Compared to rainy yesterday, today was gorgeous and about 84 degrees, 70% humidity (tolerable).
Bob's shift was pretty routine. Normal amount of traffic. Oh, except there was a big mud hole just past where they had been grading and putting rock down into the caliche. Trucks were nosediving into it. A grader came out and many truckloads of gravel were put down which the grader then smoothed into the roadbed of caliche dust.
I came on duty at 3:00 p.m. Bob went to the post office to pick up our mail. On the way back he stopped to visit Kit and Jerry. He had a wonderful time picking their brains about internet reception, gate guarding, past history...just a good, old-fashioned visit.
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| Tire removed already. Damaged wheel. |
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| Crunched license plate, damaged grill, hood crunched upward. |
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| Assessing the damage. |
That was the first incident on my shift.
Next thing I know, trucks that had exited the gate onto Harvey Smith Rd south were all backing up into our gate to turn around, even the rock trucks that were supposed to put more rock down. When the grader guy got off shift around 10:40 p.m., he brought the grader in and parked it across from our rig (which is where he left his pick-up truck). I asked him what was going on down the road.
He replied, "An inexperienced trucker got stuck in the hole, broke the axle and ruined the transmission. I tried to pull him out, but couldn't. Two other trucks combined tried to pull him out, but couldn't. The road is blocked. I've been sending everyone I can around another way. There's nothing more we can do tonight. A semi tow truck will be here in the morning. I'll be back first thing."
While the second incident wasn't exactly at our gate, it impacted where our truckers had to go to get here. And some who left had to back up 1/2 mile to turn around at our gate.
Oh, I forgot to mention, we have an excellent bird feeder. Our night lights attract all manner of moths, beetles, termites, lightning bugs, and who knows what else. There are no bats! During the day, all kinds of birds come to the generator/light stand and have easy pickin's of whatever ever bug buffet suits them. We have Bewick's wrens, mockingbirds, a male and female cardinal, and other birds I haven't identified yet. Today the Bewick's wren came within a few inches of my shoe. My nature moment for the day.
Kitty story: We have discovered what floats our cats' boats...flying insects--moths to be exact. (Beetles are exciting too, but just not as much fun.) A moth enters the 5er, intense hunter cat mode ensues. Both Sunnie and Bowie go nuts, leaping tall furniture in a single bound, climbing upholstered valances, staring down moths on the ceiling as if they can entrance them to fly around some more.
Yesterday Sunnie caught a good-sized moth. He proudly carried it around in his mouth, would let it go and catch it again. If Bowie got too close, Sunnie hissed and growled.
This evening there were plenty of moths to go around and both cats had their own playthings. They don't eat them (probably too fuzzy), just play with them and carry them around. Apparently Sunnie does eat beetles.
As I'm sitting here typing the two cats just finished hunting some bug under the dining chairs and I can hear Sunnie's bug crunching noises from where I sit...sounds like a crunchy beetle, not a soft moth.
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| "I see a moth. Yum!" |
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| Two cats hunting. |
They wore themselves out. Some moths live on, but the cats are sleeping. By morning, we'll probably discover more dead moths.
More random pictures from the last few days:
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| These cats love playing in and around boxes! See those little holes...they make good spots for Bowie's paws to attack Sunnie. |
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| Bewick's wren. It's there, really! |
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| Equipment move |
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| Bob doing his job. |
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| Pad B before the flood. |
Hi, Bob and Susan! It sounds like you have had some real experiences in your first few weeks of gate guarding. Hope the weather has gotten better!-Peri
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