Coyote Walk...

7:45am

ominous clouds over northern mountains

overcast

slight breeze

good walking weather...

eery silence

distant airplane

alternating gait thump

from my walking stick

jingling of Izzy's tags...

peeping of quails

hedge trimmer humming

one street over

clear blue skies boasting

white fleeting clouds

over southern mountains...

complete stillness

breeding strange instincts

as I connect

to the environment...

this Saturday morning

 we walk alone...

hark! a neighbor

and his Burmese,

 dog friendly, cat, Rocky...

the cat greets us

with anticipatory joy

scampering across the street

talking, asking

for attention

Izzy balks, confused,

barks

stands beside me

rigid

with downward tail...

I stroke Rocky's belly

converse and enjoy 

his loud purr...

I inquire 

on coyote sightings...

"none in years"

my neighbor responds...

I share the coyote kill

of almost two months ago

informing also

of the mountain lion kill 

three weeks ago...

just then,

a coyote, with

beautiful large pointed ears

bushy tail

lean body

with camouflage colors

trots in

from the back of my neighbor's yard...

I warn my neighbor

as he scoops up Rocky...

the coyote

sniffs the air

smelling the scent

of Izzy and Rocky

focusing on us

standing its ground

I take my dog whisperer

powerful stance

one arm on my hip

one arm stretched out

gripping my walking stick...

intense

maternal instincts

surge through me,

strengthening me

as I ready for battle...

still,

the coyote stands firm

then moves

closer...

my neighbor remarks

"its not scared is it?"

nope.

flipping my walking stick

I tap noisily on the street...

nothing.

instinctively, we rush forward

stomping our feet

moving toward it...

the coyote

nimbly lopes across the yard

into the back yard

of his next door neighbor

and we watch

as he jumps down

off a block wall

into a back yard neighbors yard

Another neighbor

comes outside

telling us he just saw 

a coyote in his back yard...

we talk

concerned

yet realizing

the reality

living within

and among wild life...

they were, here first...

I call my husband

wanting him to 

regret not walking with us,

 instead

he tells me he

is driving to pick me up...

Izzy and I continue up

the street

a female neighbor comes outside

telling me a coyote

was lying in wait

for her neighbor's three cats

it has happened before

the coyote knows

the cats are there...

I ask my husband

to drive along

while we walk

as another neighbor

walks up with his dog

after telling him

he concludes it is the

same coyote who

killed our neighbor's Yorkie

he said it was a female coyote...

I regret 

not taking a picture

of the coyote

with my cell phone...

yet wonder

if the male neighbor

had not been with me...

outside, the wind now

is whipping about,

dark cloud haze

with stop and start

rain...

perfect weather

for hunting...

~dkb~