Critter update: There's been another duck population thinning at the pond and I'm not thrilled about it. Although I'm happy enough that there are fewer ducks to poop on the sidewalks, five babies have been left motherless. They're not real young and they stick together, but I'm sad whenever I see them.

And in the last few weekly updates we receive by email from the clubhouse, we've been warned not to put our garbage out the night before pickup unless it is in cans because coyotes are getting into the bags and tearing them up. It happened on my street several times and it was obvious it was something bigger than bunnies. They also advised not to let small pets out alone at night. And we were also alerted to the fact that a four to five foot alligator has been spotted in the bayou, which runs alongside our neighborhood. Yikes!