Welcome to Maverick’s World
Life on the Edge of Society
There are some things you should know before you visit our house.
First… our scary biker gangs are wild turkeys.
They travel in packs, strutting confidently down the middle of the road as if they own the place. To be fair… they probably did long before we arrived.
There’s one, though, who refuses to conform.
She prefers a solo life and has developed a habit of strolling across people’s rooftops. Nobody really knows why. We’ve stopped asking questions.
As dusk falls, our neighborhood changes.
The daytime belongs to people.
The night belongs to everyone else.
Right now, as I’m writing this, two large owls are calling to one another somewhere high in the eucalyptus trees across the park. They answer each other from opposite sides of the darkness before gliding silently from tree to tree.
I’m still trying to work out exactly who they are.
The crickets have been playing for hours.
The frogs have joined in.
Somewhere in the distance, Station 5’s siren has just sounded. Like clockwork, it prompts our local coyote pack to announce themselves to the world.
It’s become our neighborhood’s nightly chorus.
Earlier this evening, six fledgling birds decided our California room was the perfect place to practice flying.
There were feathers everywhere.
Concerned parents.
Confused babies.
And me standing there asking,
“What on earth is going on?”
Maverick looked at me as though I was the strange one.
“Mum… this is perfectly normal.”
To him, it probably is.
He lives with screaming owls, argumentative birds, umbrella bats, the occasional raccoon, skunks that politely remind us every few weeks that they’re still around, and a neighborhood bobcat who, despite popular opinion, is definitely not called Bob.
Then there’s Harry.
Harry is our resident otter.
Harry has recently discovered that ornamental fish ponds are an all-you-can-eat buffet.
He remains at large.
And just as I thought tonight’s entertainment was complete…
the bats arrived.
They swooped overhead, beginning their evening shift catching insects and reminding me that tomorrow morning I’d better check inside the patio umbrellas before opening them.
Yes… we’ve found sleeping bats tucked inside before.
Welcome to our little corner of Northern California.
Life here is never quiet.
It’s wonderfully, gloriously wild.
And according to Maverick…
it’s all perfectly normal.
🐾 From the Chief Barketing Officer
Mum says we live on the edge of society.
Personally, I think everyone is making a fuss about nothing.
The owls scream every night.
The bats always work evenings.
Harry is still a menace.
The turkey will probably be back tomorrow.
I slept through most of it.
— Maverick