It is a cool and overcast Sunday. A lazy day off at the farm. Getting up late, I dive into the book, Garlic is Life. It is a wonderful story about a love affair with garlic and, leading also, to a love affair with life. In the earlier parts of the book gophers are not well received as they tend to savor garlic as much as the author. Having just left my sister in Tucson, AZ, she is currently also not finding the small rodents particularly endearing............. one in particular that seems to have had taken a fancy for her apparently sumptuous, bi-annual flowers for the past year. Here in the San Joaquin Valley gophers also, seem to be quite bountiful. This afternoon, I took a short break from reading and strolled around the yard to see what grows in this area. I noticed several unusual feathers on the ground but really didn't give them much thought. I found a gopher skull under a large, isolated palm tree, that looked like it had been delivered from an owl pellet; things begin to fall into place. All the white wash under the tree begin to pop out. The feathers didn't just happen to blow in, nor were they a by-product of molting. Many times, last night I heard an owl calling fairly close to my window. Ahhh, maybe there is some one that does truly have an affinity for gophers.
