Getting Out of the House, Part Two

When we do get out of the house, we usually trek down a little trail in our neighborhood, which offers much more than a typical suburban sidewalk. We are nestled in the foothills of the Santa Monica mountains, so there are all types of wildlife that we've encountered - or at least - come into contact with via paw prints or neighbor accounts. (Remember, Nola and I were probably inside watching some cheesy reality TV instead of encountering wildlife.) Some of the more notable animal "encounters" include:

1. The mountain lion that two neighbors saw scoping out our garage from the driveway.
2. The bear paw prints leading from the woods (and a torn apart trash can) to Nick's truck.
3. The deer that kicked Nick. I suppose this particular scenario needs some explanation: There are deer all over the neighborhood, and we do encounter them on an almost daily basis. One evening, about a year ago, Nick and I were watching The Office, and he had to run out to park his car up the street during commercial break. It took him longer than usual to come back from parking the car, and the show had already resumed. Nick comes limping in from outside, rubbing his shin, and excitedly asking, "What did I miss?" Of course, I ask him, "What happened?" to which he replies, "Oh, I was kicked by a deer." Apparently my husband tried to sneak up behind one of the deer who graze in our neighborhood with the innocent intention of petting it. Needless to say, the deer was not interested.

Of course, my favorite animal encounter includes our family pets. Since the last trimester of the pregnancy, Nick and I would go on evening walks with our dog, Rocky, and our cat, Sid. We all continued to walk together after Nola came on the scene. I have included two pictures, both taken on the neighborhood nature trail, of our little family on a walk. We live in a neighborhood along with a lot of well-meaning retirees who all seem to enjoy commenting on our cat.

The commentary ranges from the informative, "That's some cat!" to the menacing, "You'd better watch out for coyotes!" Either way, we think Sid is pretty impressive. He scampers along with us for about a mile and a half just about every day, yet he still can't seem to lose his belly. Just like me.