Patio Psychosis

Yes, another leaf

Dave stayed home from work yesterday because he wasn't feeling great. (Don't worry -- it's not Covid. We're both negative on our twice-weekly lateral flow tests.) He said he felt achy and tired and kind of brain-foggy, which can all be related to his Crohn's Disease.

When I got home from work in the afternoon, he said to me, "We have a psychotic squirrel in the garden."

Apparently a squirrel came to the living room window several times during the day, stood on its hind legs, put its forelegs against the glass, and then tried to jump through. Dave knocked on the glass at one point to scare it away, but it came back. Olga regarded the whole episode with detachment. Dave thinks she probably sees this squirrel every day and has become bored with its antics.

As it turns out, I had our garden-cam set up in a new position on the patio, and I was happy to see that it recorded the deranged squirrel, and even Dave's window-knocking. It also captured some footage of a grazing pigeon and a couple of little robins, and a quick view of a fox at night.

Yes, I know, our patio is in woeful condition. We have too many potted plants. Once the weather gets drier I'll move them all and sweep and weed. The dahlias will go in the shed for the winter and I probably should toss some of the primroses, which I don't think are even alive.

I'm at that stage in the annual life of the garden when I just want to throw everything away. The plants are all done blooming and they're slumping and overgrown, and I want to get out there with a machete and start clearing like an explorer hacking his way through the jungle in an old movie about Africa. I did cut the dead peonies back yesterday. Every week I'm setting out my allotted two bags of yard waste for composting by the council, although you'd never know it.

I've been feeling kind of despondent lately. I think our decision not to go home for Christmas has me in a funk. I need something to look forward to. Dave and I planned a getaway at Thanksgiving -- a couple of nights in a little village outside the city -- so that helps. And I think we might try to go somewhere at Christmas, maybe even on a quick trip to France or Belgium, depending on travel conditions at that time. Getting on a train to travel a short distance seems less risky Covid-wise than getting on a transatlantic flight.

I think I'm going to start another walking project, too, to keep myself in shape. Now that Olga has become so lazy about walking I need to get out and get more exercise on my own. Maybe I'll walk the Thames Path or the Green Chain.

Unfortunately the UK's Covid numbers are not in a good place. My brief foray into working unmasked, under the school's new mask-optional policy, lasted about three days. I'm now back to masking. Maybe when the numbers trend downward I'll feel more secure in going maskless.