Side benefit of commissioning beaver murals: Beaver GOSSIP! I learned two things yesterday from Mario that made me very happy indeed. The first was a story about when the mayor visited to see how it was coming along. Apparently after praising the artwork he asked him to emphasize the pipe and filter more because (and I’m paraphrasing)
“We want people to know that if they ever cause a problem again we have the tools to fix it!”
No, really. Be still my heart.
This overjoys me because I’ve always been secretly worried that we never obtained a formal promise to try and coexist with ALL beavers in Alhambra Creek. The unpublished permission slip could have been interpreted as just for those famous beavers once upon a time, and when new beavers returned the mayor would say we need to trap them – unless we mobilized a massive public response again, which would not be possible for beavers that are hard to see probably. But, silly silly me, I worried for nothing apparently, because the mayor is already planning what we can do if we need to control dam height.
I never thought I’d say this, but:
Yesterday Mario signed his mural and sealed the surface for posterity. We noticed a new brighter filter afterwards, which I wish wasn’t a square (because that’s a different design that usually fails), but okay let’s call it a hypothetical flow device, and leave it at that! At least we can point to it if anyone needs a reminder of what to do.
He also included his infamous little beaver tail on his signature. Which leads me to the other HILARIOUS piece of gossip I got yesterday. Apparently Dave Scola asked Mario what I had PAID HIM for that illicit beaver that had appeared in the other mural. You know, the one they made Mario paint over eventually. Apparently Dave could NOT believe it when Mario said he didn’t even know me then. And had added it all himself.
As if I had nothing better to do with my time and money than sit around bribing muralists and officials! As if beavers were important to no one else in Martinez but me! What a mischievous woman I am in Dave’s mind. That’s very useful to know. You know, not to be accused of shop talk, but it occurs to me there’s a psychological term for blaming someone for doing what you yourself regularly have done but never admit.
PROJECTION! (Or in layman’s terms, “He who smelt it, dealt it!”)
Our new little dam ain’t looking so ‘little’ anymore. Jon and I were down before 5 this morning to see our sneaky beavers. We saw lots of ripples as they paddled back and forth between their bank lodge and their breakfast, but they decided not to show us their furry faces. How Rude!
At least we were treated to some very amusing bird calls with the approaching dawn. Check out the vocal range of this very productive Mockingbird. Turn your sound up to enjoy. I hear sparrow, bush tit, scrub jay and car alarm. But that’s just for starters…
