The bold coyote in a neighbor's yard.
Photo by Allison Bradford.
The
coyote that was sighted two nights ago has become much more real today. There
have been several sightings of it in our neighborhood, including one in someone’s
back yard where it had the audacity to take a long nap in the afternoon sunshine.
It is indeed a big guy. I have tried and tried to explain to Sophie that there
is a big, bad coyote out there and no, she doesn’t want to go outside. She
remains unconvinced, though she did come in rather quickly when I just let her
out. I am vigilante by the window or door when she’s out, but I worry about the
Burton dogs because they don’t watch them every minute—and the Cavaliers are
smaller, frailer, and much easier pretty. The most recent sighting I heard of
was only blocks away, so I feel a bit on edge. Our yard is pretty much fenced
with six-foot fencing, but there is one four-foot section I’m sure a coyote
could sail over if it wished. Apparently, animal control has been unresponsive
to the reports.
And
another catastrophe—Jordan was hanging ornaments outside and came into the
house for just a minute when out of the corner of her eye, she saw their
elaborately decorated Christmas tree listing at a dangerous angle. It had come
loose from the moorings that were supposed to hold it up straight. She propped
it up with a chair (good thinking, Jordan!) and called Christian but had to
wait for him to come home because it was, she said, a three-person job. Last
report I had was that tempers were short, and the atmosphere was not Christmas-like.
I’m not sure about the status of the tree. I guess this is not the time to ask
Christian to reboot the router to see if that will help with my problem accessing
the Central Market website.
For
supper, we were going to have the great subway-style sandwiches Jordan makes
with French dressing, oregano, Parmesan, etc. I ended up with a bit of salami
and a slice of provolone and some mayo on a slider bun—not quite the same. And
Sophie gnawed on the one slider bun I’d put out to defrost—my fault for leaving
it to close to the edge of the work surface. She didn’t actually get it down,
but she got in some good licks, and I decided on a fresh bun. I gave her
another lecture on love the dog but not the behavior—she was unmoved and, I’m sure,
regretted missing the bun.
The
Christmas cooking bug has hit me belatedly. In days gone by, I started baking
in November. In recent years, it’s been more of a last-minute thing, but I did
plan ahead. Somehow this year, I dropped the ball completely—I think I told
myself I was too busy writing. But then I decided, for various reasons beyond
explaining, that I was going to put all my writing, except blogs, on hold and
suddenly I had time to fix some Christmas gifts. I must add to this that baking
is not my forte—I make pretty good main dishes and sides, but I usually forget desserts
and fruit-like things.
But
last year I made some cranberry/apricot chutney, and Jean liked it so well I
thought I should make her some again this year. And of course, you don’t just make
one jar of chutney, so I have several small jars of chutney. I tasted it, and
it’s pretty good. But I have a whole lot of dried apricots left over—I guess I
neglected to tell Jordan the smallest bit she could buy, so she got almost a
lb. I hate to think what that cost. But I went online and prowled—guess what, there
aren’t a lot of recipes that use small amounts of dried apricots. But I found
one for jam—and that is tomorrow’s project.
Tonight,
I made a cranberry cake—the recipe came from a neighbor a couple of years ago
for publication in the newsletter I edit. Turned out the neighbor is an old
friend from way back, but that’s another story. The cake was delicious, so
tonight I dug out the recipe and made it again. I think I’ll make another in a
day or two, so I can send bits home with folks who come for a drink. I’m kind
of enjoying this bit of Christmas cooking. It's all I’ll do until Christmas day
when I’ll be responsible for dressing and green bean casserole.
It
feels a lot like Christmas to me these days. And I suppose it will even more so
in a couple of days when the big freeze hits us. Shades of my Chicago childhood,
except we won’t have snow. Meantime, today Megan posted a picture of her (well
actually just her foot and a beach drink) lounging on a beach in Belize with
that blue, blue water beyond. That wouldn’t feel so much like Christmas to me.
