350 - Wall

Back to yesterday's pet peeve story. Man made ponds, man made road, man made retaining wall. Artistic. Unnatural, but made of mostly natural materials. I have mixed feelings about this. They made it look nice, and the ponds attract water birds (at least until all the houses are built and filled), but they had to do an awful lot just to build the ponds to hold the water, which includes a lot of runoff from the land. When they get the lawns laid, how many chemicals will go into the runoff from the landscape maintainance? What will that do to the birds?

We're seeing animals that normally people in "civilization" wouldn't see. Coyotes, bobcats, etc. They are forced to come into more populated areas to hunt. They are trying to survive, too. But sometimes I see them killed on the road. And sometimes I see them (coyotes, anyway) with their citified catch for dinner: someone's pet cat or small dog. At least, dumped animals don't last long enough to starve out here. They become coyote poop in short order!

Sorry about the rant. (Something tells me I'm not in a great mood today. Raining again. Ugh!)

It'll be better later. I think I'll go out on the porch and get a "Rain, Rain, Go Away" theme shot! My camera always improves my mood!