Monday, December 11, 2017

Wolf Serenade.

Sunday was a perfect day for putting up the Christmas lights, rain and warm weather stopped me from completing the task last week. Sunday however was the right moment, it was cold out but calm, no biting wind and to top it off, a gentle snow fall started in the evening. I started at dusk, I had some ideas that I wanted to try (none of which worked out) and as usual I unknowingly start to sing Christmas songs while doing it. Usually when taking them out of the boxes I am singing Oh Christmas tree but that gets old fast since I don't know the words. Once I start to get the first strings up, the soft lights on the fresh snow make me switch to something more spiritual, like Come all ye faithful or Joy to the world. .................................................. As darkness fell I was going up and down my ladder, happy in my little Christmas task, singing to myself when I realized I was picking up the sound of something else. I will remind you I live in the country, as in the real country. It was a wolf, I am not sure if he heard me or was watching me from a distance. He was doing a barking type howling, a little like when coyotes do that yapping howl only a lot more powerful. There was still some light out and the wolf was a good distance away so I didn't think about it much. All went quiet and I continued on forgetting about it. It got very dark out, pitch black because the clouds blocked any light. As I was getting closer to the end of my task, I heard something that made the caveman in me want to run up the ladder. In the darkness the wolf had crept much closer, he let loose with a full on mournful howl, the kind of blood chilling howl, that if I was watching a movie, a werewolf usually jumps out to attack the villagers. They are very clever like that, darkness and heavy fog make them braver. He was howling and alarm barking, clearly it was annoyed with me. Not the sound track for Christmas tree decorating that I wanted, it was close and I couldn't see a thing beyond the halo of the Christmas lights. I found it a little ironic because last night I was watching, "A Nightmare Before Christmas" and I thought this was a perfect way to set the mood for a movie like that. I was mostly finished with what I wanted to do so I decided to head in for the night. I am not sure how to feel, a little spooked or insulted, maybe it didn't like my bright lights invading the cover of darkness or worse, maybe his howling was a comment on my singing.

12 comments:

Vivian said...

Wow. That's an amazing story. I mean, putting up lights after dark is very brave, especially since ladder-climbing was involved. Maybe the wolf was there to remind you that it's dangerous to hang out on rooftops after sun set.

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Vivian, well Santa does it! It's all about roof tops with him. I am careful, I only use the ladder for a tall tree and position it to fall into the tree if something goes wrong lol. Night shows up any mistakes in placing lights. As for the wolf, they are always around but usually are much quieter this time of year. In the last six or seven years they have been getting much bolder, twice they have come into the yard during the day, so you can see why I would be uneasy during the night.

Vivian said...

WHAT??? You've seen wolves in your yard during the day and you never blogged about it?? YIKES! If I had wolves in my backyard I would be telling the world that I am the Wolf Whisperer and I'd be waving my Wolf Flag from dawn 'til dusk and I'd be dropping that tid bit of ultimate one-upmanship in every conversation:

Recently returned traveler: "I just got back from spending six months walking the Silk Road from Persia to Uzbekistan."

Me in your hypothetical place: "Yesterday I was watching the wolves in my backyard."

Recently returned traveler slinks away in shame.

Damn. WOLVES. In your backyard. You officially have a more interesting life than 90% of the world's population.



Anonymous said...

I guess you do live out in the country! I live out in the country too, and I have seen foxes, but never wolves. I have heard that there were bear sightings last week. I try and not think about it. But the wolves sound too close for comfort! I hope the decorations look good!
~Michael

Ur-spo said...

I too thought this a wow of a story.
We have coyotes but no wolves.

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Vivian, I guess it's a matter of a person's viewpoint. Someone from the city watching National Geographic would be thinking, "wow that must be a spiritual connection with nature to be blessed with the visit of our brother wolf" while a person in the country would be thinking " holy #!$/ there is a wolf in the yard get the g..... broom to gently shoo him away to return and frolic with the other forest creatures. No wolves were ever harmed in the making of this blog, it's unnerving to have a large predator standing in your yard. If you happen to look back in 2009 there is a photo of a bear in my yard. He was the most frightening, would just show up at anytime and not afraid of people. That's why the post seems hostile towards him if you happen to read it.

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Michael 54, I have to be careful if I have the smaller animals out but generally I see foxes as a beneficial animal, they pray heavily on mice. Since people started to regularly vaccinated their cats and dogs for rabies, the Fox population stays healthy for the most part. Most bears are harmless but you have to be very cautious, you don't want to meet the one that isn't harmless.

Sooo-this-is-me said...

We sometimes have coyotes now as well, they are really bold. We didn't have them when I was a kid but they made their way east. The big excitement now is some people think that eastern cougars are making a comeback, some people swear they saw one, so far no real evidence.

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Ugh spell check, prey heavily on mice, maybe the mice do pray when they see a fox coming! Just as annoying as Fox, it's fox stupid spell check just like Apple is supposed to be apple. Brand names shouldn't be in a dictionary.

Old Lurker said...

Your dating profile is getting better and better.

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Mr Lurker, lol shocking that I'm still single isn't it!

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Not sure why but I can't put pictures up anymore, some interesting tracks in the snow near my tree.