Striving for Balance

Why is it that Nature cannot arrange a nice balance of moisture and sun?  20 million Pakistanis are up to their elbows in flood water from too much rain.  Russia is literally burning-up with drought.  We got inundated in March and the front lawn was parched and brown through most of  August.

Too much rain in a short time
makes skins crack

Only assiduous hand-watering saved the tomatoes - which were coming in ripe and delicious, until the rains of last week.  Now after 4 unrelenting days of rain just last week (5 inches), followed by 90 degree days,  the tomatoes are engorged and cracking their skins.   They are ugly.... but, still delicious.

My New Friend
At least I am not losing them to the squirrels this year.  This is probably because the  red squirrel that has moved in to the neighborhood.  Aggressive little critter, he has driven away all the gray squirrels  - which in past seasons have raided my vegetable garden. He is small but very territorial.

My Friend, the Red squirrel
taking an acorn break

When it comes to fruits of the garden I am a Social Democrat - willing to share a little with the bugs and fellow creatures of nature.  But these gray squirrel  bastards just took a small bite out of any tomato that was starting to ripen, ruining the whole crop.   I blame them for forcing me to become a BB gun toting Nazi. 

Now my little auburn furry friend patrols the trees in my back yard chattering and scolding any other rodent that shows their little rat faces in the yard. 


My friend, Murphy thinks I ought to get my BB gun and shoot him as well.
"He'll get into your attic," he warns me, "then he'll chew your wires and all hell will break loose.  Shoot him. That's what I would do."

But I don't think I will shoot the enemy of my enemies.

Someone should really council the red squirrel about his obvious bigotry against rodents with a different fur color.  I wonder if his mama told him not to play with gray squirrels as a kit.  Nature does not enforce egalitarian sentiment among wild creatures.  Hostility towards other species seems to be the norm.
I guess we humans have not evolved all that much, eh?