Neighborhood Watch

There were two hummingbird feeders on our deck this week.   Now there is one.

A Dine Until Dark Curfew has been imposed on the little hummers and the one remaining feeder is taken inside when the sun goes down.

What happened?

A mystery intruder  visited and vandalized our peaceful Virginia home.

If you are interested in solving mysteries, here are the clues:

1. A favorite old hummingbird feeder  was lying in three pieces on our deck,
2. amid a wide swath of sticky sugar water, 
3. replete with large animal footprints, and
4. unidentified animal scat on the deck stairs.

“What critter (or person) could it be?”we wondered.

Bill thought it was a raccoon.  I thought a bear. Can you tell by these observations the differences in our personalities and outlooks on life?

I Googled SCAT and found some that looked like ours (NO, NOT HUMAN).  Oddly, there are actual animal “poop charts” so you can compare and identify droppings!  Somehow I find this offensive to my sensitive senses.

Bear Scat

Anyway, that was as far as I got researching when an email came in from our immediate next door neighbors warning they had seen a mama bear and her two cubs in their back yard!

Mystery SOLVED!  IT WAS DEFINITELY A BEAR!!!  AND A VIRGINIA BLACK BEAR WITH TWIN CUBS!!!  Well, what did I expect when we chose to live in the country – civilization?

Then a second email came  and a third.  The word is out and we have a NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH with friends sending email alerts!

• “We saw a mama bear and two cubs in our back yard this morning.  If you think this is information that should be shared with the neighbors, would you pass it on?”  
• “Yep! We had some work being done at our house a few weeks ago and they videoed two cubs and the mom on our property.”
• “Also I saw them crossing the hunt road, heading up the hill into the woods between the pond and the riding ring, just like last summer. My mare has indicated their closeness to our place too. I have not viewed them there personally yet (but, she doesn’t fib).”

It is certainly comforting to know there is a Three Bears Neighborhood Watch, but having the trio on my deck borders on disconcerting!

I have a plan though.,

The trick is stay close to the front door, or the back door, or the car door.

Or if the bear gets inside – to barricade in the bathroom with my cell phone!

So much for summer walks in the woods.

 

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A Subterranean Homeplace

For those of you who have been following my posts on the progress of construction of a neighborhood “Mystery Building”, and who thought the mystery was solved, there is more!

Yes, we know it will be a home.  Around these parts, home is generally referred to as the “homeplace,” (all one word) and this is definitely going to be someone’s homeplace in rural Virginia.  We know this because a friend went over and asked what the building would be!

“So, what’s the big mystery NOW?” you ask.  “I mean, the building looks a bit on the odd side, but so what? We know it’s someone’s home.”

Well, one day I was merrily on my way to town and not thinking of the Mystery Building.  After all, I know it’s someone’s homeplace now, so why dwell on the odd little dwelling anyway?

But, I cannot resist glancing in that direction to monitor progress and when I saw it from a distance I gasped in awestruck shock.  WHAT are they doing NOW?!!!

What does it look like to you?

They are covering the back and the roof with DIRT!

Now I am going to look up things on the internet about landlocked housing.

Is their homeplace going to be underground?

Mostly underground?

Why?

Will they plant a garden on top?

Does this explain all the smokestacks and domes?

The first article I found in my search gives some very good clues about Underground Homes!  Check out the article below.  The second article below is my own first post, when the “homeplace” emerged as an ongoing mystery.

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Mystery Building

Look Closely Rooftop Right
Do You See the Dome?

Someone is building something across the highway from me.

I don’t know who the builder is or what he or she is building.

The structure began with smokestacks and domes on a little gravel side road.

It’s really a lane that features small, unpretentious private dwellings along its length.

The mystery began with smokestacks and continued with the addition of thick,

reinforced concrete walls.

Over time a building emerged with huge side by side gaping openings like monstrous garages.

It  looked nothing like a house.

It still does not really look like a home even though the gaping openings are gaining more definition.

The oddity  keeps on growing with more domes and smoke stacks  and pipes at the top.

They are visible from the other side (our side) of the hill.

I drove by today  to see if anything makes sense yet,  but the mystery only intensifys.

Does the structure look like a residence to you?

Why would a private dwelling need to be so well fortified with poured reinforced concrete walls?

Even my civil engineer husband is mystified about the Mystery Building.

Here are his, mine and various other guesses of my friends and neighbors.

WHAT IS THE MYSTERY BUILDING?

A Grain Storage Facility

A Jail

A Smoke House

A Bunker for a Nuclear Holocaust

A  Sensitive Data Storage Facility

A Fortified Business Office

Headquarters for a Network of Spies

What do you think?

What is the Mystery Building?

To Be Continued…..

Other Mystery Buildings

English: Mystery Building This is built right into the dunes beside the road leading to the beach. Is it some kind of garage, and if so, for what sort of equipment? (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Mystery building : Close up. A close-up of the mystery building on Kimblewick Road already geographed by John V Nicholls [94031]. I have no idea what it was for either ! – I’ve just noticed that there’s what looks like an overflow pipe sticking out near the top, which suggests that there’s a water tank in there – perhaps it’s a WC !!! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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