a bit of a double-take, based on meeting another Pam on a Supershuttle almost exactly a year ago.

   I spent the whole shuttle ride and the couple of hours prior to boarding the airplane talking with Pam. We sat and drank our coffee and ate our delicious breakfast croissant sandwiches (take THAT, Radisson!)

   Pam was friendly, fun, and frankly, fascinating. Some of my favorite "f" words! She lives with her husband and a sweet dog, and has spent more than 30 years (I think that's what she said, but she looked too young for that to be possible!) as a cardiac nurse at Johns Hopkins medical center in Baltimore. She's getting her Master's degree now, in her free time. She was in San Francisco for a medical conference, and talked about how excellent the continuing training and education opportunities are at JH. (To which I nodded, because that's one thing we all love about Hallmark!) She also has an 18 year old daughter who loves the outdoors and wants to study art. So I had fun telling her all about my day of hiking in Muir Woods.

   As before, I'm not sure what will come out of this interaction, but I got the distinct feeling that SOMETHING would. I just hope this doesn't mean I'll be at JH for heart surgery someday—no offense!!!  :)

   So to sum up my San Francisco adventure, I will quote the fortune that I received after my Thai lunch on Saturday with Tiffany, which is that "You will be fortunate in the opportunities presented to you." 

   I already am, and I hope that I will continue to be, and believe me: I am grateful for every single one.