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So I know I can be a pretty big pansy about things. Crazy scenarios of highly unlikely situations run though my head, I can be worry about nonsensical things, and the sight of a spider or scorpion that probably wasn’t intentionally hunting me down can send me into a panic. But this time I don’t think my mind was playing tricks – I swear I saw a coyote 50 feet away from me in our backyard this morning.

I was raking the leaves (“Again?,” you ask. “Do your leaves reproduce overnight?” Yes. Sure do.) and I was like 10 feet of leave away from finally being finished and I turned around and saw this dog-looking creature emerge from the woods. I got one decent look at him before bolting up the driveway and into the house. His eyes didn’t appear to glaze over in hunger and he wasn’t feverishly licking his chops and I’m pretty sure there wasn’t a neon sign above me that read “Breakfast On-the-Run…Fresh & Delicious!” so I’m not sure if bolting was my best plan of action as I’m sure he can run faster than me anyway and he could have mistaken me for a roadrunner (meep! meep!), but I was terrified. The rake is still outside exactly in the position I threw it down in and the yard remains unfinished – and it will stay that way until Ted and I can finish it up tomorrow….together. I was able to get another look at him from the safety of the kitchen window (while catching my breath…) as he trotted across the yard. Then, just to be sure, I googled “coyote.” Yep, same tail.

I mean, it could have been a dog and I’m just paranoid, but he was kind of big for a dog and didn’t really look like any dog I’ve seen recently. He pretty much looked exactly like this picture. If you remember from one of my previous posts, the other night on the news there was a story about the abundant coyote population in Anderson Township. We live in a pretty populated area. We’re not downtown or anything, and our house is set back off the road and in a semi-woodsy area. Maybe that’s where my brain is, but I’m convinced it actually was a coyote. Regardless, that’s enough raking excitement for me for one day.

I drove to UC today to meet Ted during his lunch hour. I’m kind of proud that I didn’t get lost. Driving in an unfamiliar city, especially on a confusing college campus, is always a challenge. Kudos to Ted for being an awesome direction giver. We went to Chicago Gyro and it. was. phenomenal. We had the Philly Gyro which was gyro meat, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, mozzarella and tzatziki sauce wrapped in a pita. Definitely worth the drive downtown. I inhaled it. And it was really nice to see my husband during the day :-)

University of Cincinnati’s CCM (College Conservatory of Music) is one of the top music schools in the nation. On the way to the CCM building where Ted works (he’s the Resident Master Electrician for CCM & the theatre department) you walk by an entire building of practice rooms and the music coming from that building is gorgeous – violins, pianos, tubas, opera singers – you hear it all through the open windows and it’s like a symphony of beautiful, wonderful sounds. The talent in there is astounding. I love it. I really miss being on a college campus. I miss being in school and learning. There’s always so much to do, so much going on and it’s great for people-watching. The campus isn’t bad looking either. I’m thinking of looking more seriously into their Arts Administration graduate programs. The competition is killer to get in though. Bummer. On the drive back home I drove on Observatory, which I affectionately refer to as “mansion row.” Between the fabulous architecture of this enormous homes and the gorgeous colors on the trees lining the streets, it’s hard to keep your eyes off the homes and on the road.

Today I am trying out our new washer and dryer for the first time. I have to admit, I really like it. It just looks so nice. I also like that it is an energy star & he appliance. I actually read the manuals on this beast cover to cover – it’s so sophisticated it’s a little intimidating. I don’t think I’ve ever been so careful measuring detergent before in my life. HE appliances require a special kind of detergent and less than normal or they might over suds and leak. I’m running the first load now and it’s very very different from any other washing machine I’ve ever used. It uses so little water that I spent the first 7 minutes of the cycle crouched on the floor looking into the little glass door trying to determine if there was actually water in there or not and figure out what all the odd on-again/off-again noises were.  It’s really quiet and you can’t hear any vibration – just swishing. I’m anxious to see how this load comes out! 3 years ago I would never have been excited about an appliance. Ever. Anyone who was excited about appliances was clearly boring enough to not have anything better to be excited about. But I can’t help but feel a little twinge of joy at actually owning our own stuff and pride in taking care of what we have.