There is a very large and very dead possum in my back yard. I guess I know why the neighbor’s dogs were in my yard yesterday before sunrise. They were not only stomping around in my garden and smashing my seedlings, they were killing one of my possums. Dammit! I might not have wanted possums living in my laundry room, but I didn’t want them dead! I had sort of started to like them!

How I missed it yesterday, I don’t know. I guess the two times I was out in the back yard, I was too busy keeping an eye on the very large dogs to notice the not-quite-so-large dead possum. Or maybe it wasn’t even there yesterday. I haven’t gotten close enough to it to determine the time of death. Small dead animals I have no problem scooping up and dealing with, but a possum is another thing altogether.

And now what to do with the corpse?! Animal control says they won’t come on my property to get it, but if I put it out at the curb (like we have curbs), they can come by and pick it up on Monday or Tuesday. Well, no. That won’t do at all. I would prefer not having a dead possum lying around decaying for three or four days, thank you very much.

Completely unacceptable.

I guess I’ll call Lin and see if he has any idea of what to do with it … like somewhere he can dump it where it won’t be a bother to anyone. If not, I guess it’ll either be burying it in the back yard or taking a drive out into the country and, well, dumping it on the side of the road somewhere. Of course, all these options will require one of us to actually pick the thing up somehow. I know, for a fact, Lin won’t want to do it (he’s a bit squeamish about these kinds of things), and like I said, a dead possum is a little larger than I am comfortable with handling. Maybe we’ll do a coin toss to see who has to actually get close to it and box it up.

If I was angry about the neighbor’s dogs jumping the fence before, I am really, really angry now. I should stomp over there when the boy gets home and ask him what he plans to do about the dead possum his dogs left rotting in my yard … and my dead plants.

And where the hell is the sunshine today?! I was promised sunshine, and it’s misting again. Misting and cold and there’s a dead possum a few feet from my back door. I think the words “miserable day” sums it up nicely.