Husband#1 came home with another head of lettuce, wanting to be prepared for whatever festivities happen to transpire this evening. woot. That makes five and half heads of lettuce in the fridge.

Husband#1: Oops, I didn’t know.

I’m just happy that the lettuce was not ten for ten, as ten for ten is extremely difficult for the man to pass up. I understand his frustration over this, even if the execution is impractical at times.

As Son#2 and Husband#1 discussed setting a head of lettuce out in the yard for me to veto, an argument ensued concerning the elusive and not oft seen desert manatee.

Son#2: I can see the muzzle rising up out of the dirt and then chomping down on the lettuce, dragging it under the dirt.
Husband#1: It would use it’s flippers too.

Me: Checking the kitchen cabinet for left-over vodka.

Son#2: There’s really not enough vegetation to support a manatee here, I think they would be omnivorous.
Husband#1: No they wouldn’t be, there’s plenty of vegetation.

Son#2: They can’t chomp thorny cactus, I think if we watch we could see a ground squirrel running across the yard and a pair of flippers popping up from the ground and pulling it under.

I am thinking to myself, ‘wow, I can imagine how calloused those beasties would be having to travel through gravel and all’ however-I do NOT vocalize this, it would only perpetuate this conversation.

Speaking of beasties, I have quite a few that share my yard with me. I’ve begun setting my flip camera out on the porch. Here’s the first video in my Mutual Of Angela’s Wild Kingdom series. Maybe, just maybe I’ll catch that rascally desert manatee!

Could this be true?! Is Peepy….gone, and replaced by a look-alike impostor? All we want, all we seek-is the truth. Peepy’s fans deserve it, Peepy’s memory demands it. What *really* happened to Peepy? We know that Lisa Yee knows…but is she talking?

We have a bumper crop of prairie dogs, the tiny ones. I think they’re called ground squirrels here in the desert, but they look like tiny prairie dogs. There are tiny babies EVERYWHERE around my house and down my 400ft drive. They are so stinking CUTE! My wandering jew plant is history, I’ll be surprised if it makes a reappearance. There’s a family of “dogs” that has laid claim to my back porch, or at least the section where the pot that USED to have my wandering jew plant, is. I counted ten babies one day between two or three holes….just in that ONE section.

A few minutes ago, something big happened in tiny prairie dog-land. Mama was peeping! Peep, peep, peep…ad nauseum which got my attention, but I have no idea what prompted it. She was also stomping her back feet and shimmying her hiney. Spraying perhaps? The babies surrounded her and flag waved their bushy little tails in synchronized unison. Fascinating.

With my luck, they’ve finally figured out how to subdue my cats as part of their master plan, my cats are strictly inside only cats. You know, the temps are getting ready to soar and sizzle here. The dance they were doing is most likely a precursor to “storming the castle” in order to seize the A/C and loaded fridge for the greater good of the herd, or pack, or whatever tiny desert prairie dogs call large groups of themselves. They’ve probably unionized with the tarantulas and geckos. It’s doubtful they’ve enlisted the coyotes, but they appear to be confident enough to pull the job off themselves.

I’m seriously considering reinforcing all doors, windows and drains. The cats look nervous too…oh crap! I think I just felt the house’s foundation shift, just a little. But they’re so cute, I could let them into the nice cool house for just a little while……right? RIGHT?!?