It was a much better day outside without the strange looking air we had yesterday caused by the smoke coming from the forest fires in Canada. Those fires must be very scary for people living in the areas that are burning. In reading as much as I can about the effects of global warming, I was terribly shocked that a recent survey of Americans showed over 60% of the population don’t believe much in what’s been said about the ongoing changes taking place with our weather to be directly connected with global warming. Perhaps more people should start doing some research of their own. Living in Mason City all my life, I can say without a doubt that our weather patterns have changed both in winter and summer. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to things that are happening which I’ve never seen until recent years. Too many violent storms, too much sleet, too many quick temperature changes, and too much wind coming from abnormal directions. Today was really quite pleasant as far as the temperature but rather unseasonably cool for the seventh of July.
Much of the day was spent updating files and catching up on correspondence. In picking up signs and placing others, I found myself hopscotching all over the city earlier this morning. I wish I had my camera with me when I noticed a female deer standing on a sidewalk eating mulberries that had dropped to the ground. She was totally oblivious to the vehicles and pedestrians about. The deer roaming about near East Park are becoming more fearless as the years go on and likely consider the green area that’s been created from the flood buyout to be their new pastureland. I’ve warned people living in that area about the deer freely eating their flowers and vegetables. Free salad bars always seem to draw a crowd. We’re now getting too many squirrels downtown due to some people feeding them. One of these days I’m likely going to say something to an elderly lady who’s been delivering bread to an area where they come to feed. I wouldn’t have believed it unless I’d personally seen it when one day several weeks ago a client was getting ready to leave and while my front door was partially open, a squirrel came down the sidewalk and almost went hopping into my office. Thank goodness he noticed it and closed the door. A horrifying flashback to National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase and the scene where the squirrel got into their house. I’ve personally seen enough destruction caused by squirrels having been trapped in homes.
I must mention to everyone the reason many squirrels start causing damage with homes is that they have tree limbs and branches close enough to their rooflines to where they’re in jumping distance. As we all know, if a squirrel has easy access to a roof, they then have more free time to chew holes in the gutter lines, eaves, and overhangs. Keeping tree branches far enough away from the roof as well as cutting the lower branches off, creates more of a hardship for squirrels to get free and easy access to a home. Someone told me today that a home sold for a super steep discount due to squirrels having entered the attic and created a huge amount of damage below. I didn’t personally see it, but it must have been bad due to the price for which it sold. With that said. Please do keep your yards presentable to the public, raise your branches, and keep limbs at a distance.
