Of Flora and Fauna

I want to build a little background for this post. It's educational after all, and that is what I do. So, I am going to build some background about where I live.

On the one hand, I would classify my location is urban. It's a ten minute drive to three professional sports arenas. There are three Starbucks within a mile of my house. We don't have any one lane roads. In fact, the four lane road just outside my neighborhood is always packed with traffic, to the point that you can't make a left out of this neighborhood.

On the other hand, I have lived in a really urban setting before and this is different. I don't hear sirens or people yelling outside my window at night. People mostly drive, not walk or take subways to where they are going. Everywhere has parking lots. In that regard, I guess this area is more suburban.

All this to say that I live in a house, actually a duplex, in a rather populated area. We're not surrounded by nature. We're surrounded by concrete and stores and other houses.

I will also say that our house is surrounded by a jungle. We live in the desert, but for some reason we have a banana tree and vines growing up the outside of our house and rose bushes and citrus trees. You might be thinking, "Wow, Ms. Understood, you must have a large yard." No, no I don't; we have a lot of plants in a tiny space. You can imagine that the "urban wildlife" love the oasis of our yard. Now, if you've ever lived somewhere at all urban, you know that urban wildlife is not at all desirable. It is rodents and insects and neighboring pets.

Generally, I try to avoid the flora that is all around the outside of the house. Generally, I try to avoid any fauna that finds its way inside. Over break, however, our duplex mates decided to remove the stone tile in the entry way and kitchen of their home with jack hammers. They gave us ear plugs as a consolation prize. I left them sitting on the counter and they vibrated to the floor as a result of the jackhammering.



All this work has also stirred up the wildlife. I haven't seen a roach in our house for over a year. This week I have found one every day. I sprayed everything with Raid today, but I think the jackhammering is stirring everything up.

I tried to pacify myself with some arranging of fake flowers, the kind bugs do not like. I like the decoration, but it does not compensate for the jackhammering.