Ganeida's Knots

Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world ~ Virgil A. Kraft
 I think I've lived here too long.  Maybe it's just me but during the course of a rather odd conversation all I could think of was a rather insulting line in Emma's War: " The Americans are cowards."

See my day starts early anyway so when I knew I had to tote the car up to the garage to get the clutch adjusted I planned on doing it early ~ early enough that all the dog walkers were out & about & a neighbour I've never set eyes on before today bailed me up on my own verge [while assuring me her unleashed & very yappy dogs were perfectly harmless] to enquire about our recent cyclone.

I was more than a little bewildered.  What cyclone?  It's not even cyclone season yet! Certain that the earliness of the hour had addled my brains rather more than usual I let her rabbit on...& on...& on some more while it slowly dawned on my fog that this poor deluded woman was referring to our recent high winds, which had apparently terrified her husband.  She then felt obligated to mention the snake on the road ~ by which point I'm sure my casual attitude was making her think I was a super~duper hick but honestly!  At which point my brain started making odd associations with completely unrelated subject matter ~ hence the quote.

Have we really become so used to living safely a little bit of wind has us scurrying to an even safer corner?  And if she likes her safety soo much, what on earth is she doing living here?  I swear, people, I was good.  I really truly was.  I was polite & friendly & I explained as nicely as I could that wasn't a cyclone ~ only a little bit of extra wind & it shouldn't worry them overly much because council insists all our newer buildings are cyclone strength.

I took my car up to the garage & walked home through the sort of spring day that makes you glad to be alive to enjoy it. The water table has risen & all the little streams that criss~cross the island are running [but we have to fence the pools!]. The pockets of malaluca & rainforest echo with a myriad of birdsong.  Actually the only thing to spoil it was the dogs.  Now I know all my bloggity friends who own dogs are responsible & sensible dog owners so perhaps you can explain something to someone who is a little chary of which dogs she's friendly with & dislikes dog owners assuming she is overjoyed to see their beloved pets scampering unrestrained through her yard ~ especially when she knows perfectly well a black & white cat is belly down in the camouflage with enormous eyes & palpitating heart ~  yet even on being informed of this said dog owners seem to think their dogs have more rights than my cats in their own yard.  Peculiar. Yes, it annoys me.  I'm not a big dog fancier ~ yet dogs adore me.  Maybe because I smell so strongly of cat!  And I do have dogs I'm very fond of ~ usually the very well trained sort that don't jump up on me, don't yap frenziedly every time I step into my yard & who have obviously had enough obedience training to not be an unmitigated pest to the general public ~ oh, & who don't terrify my cats!

 I miss Issi.  He had all the dogs so terrified they wouldn't walk past our place.  The number of owners I've watched trying to drag an unwilling dog past here while the poor animal is rolling it's eyes almost into the back of its head trying to anticipate where Issi was going to spring from this time is beyond counting. Iss had a very bent sense of humour but Kirby just cowers & he's neurotic enough already!

OK, I'll stop griping ~ if only because I want something left over to gripe about yesterday! Gird your loins people!  I'm tired.  It makes me crotchety. ☺