An essential part of my routine is an early-morning run of 40-70 minutes almost every day. Last winter on such a run at about 0630 on McNell, not far from Reeves road, I noticed movement to my lower left and stopped to take a look. There appeared a tiny creature, about the size of a mouse, but with longer fur and a very short tail (a gerbil?). As I stood there trying to figure out what sort of creature this was, the little guy walked right up to me, stood about a foot from my toes, looked straight up, and seemed to be asking me to pick him up. We looked at each other for about 15-20 seconds before he turned and scampered away.

On another such morning a few days ago on Grand Avenue just west of the dip, a coyote crossed the road from left to right only 40 meters in front of me. This has happened often over the years so I thought little of it until, a few seconds later, a second coyote crossed at the same spot, now only 30 meters away and then, evenly spaced, a third just 20. In almost thirty years of running in the Ojai Valley I have seen hundreds of coyotes, but never three at the same time in such a well-ordered procession.

What a privilege and joy to live in a place where such events can occur.