The weather behavior was noticeably different the other day as I began my walk along Wildcat Boulevard. I could tell it had rained in the night as the streets were wet when I began my trek.
The slight wind was coming from the south, a wet wind with heavy humidity. The sky was mostly cloudy, but did not look threatening.
Then as I walked past Wendy’s to my turn-around spot, the wind shifted. It shifted quickly and quietly, not like it usually does dramatically in the middle of a storm.
To the north three banks of high clouds marked the horizon. They looked as if someone had hand drawn the edges of the clouds across the sky. The north breeze was refreshingly cool, as I headed back toward home.
Then as I neared Hickory Street, I heard thunder rumble off in the distance. Rain was on its way. I stepped on my porch just after a few early drops of rain spattered on my back. We were experiencing a nice morning rain, without a storm.
Cottontails have appeared along Wildcat Boulevard again. It is not uncommon to see a bunny hopping around or eating white clover as I walk along. For several years, I had seen no cottontails; they had disappeared.
When we moved to Hickory Street in 1992, cottontails abounded. It was not uncommon to see five or six playing in the front yard at dusk. Perhaps those days will return again. Rabbit populations are cyclical in nature. Perhaps the cycle of many cottontails is upon us.
The groundhogs are abundant on Wildcat Boulevard. They seem to be everywhere. One afternoon last week I needed to take something to my son and daughter-in-law’s on South Street.
There on a low window ledge in front of their home was a groundhog taking a nap. As I approached him, he opened one eye to check me out. When he saw I was not going to bother him, he closed his eye and dozed off again.
The kids call him Gary the Groundhog, and he spends most of his time in the backyard. Now it seems he has expanded his territory to the front. Hopefully, he will not take a liking to their garden.
Huge piles of black dirt were lined along the center of the Rock Garden, north of Neosho High School this past week. Toward the end of the week, the piles were spread out in the center of the practice and physical education field. I imagine the field had sunk in the middle and needed a higher center ridge for better drainage. The Rock Garden does get lots of use. Hopefully, all the rocks were not covered or the field will lose its mystique.
