Early this morning I was awakened by a loud noise, and found Misu chasing a mouse through the house!  I have no idea how it got in, but I’m just glad it wasn’t a rat.  Misu’s mouser instincts rebooted, I’m happy to say, but mostly just to play with it.  It may still be in here somewhere!  Time will tell.  I only have one half the equation for photo evidence, but just as well, the other half could be gory.

I can finally get fairly good closeups with my new phone cam!  I just need to tweak it a little.  Here’s a tiny blue flower in January.  And not to be outdone, my pet tulip.

Even in more winter-like conditions, many perennials and even annuals are staying green into January down here, and spring bulbs are poking up everywhere.  Here are parsley and columbine.  Up north all these would be frozen or dormant by now.  Or maybe not, with climate change.

And look at this tulip!  (Okay, I cheated on that one–greenhouse-forced.)

At the other end of the food chain, here is a dog-breed I can sink my teeth into–E’s dogs-in-a-blanket!  Notice I didn’t say pigs.  Unlike the dogs-pooping-on-our-lawn variety.  Or the hillbillies-peeing-on-same.  Not as high up the chain as hot dogs, IMO.  (Or as edible.)  Maybe why they’re evicted, yay!

My son spent yesterday afternoon and evening with us, and Misu approved.  Here she is helping him do computer stuff.  It was so adorable, I’m posting redundant photos of them schmoozing.

Here are: E’s latest batch of challah and an erev still life.

It’s like a rainy spring day, with more such days on the way.  Lots of spring bulbs are coming up.  In early January!  There’s frustratingly little to be done outside this time of year, though.  It’s a day for napping, which is what my son is doing in the office!

Down the driveway, the long-empty overpriced double-wide appears to be finally occupied, judging by all the frenzied guys literally flinging large furniture at the house from a U-Haul in the rain.

Across the street, potential buyers of the newly built house can be seen rolling their eyes at all the mattresses, sofas, and other trash strewn along the road by the evicted neighborhood drug dealers.

Welcome to redneckville.  As long as more druggies and derelicts don’t move in, that’s the best we can hope for.  You learn to appreciate the little things, like being able to walk outside in your own garden without being confronted by sleaze, disrespect, and dog crap.

In better news, Misu seems to have recovered from her Montezuma’s revenge for cats.  She’s back to begging for food and fake-attacking squirrels through the window.  She’s sitting next to my laptop as I write this.

Getting the drug dealers cleared out next door seems like a good omen for the start of the new year.  You can’t imagine all the huge crap (as well as people) coming out of that one small house.  The woods down the street are now lined with ruined sofas, furniture, mattress, boxspring, probably the kitchen sink.  Not to mention all the plastic bottles they threw out in the woods.  I guess that’s how they take out the trash in Tennessee.  No doubt the squatters will set up shop down there now.  But at least they’re no longer performing lewd acts in our faces or on our lawn, or smuggling in assault weapons.  The joys of redneck “culture”.

On a sadder note, Misu the cat is strangely sick today.  I can’t figure out what caused it.  When I was suddenly, mysteriously very sick recently, she stayed glued to me the whole time, knowing something was wrong.  So after I cleaned up after her, I wrapped her up on my bed, where I can keep an eye on her.  I even did what my son did for me that time–I read her my favorite “Frog and Toad” story, by Arnold Lobel.  I think it’s medicinal.

Let’s see, what hackneyed joke can I make about 2020 hindsight?  Never mind.  Anyway, 2020 is a nice even number, with all kinds of potential for something going right.  A decent president would be a good start.  Avoiding the apocalypse would be nice, too.  I’d “settle” for just having my son in town for at least a few more years.

One good thing has already happened–the drug dealers are out!  You can’t imagine what a relief it is to look out and not see a mob of trafficking degenerates staggering around half-naked day and night, trespassing and vandalizing.  I’m looking forward to being able to garden in peace this spring.

Guess what we ate more of today?  That’s right, tacos!!  One can never have too many tacos, and each one’s different.

¡Feliz año nuevo!