Visiting the Ravens of Mt. Veeder

Yesterday I visited the ravens of Mt. Veeder where I used to live.  It was the first time that I had been to the property since we left, 1.5 years ago.  I just couldn't go before.  It was too sad.  But yesterday was great and the raven pair were there making lots of racket, just for me.  We had a great time, yelling back and forth at each other.  They probably wondered where the eggs were.  My good friend's property is contiguous with our former property, so from their vantage point I could see where I used to live.  It looked fine and well cared for which was such a relief.  When we sold our former home in Concord, the new owners trashed the place and I can't even go down that street anymore.  It is too sad to see what has happened to a property that used to be so lovely.  Any way- I was happy to see Bold and Shy and I think that they were happy to see me, even without the eggs.  Next time I will take eggs and put them in a special place along the road where they can retreive them.

THE CROW PAIR

Well what can I say- I have attracted a crow pair with my daily egg.  The stealth raven comes once in awhile but I never know when he will come and so I don't get to see him pick up the whole egg and fly off.  BUT- there is this one crow who seems to think that I am OK and now he has a buddy that comes with him.  Of course I don't know if they are male or female since all of them are all black, so I will say he for now.  I have been talking to this one crow for some time now.  He comes in the morning and crows from the top of the oak tree next door.  So when I hear him, I have been going out and putting some peanuts and an egg in the platform feeder.  He sees this food appear and now he knows from whence it comes.  Now there are 2 crows that come at about 7 AM each morning and sit on top of the arbor which is near the platform.  They look quite good sitting up there, very majestic.  So now it is me and two crows instead of two ravens.  Well they are cousins and seem just as smart and wily as ravens.  Maybe more so since crows seem to be almost universally disliked except by me, bird lovers, and goths.  So now I am putting food out in the evening so there is something there for them in the morning.  I cannot put out peanuts in the evening because their smaller cousins, the blue jays, will scarf them all up before the crows arrive.  So it goes in nature.  You never know who will be your friend, sort of like Facebook- who are those friends anyway who show up???  I can now make a project out of determining what crows really like to eat.  This will be fun.  When I had my raven pair that visited me up on Mt. Veeder, I discovered that I had very little waste food.  They liked things like chicken fat and left over cat food that I normally would throw away.  I say it is a form of recycling- feed the birds instead of the garbage can!  So onward with the crow pair with occasional visits from the stealth raven!

The Cottage on Mt. Veeder in RAVEN Territory

We finally got to go up to Mt. Veeder to look at the cottage that is near our former home and raven pair.  What a disappointment.  I was so disappointed.  This cottage is in very bad condition.  I can honestly say it had no redeeming features except for the location on Mt. Veeder and the very nice view of the hills.  This cottage sold for more than $550,000 in 2007.  The person who made this loan should be ashamed- it is scandalous actually. The persons involved in this sale, the realtors, the banks, the mortgage companies all made money on this deal but there is no value there.  Deals like this times many thousands of similar deals and I can certainly see why there is a real estate collapse right now.
The cottage is now a short sale.  The asking price is $299,000.  The person who owns it is way under water.  It is not worth $299,000, maybe $100,000.  Everything would have to be redone, the foundation is iffy, the floor slopes this way and that, there is junk everywhere,- needs a dumpster right now.  Anyhow I was BUMMED out by what I saw. I honestly was very upset by what I saw.  So that is the end of that dream.  It would take so much energy and money to try and get that place in some kind of order that it would not be worth it.  Good luck to someone with lots of time, money and energy.
This week we were up in Mendocino to take in the Pacific Ocean.  The weather was nice but the best part was all the RAVENS!  There were ravens everywhere, flying here and there and doing acrobatics in the air.  I had a great time watching them.  They were floating over the ocean on the thermals.  It was great to see.  I had a conversation with a few ravens who were sitting on water tower perches.  They clicked and clacked back at me.  Always fun and a joy.  The economy has hit Mendocino ( or Spendocino as it was known in the good old high rolling money days).  Alot of the cute stores were closed up for good.  Too bad.  The cute needlework shop was gone.  Ah well- RAVENS are better than stores any day!