Beastly Night

I believe I was visited by deer a while ago. It was still very dark, so I didn't actually see them, but my cat hopped on the windowsill when she heard noise outside. It was a rustling and tearing of leaves, and quite loud. It might have been raccoons, but could have been deer. I turned out my lights and tried to sneak a look through the window, but could see nothing. I then went out with the flashlight, but by then the yard was deserted. I heard what might have been the clop of a hoof on pavement at the end of the block. If the deer are going to visit, I wish they would come a bit later when the sky is turning light.

It hasn't cooled down much in the house tonight, and the coming night will probably be worse. I must get that attic fan replaced. Also, the recent rain seems to have diminished the jasmine's ability to produce scent. I catch only the faintest whiff of it now and then. The season is being much too strange. While I have seen butterflies by day, the nocturnal lepidoptera are conspicuous by their near-absence. I can leave the back porch light on for hours and it will attract but one or two moths. Perhaps there is an overabundance of night birds eating them all.

I wish the birds would eat the earwigs. The little fork-tailed crawlers have begun their annual invasion, and I found four of them at once in the kitchen. I don't mind crickets in the house, as they tend to confine themselves to dark corners out of the way of my feet. I don't mind the crane flies, as long as they don't decide to flutter over my monitor and distract me. I don't even mind most spiders, as long as they don't crawl on me or drop unexpectedly from the ceiling. But even though they are (as far as I know) harmless, I really dislike earwigs. There's just something creepy about them, and they are not at all shy about crawling right over me, or even right over a piece of bread while I am buttering it. Yes, one of them did that. I flicked the interloper into the sink and washed it down the drain. No escort to the outdoors for those bugs!

Hotter

Haze burnishes the evening sky and a chattering lawn sprinkler attracts birds who frolic and chirp, then flutter their wings to bejewel green leaves with water droplets. I hear Friday evening traffic rolling south, heading for the fleshpots of Chico. No potted flesh for me, though. I'll be staying here once again, doing the various things I do when Sluggo is too hot to handle. I might get some more digging out done, if there's nothing interesting on television. I have not yet found some of the old magazines I've been seeking in that long-buried bottom cupboard. Nostalgia awaits! I'm also going to try to get a glimpse of that small comet which is supposed to be visible in the southwest after sunset. The haze might interfere with that tonight, though. Now, post before Sluggo faints.