From the Daily Show:
"...a word to the Almighty... What part of 'GOD BLESS AMERICA' don't you get?"
John Stewart
Friday, September 23, 2005
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Computer Lessons
Addison has become quite the computer expert. He can type his "pasthword" into his "knee-mail." He is quite proficient at using the mouse and knows how to turn the computer on and log himself in on the accounts that don't require passwords (a skill I didn't know he picked up until I found him typing away by himself one afternoon). The other night, Jason was on the laptop and said to me "now how do I get on the internet with this?" About that time, a little tousled head popped up beside the table and a tiny, chubby hand pointed to the screen. "Daddy you just have to click the blue e!!" Jason almost fell out of his chair.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
The Search for Snowball is On!
OK, so apparently I wasn't the only one in the world who went home and cried about this one... what follows is the latest on snowball.
Tuesday September 6, 3:11 PM
Sad Story of Boy and His Dog Grips Nation
Among the thousands of crushing moments from last week's deadly hurricane, one image brought the anguish home to many: a tearful little boy torn from his dog while being shuttled to safety.
It tugged at the heartstrings, prompting an outpouring from around the country of people on the hunt for both the boy and his dog Snowball in hopes of a reunion.
They've been scouring shelters, posting notes on the Internet and making phone calls to track them down. One woman set up a Web site to help people pair up pets with their owners. Another set up a reward to encourage someone to come forward with information on Snowball's or the boy's whereabouts.
"Everyone wants to know about Snowball," said Laura Maloney, executive director of the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
The boy was among the thousands who ended up sheltered at the Superdome after the hurricane. But when he went to board a bus to be evacuated to Houston, a police officer took the dog away. The boy cried out _ "Snowball! Snowball!" _ then vomited in distress. Authorities say they don't know where the boy or his family ended up.
It was almost too much for Jean Jones to bear.
The 56-year-old woman from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., runs puppymillrescue.com and launched another site, katrinafoundpets.com, to help pair Snowball and other lost pets with their owners. She also started a reward fund _ which hit $1,775 as of Monday _ hoping money might persuade people to help out.
Billie Sue Bruce, a 65-year-old retired teacher in Jonesville, Va., was the first to donate, giving $500. "The child has been through so much already," she said. "Then to just add to this emotional state is unforgivable."
Late Monday, there was a ray of hope. The United Animal Nations said Snowball was safe, citing news from the state veterinarian's office. However, the information could not be immediately verified. To complicate matters further, the group called Snowball a terrier mix, while others consider the dog a bichon frise.
If the boy and his dog are indeed safe, they have beaten long odds.
Many of the animals _ dogs, cats, ferrets and birds _ that police collected at the Superdome were herded into a stairwell until the human evacuation was complete. Of the 50 animals rescued from the Superdome on Sunday, not all of them survived.
In Texas, refugees unable to care for their dogs and cats are handing them over to animal shelters already crowded with animals evacuated before the hurricane.
At the Humane Society of North Texas in Fort Worth on Monday, Antoinette Simmons and Wilson Clark dropped off their 7-year-old shi tzu. Staying in a Fort Worth hotel, the couple is unsure when they will be able to take Princess back home.
More than 600 displaced pets remain in Houston. Hundreds more fill kennels and cages in Dallas and around the state. Shelters try to arrange foster homes for pets, and many families have volunteered.
"I've been doing this type of work for 26 years and I've never seen this type of outpouring," said SPCA of Texas president James Bias, who shuttled 30 cats in his van from Houston to Dallas last week.
In Mississippi, many pets were either left to fend for themselves in the powerful winds or trapped in flooding cages as owners fled. Others survived, only to die after days without food and water.
Seventeen dogs and six cats died at the Humane Society of South Mississippi shelter in Gulfport. About 125 survived, many of them dog-paddling for hours until the mix of mud and sewage receded.
The national Humane Society chapter came in Friday and retrieved the survivors, trucking them to shelters further north, said Julie Parks, the assistant director of the Gulfport facility.
"We had dogs that swam the entire time in 4 feet of water and survived," said Parks. "Even cats were in about 8 to 9 inches of water in the upper cages and they swam and survived, too. Just like everybody else, they're survivors."
Reuniting Snowball and his owner will require work, patience and luck.
Volunteers planned to make visits to shelters in the Houston area looking for the dog's owners. They were considering walking around carrying signs with Snowball's photo.
"I don't know how hopeful I am," Jones said. "They probably don't know anything about this _ that there's a reward out there and we're trying to look for them."
____
Associated Press writers Paul J. Weber in Dallas and Brian Skoloff in Waveland, Miss., contributed to this report.
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/050906/ap/d8cek2ag0.html
Tuesday September 6, 3:11 PM
Sad Story of Boy and His Dog Grips Nation
Among the thousands of crushing moments from last week's deadly hurricane, one image brought the anguish home to many: a tearful little boy torn from his dog while being shuttled to safety.
It tugged at the heartstrings, prompting an outpouring from around the country of people on the hunt for both the boy and his dog Snowball in hopes of a reunion.
They've been scouring shelters, posting notes on the Internet and making phone calls to track them down. One woman set up a Web site to help people pair up pets with their owners. Another set up a reward to encourage someone to come forward with information on Snowball's or the boy's whereabouts.
"Everyone wants to know about Snowball," said Laura Maloney, executive director of the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
The boy was among the thousands who ended up sheltered at the Superdome after the hurricane. But when he went to board a bus to be evacuated to Houston, a police officer took the dog away. The boy cried out _ "Snowball! Snowball!" _ then vomited in distress. Authorities say they don't know where the boy or his family ended up.
It was almost too much for Jean Jones to bear.
The 56-year-old woman from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., runs puppymillrescue.com and launched another site, katrinafoundpets.com, to help pair Snowball and other lost pets with their owners. She also started a reward fund _ which hit $1,775 as of Monday _ hoping money might persuade people to help out.
Billie Sue Bruce, a 65-year-old retired teacher in Jonesville, Va., was the first to donate, giving $500. "The child has been through so much already," she said. "Then to just add to this emotional state is unforgivable."
Late Monday, there was a ray of hope. The United Animal Nations said Snowball was safe, citing news from the state veterinarian's office. However, the information could not be immediately verified. To complicate matters further, the group called Snowball a terrier mix, while others consider the dog a bichon frise.
If the boy and his dog are indeed safe, they have beaten long odds.
Many of the animals _ dogs, cats, ferrets and birds _ that police collected at the Superdome were herded into a stairwell until the human evacuation was complete. Of the 50 animals rescued from the Superdome on Sunday, not all of them survived.
In Texas, refugees unable to care for their dogs and cats are handing them over to animal shelters already crowded with animals evacuated before the hurricane.
At the Humane Society of North Texas in Fort Worth on Monday, Antoinette Simmons and Wilson Clark dropped off their 7-year-old shi tzu. Staying in a Fort Worth hotel, the couple is unsure when they will be able to take Princess back home.
More than 600 displaced pets remain in Houston. Hundreds more fill kennels and cages in Dallas and around the state. Shelters try to arrange foster homes for pets, and many families have volunteered.
"I've been doing this type of work for 26 years and I've never seen this type of outpouring," said SPCA of Texas president James Bias, who shuttled 30 cats in his van from Houston to Dallas last week.
In Mississippi, many pets were either left to fend for themselves in the powerful winds or trapped in flooding cages as owners fled. Others survived, only to die after days without food and water.
Seventeen dogs and six cats died at the Humane Society of South Mississippi shelter in Gulfport. About 125 survived, many of them dog-paddling for hours until the mix of mud and sewage receded.
The national Humane Society chapter came in Friday and retrieved the survivors, trucking them to shelters further north, said Julie Parks, the assistant director of the Gulfport facility.
"We had dogs that swam the entire time in 4 feet of water and survived," said Parks. "Even cats were in about 8 to 9 inches of water in the upper cages and they swam and survived, too. Just like everybody else, they're survivors."
Reuniting Snowball and his owner will require work, patience and luck.
Volunteers planned to make visits to shelters in the Houston area looking for the dog's owners. They were considering walking around carrying signs with Snowball's photo.
"I don't know how hopeful I am," Jones said. "They probably don't know anything about this _ that there's a reward out there and we're trying to look for them."
____
Associated Press writers Paul J. Weber in Dallas and Brian Skoloff in Waveland, Miss., contributed to this report.
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/050906/ap/d8cek2ag0.html
Friday, September 02, 2005
The mental image of this little boy has haunted me all day.
At the front of the line, the weary refugees waded through ankle-deep water, grabbed a bottle of water from state troopers and happily hopped on buses that would deliver them from the horrendous conditions of the Superdome.
At the back end of the line, people jammed against police barricades in the rain. Refugees passed out and had to be lifted hand-over-hand overhead to medics. Pets were not allowed on the bus, and when a police officer confiscated a little boy's dog, the child cried until he vomited. "Snowball, snowball," he cried.
Please give to the Red Cross if you can. I found out today that many coinstar machines are also set up to receive donations. Even if it's only the change you scrape up from your dresser or the floor of your car, please give what you can. Here is a link where you can find more information on donating change.
http://www.redcross.org/donate/donatechange.html
Blessings.
Erika
At the back end of the line, people jammed against police barricades in the rain. Refugees passed out and had to be lifted hand-over-hand overhead to medics. Pets were not allowed on the bus, and when a police officer confiscated a little boy's dog, the child cried until he vomited. "Snowball, snowball," he cried.
Please give to the Red Cross if you can. I found out today that many coinstar machines are also set up to receive donations. Even if it's only the change you scrape up from your dresser or the floor of your car, please give what you can. Here is a link where you can find more information on donating change.
http://www.redcross.org/donate/donatechange.html
Blessings.
Erika
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Monday, August 08, 2005
The Moose is Loose
We've just returned from our vacation in the Belgrade Lakes area of Maine. I don't have my pictures developed yet, but I'll post them as soon as I do. (I didn't bring the digital camera - duh!!)
We drove up in the middle of the night and got off to a rather comical start. We left about 9 pm, and drove off the cats scowling at us as if to say, "what the f*** are these people doing, packing up their car and driving in the middle of the night?" They probably think we're wandering off because we're in heat or something and wonder why it necessitates packing a vehicle instead of just wandering off to service the barn cats up the road. The trip started out uneventfully, until we stopped in Southern Conneticut and left the map and the directions on the roof of the car and did not realize it until we were well down the road. Shortly after that, Jason commented on what great gas mileage we were getting. I said, "well, we're certainly unencumbered by any maps!" We also discovered that the car was a bit small for such a trip. It's a SAAB "sports wagon" and the wagon end of it is just about big enough to pack 2 blankets and a pair of underwear... and Jason commented that they better be thong underwear because there's certainly not enough room for a "full assed" pair. Thus, the great gas mileage. Of course, it didn't help that Jeffrey had to bring a tackle box the size of a tractor-trailer, either.
The fishing was pretty good, though. Jason, Jeffrey and Gary caught several large bass and some perch. Jeffrey in particular had some small-mouth bass that were over a foot long (again, I will post pictures as soon as I get them). We also saw a family of Osprey, and watched one of the parents dive head-long into the lake after a fish while the babies waited in the nest and squawked excitedly. Kathy and I were treated to the sight of bald eagles circling the shore opposite our cabin.
On Wednesday, we drove up to the summit of Mount Washington, which was incredible. Jason got to put his feet on the Appalachian Trail there. I was hoping to see a moose on the trip to Mt. Washington, since we had to go all the way to New Hampshire, but I didn't have a bit of luck. By the end of the trip I was complaining about not seeing a moose and wondering if they really do exist because it was starting to feel like I was looking for sasquatch or the Loch-Ness monster. This was my third trip to Maine without seeing a moose. Jason bought me a moose shirt and Gary & Kathy bought me a moose-watcher's handbook as a toungue-in-cheek gag gift. We even got on the internet and listened to his moose calls. Gary and I decided that you could get about the same effect by taking some laxatives and sitting with your ass on the toilet at about a 30-degree angle. By Saturday night, I had totally lost hope. Jason woke up Friday night and thought he saw a moose in the lake, which turned out to be weeds. Luckily, he didn't wake me up for that.
Sunday morning, it was time to leave and Jason was up at about 5:30. At 5:45, he came running into the bedroom saying he swore to God there was a moose in the lake. I thought, if this is just a ploy to get me out of bed, I am going to have to pound him into the ground. We grabbed some binoculars and ran outside. I stood on the dock, barefoot and in my pajamas looking at something that looked like a bird moving across the water and I thought, if he woke me up for a f***king duck, I may have to drown him. I peered through the binoculars and sure enough, there were two big floppy moose ears sticking out of the water. That's all I could see, but it was definitely a moose. The deer are very red this time of year, so it wasn't a deer, it definitely wasn't a dog, and it swam all the way across the lake - about 1/2 a mile in approximately 10 minutes. Jason explained that he never heard it slip into the water. He was trying to get a few minutes of fishing in when he realized there was something in the water by our neighbors' dock. He wondered if it was their dog, but there was no splashing when it swam, and the way it moved quickly towards the middle of the lake with its head almost completely submerged told him it was an animal that spent a lot of time in the water. It couldn't be anything but a moose. After 3 trips to Maine and a lot of driving around looking for moose, one walks right into our camp. Unbelievable. We also found what we think were moose tracks in the road in front of our cabin. I still cannot believe it, but I am so happy we saw it.
Addison had a great time, too. He was such a water-baby. He saw Jeff get in the water the first day, and my Aunt Kathy said the next thing she saw was Addison with one arm out of his t-shirt. Pretty soon, he had stripped naked and was in the water. We talked him into putting his underwear back on while we found his swim trunks that weren't unpacked yet. He also put together a collection of "treasures" over the span of a week. The collection included stones, a crayfish shell, snail shells, and some other odds and ends. It nearly included some live clams, but I explained that we would kill them if we kept them out of the water. He relunctantly returned them to the lake. Every stone, flower, shell and bug was a source of delight for him. Where along the line do we lose that? I'd tell him to look for moose and each time, he'd say "NO MOOSE MOMMY, I TOLD YOU THEY ONLY COME OUT AT NIGHT!!"
In a few hours, I will return to work, but in spirit, I am still in Maine with the elusive moose. Blessings,
Erika
We drove up in the middle of the night and got off to a rather comical start. We left about 9 pm, and drove off the cats scowling at us as if to say, "what the f*** are these people doing, packing up their car and driving in the middle of the night?" They probably think we're wandering off because we're in heat or something and wonder why it necessitates packing a vehicle instead of just wandering off to service the barn cats up the road. The trip started out uneventfully, until we stopped in Southern Conneticut and left the map and the directions on the roof of the car and did not realize it until we were well down the road. Shortly after that, Jason commented on what great gas mileage we were getting. I said, "well, we're certainly unencumbered by any maps!" We also discovered that the car was a bit small for such a trip. It's a SAAB "sports wagon" and the wagon end of it is just about big enough to pack 2 blankets and a pair of underwear... and Jason commented that they better be thong underwear because there's certainly not enough room for a "full assed" pair. Thus, the great gas mileage. Of course, it didn't help that Jeffrey had to bring a tackle box the size of a tractor-trailer, either.
The fishing was pretty good, though. Jason, Jeffrey and Gary caught several large bass and some perch. Jeffrey in particular had some small-mouth bass that were over a foot long (again, I will post pictures as soon as I get them). We also saw a family of Osprey, and watched one of the parents dive head-long into the lake after a fish while the babies waited in the nest and squawked excitedly. Kathy and I were treated to the sight of bald eagles circling the shore opposite our cabin.
On Wednesday, we drove up to the summit of Mount Washington, which was incredible. Jason got to put his feet on the Appalachian Trail there. I was hoping to see a moose on the trip to Mt. Washington, since we had to go all the way to New Hampshire, but I didn't have a bit of luck. By the end of the trip I was complaining about not seeing a moose and wondering if they really do exist because it was starting to feel like I was looking for sasquatch or the Loch-Ness monster. This was my third trip to Maine without seeing a moose. Jason bought me a moose shirt and Gary & Kathy bought me a moose-watcher's handbook as a toungue-in-cheek gag gift. We even got on the internet and listened to his moose calls. Gary and I decided that you could get about the same effect by taking some laxatives and sitting with your ass on the toilet at about a 30-degree angle. By Saturday night, I had totally lost hope. Jason woke up Friday night and thought he saw a moose in the lake, which turned out to be weeds. Luckily, he didn't wake me up for that.
Sunday morning, it was time to leave and Jason was up at about 5:30. At 5:45, he came running into the bedroom saying he swore to God there was a moose in the lake. I thought, if this is just a ploy to get me out of bed, I am going to have to pound him into the ground. We grabbed some binoculars and ran outside. I stood on the dock, barefoot and in my pajamas looking at something that looked like a bird moving across the water and I thought, if he woke me up for a f***king duck, I may have to drown him. I peered through the binoculars and sure enough, there were two big floppy moose ears sticking out of the water. That's all I could see, but it was definitely a moose. The deer are very red this time of year, so it wasn't a deer, it definitely wasn't a dog, and it swam all the way across the lake - about 1/2 a mile in approximately 10 minutes. Jason explained that he never heard it slip into the water. He was trying to get a few minutes of fishing in when he realized there was something in the water by our neighbors' dock. He wondered if it was their dog, but there was no splashing when it swam, and the way it moved quickly towards the middle of the lake with its head almost completely submerged told him it was an animal that spent a lot of time in the water. It couldn't be anything but a moose. After 3 trips to Maine and a lot of driving around looking for moose, one walks right into our camp. Unbelievable. We also found what we think were moose tracks in the road in front of our cabin. I still cannot believe it, but I am so happy we saw it.
Addison had a great time, too. He was such a water-baby. He saw Jeff get in the water the first day, and my Aunt Kathy said the next thing she saw was Addison with one arm out of his t-shirt. Pretty soon, he had stripped naked and was in the water. We talked him into putting his underwear back on while we found his swim trunks that weren't unpacked yet. He also put together a collection of "treasures" over the span of a week. The collection included stones, a crayfish shell, snail shells, and some other odds and ends. It nearly included some live clams, but I explained that we would kill them if we kept them out of the water. He relunctantly returned them to the lake. Every stone, flower, shell and bug was a source of delight for him. Where along the line do we lose that? I'd tell him to look for moose and each time, he'd say "NO MOOSE MOMMY, I TOLD YOU THEY ONLY COME OUT AT NIGHT!!"
In a few hours, I will return to work, but in spirit, I am still in Maine with the elusive moose. Blessings,
Erika
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Under the Stars
Look folks, no wires! Ha ha!! Tonight Jeffrey and I sucessfully set up a wireless network. It was Jeffrey's birthday today, and I recently bought a laptop because I got a good deal on it through the employee purchase plan that my company has with Dell. Jeffrey's been wanting internet connectivity for the computer in his room, so I told him we'd get him a wireless card and router for his birthday. We went to Circuit City and I thought the boy was going to explode, he was so excited. We got the first two computers hooked up with no problem. His computer, however, was a challenge. After about an hour on the phone with tech support, we realized that the security settings that I used wouldn't work with the card we bought for him, so I reset them and voila! We were up and surfing the net. Luckily, the laptop was easier to reconfigure. The first thing we did on the laptop was to let Addison play a game on PBS kids. He likes the one with Sagwa, where you click on the fish in the pond. I decided that the next thing I would do would be to post to the blog. I thought since my very first post was about pooping, it would be most appropriate to do it in the bathroom. Relax, though, it's such a beautiful night that I changed my mind and I'm actually out on the deck with absolutely no wires and a "very good" internet signal. Amazing, isn't it?
I remember taking computer classes in Elementary school when you still programmed on punch cards on a computer the size of our living room. Now I have this tiny computer with no wires out on my deck in the middle of the night- and I can write this for people all over the country. I am sitting here with the cicadas and the stars and the faint white glow of the screen. Wow. It's amazing. How lucky am I? I wonder what Addison will have to work with when he is my age.
Tonight I just wanted to mention that I am thinking especially about Travis with his broken jaw, Nicole in Iraq, Heather going off to Germany, Sugar (the dog with neurological issues) and all of the family that is spread out all over the damned countryside and beyond. What an amazing and brief adventure life is. I hope this posting finds you all healthy and happy. Blessings,
Erika
I remember taking computer classes in Elementary school when you still programmed on punch cards on a computer the size of our living room. Now I have this tiny computer with no wires out on my deck in the middle of the night- and I can write this for people all over the country. I am sitting here with the cicadas and the stars and the faint white glow of the screen. Wow. It's amazing. How lucky am I? I wonder what Addison will have to work with when he is my age.
Tonight I just wanted to mention that I am thinking especially about Travis with his broken jaw, Nicole in Iraq, Heather going off to Germany, Sugar (the dog with neurological issues) and all of the family that is spread out all over the damned countryside and beyond. What an amazing and brief adventure life is. I hope this posting finds you all healthy and happy. Blessings,
Erika
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
The Great Butterfly Hunt
Below are some pictures of the house, some flowers and Saturday morning's impromptu butterfly hunt. I woke up and realized there were butterflies everywhere, so the kids and I went out to take some pictures. You can click on them and get a larger image. Enjoy!
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Follow Your Bliss
BILL MOYERS: Do you ever have the sense of... being helped by hidden hands?
JOSEPH CAMPBELL: All the time. It is miraculous. I even have a superstition that has grown on me as a result of invisible hands coming all the time - namely, that if you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in your field of bliss, and they open doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be.
* * *My general formula for my students is "Follow your bliss." Find where it is, and don't be afraid to follow it.
~Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth, pp. 120, 149
JOSEPH CAMPBELL: All the time. It is miraculous. I even have a superstition that has grown on me as a result of invisible hands coming all the time - namely, that if you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in your field of bliss, and they open doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be.
* * *My general formula for my students is "Follow your bliss." Find where it is, and don't be afraid to follow it.
~Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth, pp. 120, 149
Saturday, July 16, 2005
Waxwings
The other night, we were taking a walk near the stream that runs through Robesonia when a bird swooped out of the trees in front of me, snapped up a bug, and flew back into the trees. I noticed that it had some yellow on its tail, and didn't look like anything I'd seen before. I walked into the trees and was treated to the sight of a cedar waxwing, which is something I don't usually see in our area. As I watched him swoop over the stream for bugs, I was delighted to find that he had a mate with him. Further downstream were more waxwings. I don't know if they were young ones hanging around with their parents, or mating pairs, but there appeared to be more than 2 pairs. I was able to walk in a little closer and get a really good view of a couple of these beautiful birds as they performed bug-hunting acrobatics. Above is a picture of a cedar waxwing for those who may never have seen one (this is not the actual bird we saw in Robesonia, but a picture borrowed from another website).
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Done!!
Well, I am finished with my MBA. At least, I think I am. I'll feel much better when I get the piece of paper that says I'm cleared for graduation. This last class (Finance) was exhausting. After the test, a few of us went out to Applebee's for a well-earned drink. They were having some kind of trivia game. They were asking questions like, "what is the object that measures wind speed?" The four of us looked at each other, bewildered. If it didn't have to do with Finance, it wasn't computing at that point. Then the guy started another question, "How do you calculate..." we all perked up. Calculate? We can calculate! "...the area of a circle" he finished. We all looked at each other, again. Circle? What the $#%!! is a circle?! Is that the round thing on the Financial calculator? It was at this point that we realized we'd been spending too much time on Finance, lately. It felt weird to do work around the house this weekend without worrying about getting it done quickly so I can study. It feels good to sit here and just know that I can play on the computer for a change, instead of work on it. At the same time, I feel a little sad and I wonder, "gee, what am I gonna do NOW?"
I spent some time with my flowers today. The coneflowers are blooming and it looks like the black-eyed susans are ready to go, too. I am trying those giant dahlias this year. I have several cactus dahlias that are already blooming. I have a red hibiscus that gets flowers the size of dinner plates, and I thought it died, but a couple of days ago, I noticed some new growth. It's really late this year, but it looks like it's surviving.
Jason got stung by a yellow-jacket last week and had a bad reaction to it. He told Addison he got stung. Addison looked serious and said matter-of-factly, "yeah, I got stung by a jacket before. I was sick for a week and had to go to the dentist."
I spent some time with my flowers today. The coneflowers are blooming and it looks like the black-eyed susans are ready to go, too. I am trying those giant dahlias this year. I have several cactus dahlias that are already blooming. I have a red hibiscus that gets flowers the size of dinner plates, and I thought it died, but a couple of days ago, I noticed some new growth. It's really late this year, but it looks like it's surviving.
Jason got stung by a yellow-jacket last week and had a bad reaction to it. He told Addison he got stung. Addison looked serious and said matter-of-factly, "yeah, I got stung by a jacket before. I was sick for a week and had to go to the dentist."
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
A Practical Use for Assault Weapons
I’ve never understood the practical value of owning an assault weapon. This is not an anti-gun statement. If someone were to break into my house in the middle of the night, I’d definitely want a way to defend myself and my family. I also have no problem with hunting as long as you use as much of the animal as possible. However, I’ve never understood the need for the average person to walk into a Wal-Mart or Cabela’s and purchase an M-16 or an AK 47. That’s just my personal opinion. You’re not going to use it for hunting unless you want your hamburger produced before you leave the woods. However, if that’s the way you choose to hunt, bring some freezer bags and have a blast (no pun intended). It’s your prerogative.
Today I had an epiphany. It happened as I was looking out the back door at my bird feeders. What I saw alarmed me. Every single feeder was covered with those little gray forest cockroaches… yes, the dreaded gray squirrels. I went to the front porch to get the dog. A little background on the dog would be helpful at this point. He is a lab/pit-bull mix and in his free time he collects rocks by the dozen and has the charming habit of dropping the rocks on your feet or in front of the lawnmower when you’re not paying attention. He has been rendered virtually toothless by his rock-collecting activity. He also enjoys chasing his own feces through the woods when Jason shovels it out of the lawn. Now there’s a skill everyone looks for when selecting a dog. Yes, he has quite a resume, doesn’t he?
On this particular morning, Lucky was busy sleeping and stinking up the front doormat, obviously exhausted from the prior days’ rock-collecting activity. I sounded the battle call, “Lucky, SQUIRRELS!” He looked at me as if to say, “shouldn’t you be at work? I’m trying to nap here.” He did eventually get his butt in gear, but it required some effort, as his ass-end was obviously not ready to wake up. He chased the squirrels away with a toothless “Boof” or two and went back to his mat. 30 seconds later, the little furry stomachs with tails were back. I watched one shimmy up the pole and use the squirrel baffle like a diving board onto the tray feeder. Tufted titmice, Goldfinches and Nuthatches waited grumpily in the trees while the little gray monsters gorged on their food. It was then that the practical use for an M-16 occurred to me. Although, I must note that I am going to have to move the bird feeders away from the propane tank before I take up any serious target practice, or I just might take care of the squirrel problem for at least an eighth of a mile.
Happy bird-watching, everyone. I’d like to dedicate this post to my mom, a woman who knew her assault weapons.
Today I had an epiphany. It happened as I was looking out the back door at my bird feeders. What I saw alarmed me. Every single feeder was covered with those little gray forest cockroaches… yes, the dreaded gray squirrels. I went to the front porch to get the dog. A little background on the dog would be helpful at this point. He is a lab/pit-bull mix and in his free time he collects rocks by the dozen and has the charming habit of dropping the rocks on your feet or in front of the lawnmower when you’re not paying attention. He has been rendered virtually toothless by his rock-collecting activity. He also enjoys chasing his own feces through the woods when Jason shovels it out of the lawn. Now there’s a skill everyone looks for when selecting a dog. Yes, he has quite a resume, doesn’t he?
On this particular morning, Lucky was busy sleeping and stinking up the front doormat, obviously exhausted from the prior days’ rock-collecting activity. I sounded the battle call, “Lucky, SQUIRRELS!” He looked at me as if to say, “shouldn’t you be at work? I’m trying to nap here.” He did eventually get his butt in gear, but it required some effort, as his ass-end was obviously not ready to wake up. He chased the squirrels away with a toothless “Boof” or two and went back to his mat. 30 seconds later, the little furry stomachs with tails were back. I watched one shimmy up the pole and use the squirrel baffle like a diving board onto the tray feeder. Tufted titmice, Goldfinches and Nuthatches waited grumpily in the trees while the little gray monsters gorged on their food. It was then that the practical use for an M-16 occurred to me. Although, I must note that I am going to have to move the bird feeders away from the propane tank before I take up any serious target practice, or I just might take care of the squirrel problem for at least an eighth of a mile.
Happy bird-watching, everyone. I’d like to dedicate this post to my mom, a woman who knew her assault weapons.
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