I had an excess of mental activity as bedtime rolled around last night, and with that, an expectation of fragmented sleep. I could attribute it to a handful of influences - the extended hike, an aggressive afternoon workout, diving further into the puzzle-solving Escher drawing that is optimizing automation sub-routines, or the late-night realization that my thermostat swap was the reason no heat was emanating from the bathroom vent as I stood naked by the open shower door. 20 minutes of support site searches, settings changes, now-routine-expletive-filled-arguments with AI and repeated strides to and from the garage sans clothing, I managed to, hopefully, resolve the issue. All seems to work now, but I know better than to assume so without a full regression test of both heat and A/C. Well before summer, too, given projections for the hottest year on record. I guess my weight loss has reduced my modesty. I woke past midnight to the oddest sound. It sounded like a scream at first. And it seemed so close. I assumed it was an animal based on the recurring, consistent "cry" it was emitting. Perhaps a large bird. It slowly faded away, and my attempt to use the "Merlin" app to identify it failed. An hour or two later, the sound returned, and it seemed to be coming from the tree in our backyard. I grabbed a flashlight and stepped outside to scan about. As I moved the light, a brief dual reflection returned from the eyes of a cat sitting on the fence. "Great," I thought. "Now whatever it is has attracted a predator". Things were still for about a minute before the cat turned in the other direction, raised its head, and emitted that sound! The flashlight wasn't super bright, but at that point, I assumed it wasn't a cat but a baby coyote. He walked behind the tree branches and out of sight before emerging to the right and into plain view. It was adorable, whatever it was, as it repeated that cry once more and then continued out of sight. Its bushy tail changed my conclusion. It was not a coyote, it was a fox! We live near a hillside open space, so wildlife is not uncommon. It made me sad, though, to consider it may be lost and at risk of being hit or having to "rough it" away from its "den " (or herd, gaggle, whatever it is). The night was certainly restless, so I ended up rising a bit later than usual. I had a few goals to accomplish: Pull wine from under the house. Clean thegarage. Test the heater and AC after last night's fiasco. The heater kicked on as scheduled. I'll test the AC another day. I pulled the wine from the crawlspace. 8 bottles for now, as some reorganization is needed. I don't drink, but others do. The garage effort was the big rock and took a chunk of the day. All that really got done is to have restructured where Tommy's stuff goes, but that too was a blocker for getting to the next steps: selling or donating several boxes of legacy stuff that's not in use, and not wanted. Why hold onto it any longer? I got through most of the remaining items that were left behind by Linda's sisters-a few items may be worth trying to sell, but most will be donated to the Cancer Society tomorrow. Next up, my stuff. much less volume, and honestly, less attachment. Suddenly, as the day winds down, what do I hear? The fox out front. He was directly across the street. I went out and got a great look at him as he walked across their driveway and into the back. After a bit of research, I learned that the noise is actually a mating call, and this is their mating season. Shortly after, there was a burst of activity again, and the fox sprinted across the fence line in pursuit of something ahead of him. It all happened so quickly, it was hard to tell. But I am anticipating he may return.