Finding old friends and seeing rabid possums

I'll start with the worst first. When you see a nocturnal animal reeling through your yard in broad daylight, you've got a problem on your hands.

This possum -- at first I thought it was a stray cat dragging something through the yard, I've never seen a dun-colored possum before -- was staggering underneath my maple tree just about ten feet from my front door. I watched as it went by the south end of my mobile home, and when I looked out my bedroom window to follow its progress, it looked straight at me through the window.

You ever been stared down by a possum in broad daylight?

I watched, and it limped (hurt back foot) to my garden shed, where it ducked underneath and disappeared. When my neighbor arrived, .22 in hand, we couldn't find it, it's up under the shed, hidden by floor joists. So this morning my first order of business was to call the sheriff and Animal Control and ask for assistance. I'm waiting for a return call from the local wildlife guy.

We had a problem with rabies here five years ago. A rabid racoon wandered up in my neighbors' yard, middle of the day -- got treed by their dogs... whose rabies vaccinations had expired not long before because my friends had been tied up in a series of family illnesses. Every single one of their dogs had to be destroyed. Two mama dogs and two litters of pups, and the daddy. It was a horrible, horrible day.

So here I am, the pollen count is way down, I have spring cleaning to do, linens to wash and hang out, a yard to clean up, some flowers to transplant... and I'm scared to go out of the house.

On a brighter note, I mentioned in my little post introducing Randy to my friends that I'd actually been looking for some other people in the old group, Heirship. Well, I've made contact! I'm happy to report that Ed Stiltz is now a United Methodist pastor down the road from me, in South Carolina. I'd bet Ed's congregations have a good shepherd in him and will be sorry to see him transferred to a new charge next month. Dave and Lisa Boyd, the original friends I was looking for, are in Vienna, Austria, doing some very important work with the Vineyard Fellowship. Ron Elms, who was manager and sound man for Heirship, is the first of the old friends to enter Eternity, in September, 2000. Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and may perpetual Light shine on him.

May God bless the developers of the Internet!