The lone Zebra.

It was almost 10:00 am before I even woke up and that was to the sound of heavy rain on the RV’s roof. I rolled out of bed and after looking out at it absolutely pouring down, decided to hold off on the morning walk. The dogs did not appear to be in any real emergency, so I took a chance on them being able to “hold it.” 

I noticed that the big bird feeder I had installed yesterday, a gift from one of my fellow campers, was laying on the ground. Further inspection showed that the pole had blown over due to the amount of rain softening up the dirt. I had not been able to drive it very far when I first put it up.  

It was raining so hard that I told myself, “To heck with it” and went back to what I was doing figuring it would keep until there was a lull in the weather. I could almost see the dog’s crossing their legs as they tried to “hold it.”   

We got that lull albeit, only a brief one but enough for a quick once around the washroom circuit much to the dog’s disgust. I tied them up outside so they could watch, and they both snuck under the RV out of the weather while I worked on straightening up the bird feeders. 

Daniel stopped by and his immediate question was, “Are you nuts”? I told him why I was out straightening things up. Incidentally, the same gentleman who had given me the bird equipment also gave me a genuinely nice folding chair, much better than the one I have albeit with an A&M logo. I can ignore that as the chair is for free. I worked at the University of Texas for 22 years and Texas A&M were our most bitter rivals even though they were a part of the same school system. 

As it was now raining hard again and I had finished hammering the feeder stand back in the ground and re-arranging the feeders, we all went back inside the RV where it was comfortably warm, and I sat and wrote and worked on a few pictures. I got to see one of the Zebras yesterday, the one that does not have a mate. He was on his own, which was strange as he usually spends time together with either the donkeys or a herd of deer. Maybe, it is the rutting season, and he is an unwelcome stranger being of a different breed. 

When I was at Daniels last evening, his Hummingbird feeder was doing a roaring business with several Hummers at a time visiting. We discussed the feed he uses, and it turns out to be nothing more than sugar and water, in a 4-1 ratio. I will try that next time except I need to buy some sugar as it is not on my usual shopping list. When I was reinstalling the feeder poles, I noticed that one of the Hummingbird feeders had fallen and broke which leaves us at just one of them. So, now I need a new feeder to go along with the sugar unless I can repair the old one. 

The rest of the day was spent indoors as it was too miserable to be outside more than for the necessities. I took a couple of hours designing a deck and stairs for The Caboose and working out a lumber and hardware list, something that I really need. I will build it myself giving me a chance to resurect my old carpentry skills.

We went out for one more walk and then settled down for the evening meal and more English Premier League Football. 

Written 04/06/2023 Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com