You never know what will show up in my ‘hood. Sometimes what happens is magical.  Lately, it was a sign with a big black question mark perched on a rock at the corner of Arroyo and Canyon Acres. That was two months ago. And then it disappeared.

And then two weeks ago, the Lorax appeared on a tree stump not far from the first sign, a cheery two-foot tall greeter that faced Canyon Acres and  drivers entering Arroyo, his unsightly pole and duct-taped back invisible until you passed him.

On Saturday, two alpacas showed up in a make-shift pen on Chris’s vacant lot where he’s building a straw bale house. I was on my way to Susan’s for our Ladies of Arroyo potluck, when I learned that he’d taken in the two alpacas from a guy who had hoped to raise twelve of the animals for their valuable fleece, but it hadn’t worked out. Chris is always taking in animals other people don’t want—he’s that kind of guy. Luckily he’d found homes for these two at the Annaliese School up the canyon.

I made a detour and took these two shots. I don’t know if you can tell, but the brown one has a serious under-bite, very cute. Actually the expressions on their faces, so soft and sweet and vulnerable, melted my heart. Tearing myself away, I headed back toward the road and stopped. Instead of facing Canyon Acres like he was before, the Lorax now faced me and the alpacas. I swear. He obviously had to see what all the fuss was about. I took the photo below from my house the day the Lorax appeared on his stump. Proof that he’d shifted around to see the alpacas.