Up to Something

Frankie is up to something.

I was spending one of my rare hours doing yard work....weather being just perfect for me:  not hot and not cold.  Very little yard work gets done in the summer when it's screaming hot.  I hibernate.  No yard work gets done in the winter cause there is no yard work. 

Spring and fall is all the time I willingly do things like clean out a flower bed, plant, trim, clear branches, cut vines...yard work.  Today I got to do yard work.  The chosen spot is the fence by the driveway next to Frankie's yard.  Bucket of tools in hand, I start cleaning up the area. 

Somewhere between chopping vines and pulling weeds, Frankie shows up at the fence to check out what's going on.  Even though he is shorter than the visual barrier on the chain link fence, I can't miss the pacing suclata walking back and forth, back and forth:  "What's ya doing?  Can I help?  Is there food over there?" 

I ignore Frankie mostly but occasionally toss the edible weed over the fence for him to eat. 

Then I hear, "Crunch, snap, rip!"  I look over in time to see Frankie at the gate tearing down the "visual barrier" that keeps him from seeing on the other side of the chain link fence. 

"Frankie! Stop that!"  Protest all you want, Frankie understands English.

"This must be taken down." He's obviously made up his mind about that. 

Fine.  I'll open the gate so he can graze on the "greener grass" area that I am working by. 

Zip!  Frankie makes a bee-line for the driveway.  His intentions are clear:  he wants a walk. 

"No way!" I say as I race to grab the fleeing boulder.  I stop him at the end of the grass and turn him back toward the gate.  To my surprise, he heads right back to his yard.

He is up to something.

I've done enough outside so I clean up and head inside.  I wash up then pour myself a cool glass of water and sit with the cat to read some e-mails.

Clunk.         Clunk.             Clunk. 

Cat is staring at a mysterious metal pole that is swinging to and fro in front of the second story window where we are sitting.  I sit up to see more of the pole.

Frankie has learned to use tools.  He has the pole slightly stuck under the chain link fence and ramming it whereby it is leveraging the bottom of the fence up to make an escape hole. 

Ah ha!  That is what he was up to earlier!  He is slowly pushing the only part of chain link that is not cemented into the ground.  The rest of the chain link is cemented one foot into the ground so Frankie can't push through it (sulcata are famous for pushing through chain link fences). 

"Frankie!"

I rush to save the fence. 

New "visual barriers" are arranged along this vulnerable area.  Frankie is on to me.  He starts putting down The Frankie Yard Rules to the new black barriers by ramming them into submission.  They hold up.  

The pole is not so lucky:  it's all twisty from Frankie work.

Back inside I go to write about Frankie's latest yard de-construction project.  I have the back windows open.  No way is Frankie finished.  He has four hours before it's his bedtime. 

It's really quiet out there.

Frankie is up to something.