Pruned to Death

From my perch on the couch, I yesterday noticed a king bed through the window across the way.

It appears there’s a new tenant in the evicted Cat Lady’s unit.

I hope it’s not the person I saw when I stepped outside of my unit yesterday ─ the only time I planned to be outside over the weekend, to take trash to the dumpster, because I don’t like him already.

This person ─ some little man, stepped out of a car's passenger side and began walking down the quad ─ towards me, with his mask less self.

I was pretty much trapped that he was going to pass way too close to my side, so I cut across a dirt path, through a patch of shrubbery, to avoid him.

That one trip outside, was fraught with danger because, stepping away from the dumpster, deciding to check mail, I see a slow moving senior coming down the walkway.

I waited until he passed and, since he was in my way to the mailbox, I took a circuitous route.

Lo and behold, when I got within eye shot of the mail center, I see him coming up from a side path.

I stopped way way back and waited, and waited, and waited.

While waiting, I see two cats.

So, management has yet to catch them all. I think they caught the cat residents call Mama, or someone is sheltering her, because I’ve not seen her since the day I last posted about her.

At any rate, one of the cats heads to a shady spot under the chairs by the pools, near the cat trap. I then feel something furry around my ankles, heard mewing, look down and see the other cat snaking through and around my legs.

I felt bad having to gently say, out loud, ”Sorry. I’ve got nothing for you”.

Still snaking and mewing, I had to stomp my foot a little to get him/her to leave me alone, at which point he/she moved onto a dirt path and dejectedly lay on it’s side ─ which made me feel even worse.

The cats obviously are missing Cat Lady. With her no longer here to leave food out, this cat was obviously looking for another benefactor.

Finally, the slow moving senior gets his mail and then holds the gate open, motions for me to come on.

Seriously dude?

Why do you think I’m standing like a mile away from you?

I signal no thanks, he starts walking away but, with the option to take the path he came up on to his left or take the path to his right, he chose to walk straight ahead, right past where I was standing ... trapped.

G%$D@#^IT!!!!!!!

There’s just no escape from people.

On Friday, I’d heard buzz saws going, indicating a tree crew was on the property. Heading back to the unit from that death trip to the mailbox yesterday, I got a good look at the tree trimming crew’s handiwork.

The tree that’s part of the view from my perch on the couch appears to have been pruned to death. It now looks like Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree.

I’m expecting it to keel over and die, but time will tell.

Once safely back inside, with a package I’d picked up from the mailbox, I sprayed my ankles with Lycol and checked for flees ─ because snaked by a feral cat ... just in case.

What was in the package you ask?

Well, it’s a new sweatshirt I’d ordered.

Also on Friday, Activity Director dropped off another craft kit ... an Easter craft kit.

Better late than never, I guess.

I’ve not yet gotten around to the St. Patty Day kit, probably never will as it doesn’t seem worth the time.

The Easter kit looks a bit more interesting, so maybe I’ll get around to it.