Flannel Shirt

Worrying about the nutria

Got up early on Monday, thanks to my cat whacking the side of my head at 4:58 a.m. Did my morning internet stuff, ate, drank my two cups of coffee, did my daily ablutions, called Joan to check in, and then went out for a walk around Nikeland.

Once again, as it's been for months, there was no sign of the nutria.

Now the level of water in the creeks and ponds has dropped down, but it's not gone. I guess it's possible that they migrated somewhere, but all they do is eat grass and make baby nutria, and there's plenty of grass in Nikeland. I've got a bad feeling that somebody in charge has removed them, one way or another, if you know what I mean.

Last week I happened to be on the trail near a parking structure at lunch time when people were heading for their cars, and I asked three or four people if they knew what happened to the nutria. No one knew. One didn't even know of their existence.

I'm worried.

Winter wonderland in Beaverton

Building on yesterday's blog here are some shots from my balcony of the scary white stuff that fell from the sky.

And:

While I contemplated walking around Nikeland and seeing the nutria sliding in the snow, Arabella sat patiently in front of the space heater.

By the time I got out of the shower the snow was pretty much melted, and I wasn't sure if anyone wanted to see pictures of nutria in the slush.

I managed a trip to Fred Meyer, who rules the grocery world around here, and got a mocha from the Starbucks next door to Fred's, but otherwise I did not stretch my hamstrings outdoors.

Nikeland update

As become more settled here in Beaverton things become more routine, thankfully.

For those who are curious, I got an official birth certificate and I am who I thought I was. This means that my Oregon driver's license is just around the corner.

I'm also starting to get my walks in. There are so many places to walk up here, since Nikeland is just across the road that's my designated morning stroll.

Here's a couple of additions to my last walk:

There are flocks of geese who hang out in Nikeland. Often they are loading up for bombing raids at my car parked over near my apartment across Walker Road.

On icy mornings you can see the frost retreat as the sun hits the ground.

This is a wooded stretch along the jogging path. Note that there are light boxes that presumably light the way at night.

Every few days someone changes the bouquet in the hands of the Unknown Jogger.

And in one of the ponds there's been this big white bird hanging out. The ducks give him a wide berth.