We live in a very rural area, and we have a woods in front of our home. We’ve also been getting a lot of rain lately.
So last night I went outside at around 10 PM, and saw something that’s not unusual, but breathtaking none-the-less: the flickering lights of tens of thousands of lightning bugs across 3 or 4 acres. I stood there for a minute looking at it; it was like watching a constant fireworks display with no sound.
Damned if I know. Particularly if it’s attached to your house.
The other day at the library seven big adolescent boys were trading “unsuitable images” in the Wi-Fi area. When someone told the tiny, little lady librarian, she went up to each and every one of them and told them they had to leave. They all went very meekly except one, who said something to her in Spanish. She replied in Spanish, and out he went.
People were watching with their jaws dropped. I was ready to jump in with my self-defense if any of them got nasty, but they didn’t.
Are you in Detroit? This sounds like the artist from the documentary Detropia. Look it up and you’ll see what I mean. The poster for the film has a picture of him in his business suit and gas mask.
Another one… from the “innovative, but ghetto” category.
I saw a guy on a scooter zipping along wearing no safety equipment but some goggles. Not that strange, right? Helmets aren’t mandatory for people over 20 here in Texas.
Yesterday morning there were almost a dozen ducks, about 8 or 9 geese, and one egret in my backyard. Maybe that’s not so unusual here for this time of year, but I just moved into this house and it seemed like quite the menagerie.
I was driving to the gym on Saturday (one of the back roads, under development but still has a big pasture) to see a pickup truck driving my way on the left hand shoulder in the grass, with a black calf trotting in front of it. I presume this is 21st century cattle wrangling.
A few years ago I saw a mom duck with baby ducks in a line, crossing the busy (OK, busy for around here) main road – a big pickup had stopped and they crossed no problem. A few weeks ago, a mom and a line of baby ducks started out again on that same stretch of road, got spooked by cars approaching and doubled back. Seeing that line of toddlers do a little about-face all in a line was so cute. Cars stopped so I think they tried again. I was out of sight before I could see if they made it all the way. Go ducks go!
Some years ago, I was that weird sight: I was working the night audit at a reasonably upscale business hotel, and we were sold out - no room at the inn. One of our regular guests discovered a leak in the bathroom, and I had nowhere to move him, nor anyone else on duty to try to fix it. I grabbed the toolbox and some spare towels and went to patch up what I could. As I returned to the front desk, I ran into another of our regular guests, and he nearly died laughing at me: I was dressed in my red dress with white polka dots, my lovely forties-style peep-toe platform slingbacks, with my hair pinned up, and carrying a giant yellow toolbox. The following week, Mr. A. brought me a very ladylike pink toolbox for my next adventure in maintenance.
My grandma notoriously burned down the outhouse trying to get rid of the wasps. I’d say that’s a perfectly rational response to a nest in the loo, though! (Same grandma, a few years earlier, “saved the ladder” when the roof of the family home caught fire. Unfortunately, she overlooked the fact that her brother was on top of that home, trying to put out the fire before it destroyed their home. Poor Uncle Pat had to jump!)
We have two juvenile bunnies who cavort and gambol about in the yard - the especially love to play under the sprinklers on hot days when I’m trying to keep the shrubs alive. I love sitting on the porch and watching them - their games look remarkably like those of human children.
In addition to our rabbits, there’s a doe and a pair of fawns hanging out in the woods behind our house - nice little stream back there. The fawns don’t play too much, but they’re so beautiful if I happen to catch them grazing on the neighbor’s shrubs and grass without them spotting me.
Weirdest thing I’ve seen lately? Nothing really. Maybe the drunk college student riding in the trolley at the grocery store, while his poor friend was trying to buy some food to sober the kid up?