1:  Two evenings ago, Joy called me and the munchkin over to the door to the deck, saying to hurry.  A young opossum was sniffing around our things (we still have some unpacked items there), maybe attracted by the lingering smells of the dinner we’d eaten out there an hour earlier.  The lights were on inside and outside, and the possum must have seen us, but it didn’t seem disturbed, and just went on exploring.  I had never seen one alive before, except running away from the sound of my approaching car.  It was cute.  Its ears were black and outspread, and we could clearly see the long fingers on its pink hands. 

Our cat Luna was out there somewhere, but I guess they avoided an encounter.  Luna is a non-hunter anyway–in a year and a half, she’s never brought home so much as a mouse–but in a fight with this opossum Luna would probably have come out the loser.

2.  I was perplexed by a strange erosion on my desktop blotter, as if acid had been dropped on it and had eaten away several layers of paper.  Then the stickers on my paper drawers mysteriously appeared partly peeled off, as if a vandal had come in and tried to remove the “New White Paper,” “One Side Printed,” and “Letterhead” labels just to create confusion for my next printing job.  It wasn’t until several days later, when I actually spotted a snail on one of the plants on the desk, that I put it all together. 

I was on the phone at the time, so I left it alone until I had a moment to put it outside–then I couldn’t find it.  Apparently it had used its speed and wiles to get away from me.  The next day, I saw it again and this time I took it outside.  By that time, the rampaging beast had also eaten a hole through several papers on my desk (nothing irreplaceable).  I hope it will be happier on a bush.

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