Eva And The Wilderness

    

 

Tucson Weather Today

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Generally speaking, a howling wilderness does not howl: it is the imagination of the traveler that does the howling.
--Henry David Thoreau

Below is a photo of the wash just a few feet from Eva's home and of the path that runs alongside it.

This path runs past a domain in which lives Eva's mortal enemy, a large, loud barking, seemingly vicious canine named Sarge, according to some kids in the neighborhood. The two dogs seem to hate each other.

Of course, Eva cannot be described as being an overly sociable animal, when it comes to other animals. She loves people but shuns the proximity of other creatures -- dogs, coyotes, lizards, bees, flies -- anything that moves, especially birds. She actually tries to jump up and intercept any bird that soars over the pool deck. I'm sure she believes she can jump high enough to catch them.

But she never has... yet.

This morning I noticed a curious object out on the back deck; it appeared to be a bird's egg, snowy white but strangely light in weight, as if it was an undamaged empty shell. When Eva nosed it I hollered for her to leave it alone, and she did. I figured I would examine it later in greater detail.

After I had skimmed the pool of the many leaves floating on its surface after the night's heavy howling winds, I passed the location of the egg, or eggshell, whatever, and it had disappeared. I called Eva over and asked her if she had eaten it after all. She just looked up into my eyes then looked away, glancing over toward the hole in the Saguaro cactus wherein a nicely fashioned hole near the top lay the nest of a pair of loud and persistent red-headed woodpeckers.

I shrugged my shoulders and went inside to watch the morning TV news, followed by a quiet and carefully obedient Eva.

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Did You Know . . .?

If you chew gum when you study a subject and then chew the same flavor when you take the test it will help you remember.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1945, Adolf Hitler, dictator of Germany, burrowed away in a refurbished air-raid shelter, consumed a cyanide capsule, then shot himself with a pistol, as his "1,000-year" Reich collapses above him. Hitler had repaired to his bunker on January 16, after deciding to remain in Berlin for the last great siege of the war. the shelter contained 18 small rooms and was fully self-sufficient, with its own water and electrical supply. He left only rarely. At his side was Eva Braun, whom he married only two days before their double suicide.

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WORD FOR TODAY

wilderness
noun
1.  a wild and uncultivated region, as of forest or desert; a tract of wasteland.
2.  wildland; a natural environment on Earth.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

John Mark "Johnny" Galecki
(born April 30, 1975)

Johnny Galecki is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Leonard Hofstadter in the sitcom The Big Bang Theory since 2007 and as David Healy in the sitcom Roseanne from 1992 to 1997. He also appeared in the films National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), Suicide Kings (1997), I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), Bookies (2003), Hancock (2008), and In Time (2011).

Kunal Nayyar
(born April 30, 1981)

Kunal Nayyar is a British Indian actor, voice actor and writer. He is perhaps best known for portraying Raj Koothrappali in the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory.

Willie Hugh Nelson
(born April 29, 1933)

Willie Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger (1975) and Stardust (1978), made Nelson one of the most recognized artists in country music. He was one of the main figures of outlaw country, a subgenre of country music that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restrictions of the Nashville sound. Nelson has acted in over 30 films and co-authored several books.

Kirsten Caroline Dunst
(April 30, 1982)

Kirsten Dunst is an American actress. She made her film debut in Woody Allen's short film Oedipus Wrecks. At the age of twelve, Dunst played the role of vampire Claudia in Interview with the Vampire (1994). She appeared in Little Women the same year and in Jumanji the following year. After supporting roles in the NBC medical drama ER (1996) and films such as Wag the Dog (1997), Small Soldiers (1998) and The Virgin Suicides (1999), Dunst transitioned into romantic comedies and comedy-dramas, starring in Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), Bring It On (2000), Get Over It and Crazy/Beautiful (both 2001).

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Every well-written book is a light for me. When you write, you use other writers and their books as guides in the wilderness.
--Kate DiCamillo

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