Behind the Scenes of Paradise

      Paradise is living at the foot of a 500 foot cliff, hemmed in by a rambunctious creek on one side and luscious rolling hills on the other.
      Paradise is just enough 'wild' to expect a black bear in the bird feeder or the potential scramble from the path of a monster moose that has just given birth, and yet with a grocery store just ten miles down the road.
      Paradise is serene most of the time, but has seen its share of earthquakes and forest fires.  It also hides a horrible mystery in the depths of a lovely, tranquil pond guarded by an abandoned apple orchard.  This stately old pond once witnessed the violent murder of an entire family of newly-hatched baby ducks, picked off one by one as they swam behind their trusting parents.  The grotesque bull frogs that live here will never tell.
      A cliff in the backyard means that the possibility of developement is fairly slim.  Although with rising gas prices, a Wal-Mart close at hand is not a bad idea.  It would require a ski lift, however, to travel from isle "A" to isle "G".  And heaven help the shopper with butter fingers.  Pity to poor soul wiped out by a 20 pound sack of flour from 300 feet.  Neighborly relationships could be tested, not to mention the volume of lawsuits.  Let's axe that idea.
      Paradise welcomes the Candian geese, blue herons, quail, wild turkeys, black bear, salmon, moose, mobs of deer and elk, and yes, the wolves.  But, so far, the wolves have been reasonable as long as my dog and I keep our distance from the pack's 'dead thing'.  And since my little dog is a collector and connoisseur of 'dead things', we've had two encounters that could be described as stressful.  Moral of this story:  Little fat dogs who raid the wolves lunch box end up inside between the slices of bread.
      Paradise has also seen frequent power outages due to an antiquated power system.  It's easy to make lemon ade from lemons here in paradise.  Nothing is more welcome than being forced to spend the entire afternoon with a good book sitting in the shade of the cherry trees 'because you have to.'
      Paradise comes with a small black horse, a Border collie, and outdoor cat (the mouser), and two indoor cats (declawed).  But the indoor cats are transitioning to an outdoor lifestyle because, in middle age, I have developed an alergy to cats.  So Spiffy, the male indoor cat, is hiding under the bed today.  It is pouring down rain outside and Spiffy hates the rain. (He still has enough claws to get a solid grip on the underside of the bed.)  It will take a high-powered suction to remove him.
      There is trouble brewing in Paradise.......