Remember Alice

Who remembers this childhood song?

"Alice, where are you going?

Upstairs, to take a bath

Alice, with legs like toothpicks

Her neck, like a giraffe

Alice got in the bathtub

Alice pulled out the plug


OH MY GRACIOUS, OH MY SOUL! THERE GOES ALICE DOWN THE HOLE!"

Stream Monitoring

I volunteer for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency by monitoring two streams during the warmer months, mostly May through early October.  One of my spots is on the Rum River at the Pleasant Avenue bridge in Anoka.  You'd be surprised how many people have spotted me there throwing a bucket over the bridge.  My other spot is on Coon Creek in Coon Hollow - a pedestrian bridge just west of East River Road in Coon Rapids.  We supposed to monitor regularly - at least a couple times a year.  I try to get to both spots at least 3 times a month.  I enjoy it.  Taking five or ten minutes to look over a stream, I judge it's appearance, and measure the temperature of the water.  I pull up some water in my trusty metal bucket on a rope and pour it in a 60 centimeter Secchi tube to measure the clarity of the water.  The Rum River is always clearer than Coon Creek.  I estimate whether the stream depth is high, normal or low.  This last measure is a little hard.  On Coon Creek, a homeowner has a hose sticking out of the bank.  I use that hose to measure the depth of the water.  On the Rum River I can see water marks on the cement buttresses of the Highway 10 bridge.  A homeowner has wooden planks on the shore and I use those too.  I always document when I see ducks or geese or swallows or dragonflies.  You can really appreciate a spot when you go back to check on it regularly and notice the changes. I have had people ask me what I am doing.  Kids feel free to ask.  Police officers feel free to ask.  I had one boater (who I didn't notice at first) attempt to pull on my bucket in order to scare me.  Mr. Funny Man.  There are more streams that need monitoring.  You may want to adopt a stream for yourself.  Be a citizen scientist.  The Pollution Control agency will show their appreciation by giving you a t-shirt or cap after you complete and turn in a year of results.  You can see the results of all my work (and all the other stream monitors) by visiting this website: http://cf.pca.state.mn.us/water/cmp/index.cfm

Not Sure How To Handle This

Meredith enjoying a warm, clean coop.

Last Friday I moved Meredith's coop to the winter headquarters.  She is snug against the house and protected from the north winter winds.  I installed the heat lamp and reflective shield so she'll stay warm.  I cleaned out the coop really well and put in lots of fresh wood chips so she will be comfortable in there.  The screws to the coop door were coming loose so I replaced them. I filled up her container of food and noticed she has been eating a lot for just a single chicken.  She's been eating as much as two chickens.  Meredith has always been the biggest chick but even accounting for that, too much chicken feed was being consumed.  Later in the day, when I opened the door to take her picture, I found out why the chicken feed has been going so fast.  She wasn't alone in there.  When I opened the door, a chipmunk burst out of the coop and entered the run.  His cheeks were so full that they bulged out on both sides of his face and almost obscured his eyes.  He was trapped in the run.  This explains why I've been seeing this chipmunk around the house so much this fall.  I know how he gets in.  The coop door stays open so Meredith can get fresh air whenever she wants.  The chipmunk is small enough to get under the house and into the run and from there he can go in and out of the coop at will.  I would think, being a small mammal like a chipmunk with thin skin, I would not dare go into a chicken coop for fear the big bird would peck at me.  Meredith has a good 12 inches on him.  She could take him, who ever he is, Chip or Dale or Alvin.  She didn't seem bothered by him.  So is having a chipmunk helping himself to the chicken feed inside the coop a problem?  Could the chipmunk hurt her or give her a disease?  Will he invite his other chipmunk punks over to party?  Will mice or squirrels follow his example?  Or is this not a problem?  Maybe it's a cool story like the lion laying down with the lamb.  Maybe the chipmunk will ease Meredith's loneliness at spending her first winter alone.  Maybe Meredith and the chipmunk are friends like Wilbur the pig and Charlotte the spider.  How am I to interfere with friendship between species?  I am just not sure how to handle this.  Suggestions are welcome.

Project Feederwatch Update

Cedar Waxwing

Today was about my best day ever for the project feederwatch.  I had seen cedar waxwings on Friday and I hoped they would come back on the weekend when I could count them.  This morning, a red bellied woodpecker drew my attention.  I stopped my house cleaning chores (no resistance to that) and looked out the window.  The redbellied woodpecker was eating seeds from the feeder.  Up in the branches of the crabapple trees I saw a dozen cedar waxwings.  Bingo!  One flew to the white  oak next to the deck. I tilted my head to look up there and holy smoke, there was a flock!  I counted 27.  I counted again and got 48.  I counted a third time and got 62 cedar waxwings.  It was amazing to see all this life and business in a yard that would typically be dying and sterile at this time of year.  Watching these birds is so cool I don't think I can live without a bird feeder for the rest of my life.  I looked in the pond and saw a dozen waxwings riding the ice floes and drinking water.  Soon I hairy woodpecker came to the suet on the deck.  From the east a downy woodpecker came hopping closer.  The difference in size between the two woodpeckers is easy to see when they are right next to each other.  Before I could finish that thought, a pileated woodpecker clumsily flew in and scattered the woodpeckers and all the other birds away.  The male pileated woodpecker looked over the situation.  Tilting his head from all angles, he eyes the mesh bag of suet.  He looked at how it was attached.  I suspect he wanted to untie the bag and carry it away.  He flew to the post and looked some more.  Eventually he took a peck.  He used too much force and the hanging mesh bag of suet flew around like a tether ball.  It was hilarious.  He looked over the situation for a few minutes and took another peck using much less force this time.  He adjusted his position four times and just couldn't seem to get comfortable.  After about five minutes he flew to my bird feeding post and sampled the suet cake.  He flew into the woods giving that woody woodpecker call as he left.  Results for this weekend:  Pileated woodpecker-1, Hairy woodpecker-2, Downy woodpecker-2, Red bellied woodpecker-1, Black capped chickadee-6, House finch-2, white breasted nuthatch-3, American Crow-3, Blue jay-1,  Cardinal-2, Cedar Waxwing-62, Dark eyed Junco-3

Thanksgiving 2011

Say Cheese!

Now make a funny face.  I think Calvin and Catey win the award on the photo.

Ed King

I read Ed King by David Guterson.  I was expecting something emotional and dramatic and understated like his other books, Snow Falling on Cedars and East of the Mountains.  Instead I got a comedy based on a 5th century BC myth.  I don't want to say which myth this book is based on because when I figured it out, it was a real "Aha!  Holy Crap" moment for me.  So now I know, Guterson is more than a dramatic novelist.  He can be as funny about Washington State as Carl Hiassen is funny about Florida.  Although not what I expected, this was a good book with many interesting characters.

What We Are Thankful For

We had 21 people at our Thanksgiving table.  I set the table for 20.  I guess I forgot to count myself.  Before we eat, we read an alphabetical list of what we are thankful for. Everybody takes a turn reading a letter.  Here is the list:  Armed forces not at home, Being home, Chocolate, Days off (school or work I guess), Everybody/education/evil smurfs, Family/food, Grandma/Grandpa, Health, Insulin, J_____ not being here, Kazoos/kryptonite, Life lessons, Minnesota/Muppets/Mashed potatoes, Nacho cheese, Overstuffed/Oreos, Power of choice/pancreas/propane, Quitting time, Recycling, Sue for dinner  :), Turkey/tryptophan, Uranus, Venus, Watermelon/wellness/water, Xerox machines, Year good (?), and Zebras/zoo/zooboomafoe.  We had a delicious dinner.  Everyone brought something. One the menu was turkey, tofurky, mashed potatoes (blue and white), gravy, 3 kinds of stuffing, coleslaw, french bread, crescent rolls, a fruit basket shaped like a turkey, broccolli rice casserole, cranberries, sweet potatoes, crudites, cheese and crackers, spinach artichoke dip with crackers, hummus, peppermint pretzels, chocolates, apple pie, pumpkin pie, apple/raspberry/rhubarb/strawberry pie, turtle cheesecake, rice krispie bars, brownies, burnt peanuts and honey roasted peanuts.  We forgot to bake the jalapeno cream cheese poppers wrapped in bacon.  I doubt anyone could have fit more food.  I keep a scale in the kitchen.  Several people weighed themselves before and after.  Average weight gain after the meal was between 1 and 2 pounds.  Thanks to everyone who came.  Thanks to all who pitched in getting dinner on the table.  Thanks to everyone who helped clean up too.  We couldn't have done it without you.

Somebody Had a Moment

I have a cramp! I am sad

Someone had a moment during the Thanksgiving celebration and poured out their anguish and torment with the classic chalk/cement sidewalk medium.  I found this artistic endeavor at 11 p.m. when the last of my guests left.  The artwork was situated so people leaving the front door could appreciate it.  I believe most folks left via the garage so they missed it.  I hope the artist found relief.  And by the way, is that an asymmetrical ponytail or a deluge of tears from the right eye only?

Happy Thanksgiving!

(It's my favorite holiday).

Traveling Bug

This morning I brought Meredith, the hen, a fresh piece of cucumber to munch on. She was outside, enjoying the warm sunshine and fresh air.  I filled the bird feeders.  I added potato peels and banana peels and orange rinds to the compost.  I saw that deer had eaten a large part of my jack-o-lantern.  As long as I was out there I thought I would add the 9 bags of leaves I had from another yard.  My two compost piles were full but I added leaves to the top.  Now I have two compost piles piled high.  They look like leafy ice cream cones, one square and one round.  As I emptied the bags I found a bug.  This bug was so exquisite in appearance I had to stop and admire it's beauty.  The shape was a long oval.  The bug had a slender lime green body, extra long antennae, and lacy, translucent wings with veins showing.  I know these leaves were bagged 17 days ago.  This bug was in good shape for having lived 17 days inside a black plastic bag and being roughly transported 25 miles northwest.  The bug was sluggish but still moving around.  A compost pile isn't the worst place for a bug to ride out the long winter.

I thought

This morning I got up and read the paper.  I always read the funnies first.  After I finished the variety section, I got up to do something.  When I came back, I didn't notice that the newspaper and my reading glasses had fallen onto the seat of my chair.  Lucky for me I have sturdy glasses.  I went to read  the front page.  I started reading about the protesters in Egypt.  The headline was fine but I couldn't focus on the print.  My glasses have bifocals so I tried adjusting my vision.  Everything was blurry.  Even after I removed the glasses, my vision was blurry.  I looked through the top of the glasses - blurry.  I looked through the middle of the glasses-blurry. I looked through the lower part of the glasses-blurry.  I held the paper farther away-blurry.  I held the paper closer-blurry.  I struggled through the front section of the paper but it was not easy.  I thought I really need to make an eye appointment and isn't this weird that my vision varies so much from day to day?  How can glasses possibly help when my vision varies so much. I got up to do something else and came back to read the metro section of the paper.  There on the seat of my chair was one of the lenses from my glasses.  No wonder I couldn't read, I was trying to read with only one eye corrected.  Once I popped the lens back in, I could read just fine.  What a relief.

Project Feederwatch

Red bellied woodpecker

For the first watch of the season I got 2 downy woodpeckers, 2 hairy woodpeckers, 1 red bellied woodpecker, 5 black capped chicadees, 2 white breasted nuthatches, one blue jay, one cardinal and, best of all, zero squirrels on the birdfeeder.  I know those squirrels were hungry too because they were risking life and limb to get the crabapples at the very tips of the branches.

Want to do this

An Object of Beauty

Steve Martin wrote An Object of Beauty.  I didn't like it nearly as much as his other book, Shopgirl.  In this book, Martin explores the current art industry in New York City by talking about Lacy Yaeger.  Lacy is young, ambitious, pretty, charming and clever.  She works at Sotheby's art auction.  From that job she goes on to work at other art galleries.  She mingles with the rich and famous trying to get ahead.  By reading this book, I learned quite a bit about the art industry.  I think it's as crazy and volatile as the stock market.  The story is told by Daniel, one of Lacy's friends.  Daniel tells a straight story and is not always complimentary of Lacy.  Lacy is an intriguing character - one of those people I'd like to know but would never want to count on.

He

He was born in a log cabin.  He grew up on a dairy farm in northwestern Minnesota.  He lived through the depression.  His asthma and hay fever made life on a farm difficult.  He did well in school but worked to please himself, not the teachers.  His yearbook says his goal in life is to be a "benevolent despot."  He passed the physical to join the Navy but the war ended before he enlisted.  He met a girl.  His sister brought her to the farm for a vacation.  He married the girl.  They were young, in love, skinny, and carefree.  He was frugal all his life.  He added three digit numbers in his head to keep his mind sharp.  He was quietly religious and attended services every weekend.  He built a house in the suburbs.  He dug the basement with a team of horses.  He read a book on plumbing and electrical wiring and he built the house very well.  He had a daughter.  Their Christmas gift for each other the first year in the house was a door so the daughter would not fall down the basement steps.  He preferred to be safe and that other people were safe too. The next birthday gift was a door for the bathroom.  He had another daughter (me).  He got a job as a manager at a manufacturing plant.  Tragedy struck.  The first daughter died of leukemia.  He carried on.  He had another daughter. He spoke up for his wife's parents when the city tried to take their land.  He built a playhouse in the backyard for the children.  He took his family on vacations at his brother's resort on a small lake.  He helped his parents on the family farm.  In October he went duck hunting.  He helped his brothers and sisters.  He bought a farm with his brother.  He was the man people called when things broke down.  He had another daughter. He donated more than 20 gallons of blood to the American Red Cross.  He was an usher at church.  He made his kids a mini-bike using a lawn mower motor. His wife stayed home and cared for the children.  Sometimes she sat in his lap after dinner.  He had another daughter.  In November he usually went deer hunting.  He hung the deer in the garage and did the butchering himself.  His wife was pregnant and sick.  The doctor told him he had to choose.  He could save his wife or he could save the baby.  He chose to save his wife.  He had anther daughter.  After work he enjoyed a beer before supper.  He usually had one or two kids on his lap when he read the Pioneer Press.  When his parents could not care for themselves anymore, he took them in.  He helped his wife take care of his parents until they died.  He had a son.  When his sister in Seattle became ill, he sent his wife to take care of her.  When his sister came home to Minnesota to die, he took her in.  He kept the house at 68 degrees.  He said things like, "Put on a sweater if you are cold," or "Turn the light off when you leave a room," or "Drink that milk at the bottom of your cereal bowl."  He took his wife on a trip to Australia.  He had old fashioned ideas about the roles of men and women.  His wife secretly took driving lessons.  He secretly bought her a car.  They exchanged an anniversary card. They signed the card in pencil, erased the name, and gave the same card back and forth for several years.  His wife got a job.  He adjusted.  He made a two story addition to his house, adding a fireplace and stucco siding.  His wife went to college.  He supported her decision.  He was sent to Germany to learn about plastic molding machines.  He brought back a cuckoo clock from the Black Forest.  He bought a cabin that was part of his brother's resort on the small lake.  He made many improvements on the cabin and enjoyed reading books while enjoying the view.  He invited the children and grandchildren to stay.  He bought a paddle boat for them to use. The company he worked for moved to North Carolina.  He was asked to move there.  He decided to stay.  He found work in South Dakota.  His wife drove out there to visit him.  He found a job closer to home and worked there until he retired.  He bought a farm near his family home, across the lake his cabin.  He cleaned up the property.  He reshingled the barn roof by himself.  He painted the barn.  He cleaned up the trash left on the property.  He killed the Canadian thistles.  He rented several fields and the pasture to his nephew.  He cut and split firewood. Sometimes he went fishing or out to lunch with his friends.  As always, he helped his friends and family when something broke down.  He generously invited his children and grandchildren to stay at the farm to relax or hunt or fish.  He bought a golf cart and snowmobiles for their entertainment.  He loved to listen to the morning news, the noon news, and the evening news on television.  He read voraciously, borrowing books from the library.  He preferred mystery fiction.  He enjoyed retirement but kept busy making repairs and improvements.  He stayed tall and physically fit aside from problems with high blood pressure.  His wife began to show her age. He helped her.  He made improvements in the house to make life easier for her.  She became ill.  He stayed home more and more.  He promised to take care of her.  He began to make the meals.  He cleaned the house.  He did the laundry.  He took her to the doctor.  He started to anticipate her needs.  He waited on her.  When she began hospice services, he didn't want any help.  He didn't want Meals on Wheels or homemaker services.  He made bran muffins.  He perfected the recipe and made 40 muffins at a time.  He baked pork chops with carrots, onions and potatoes in the oven.  He scrubbed the floors and got rid of the spider webs.  He continued to cut the grass and take care of the yard.  He took over her job in the flower garden and was proud of his work.  As her condition worsened, he put a positive spin on the situation.  He knew his kids had their own lives and he didn't want to inconvenience anyone.  He gave her the medicine she needed.  He helped her get around the house.  He helped her bathe.  When the truth came out about how much help she needed, he continued to paint a positive picture.  He began to accept some of the help that was offered but only from family members.  He advocated for her.  He read the Physicians Desk Reference  for every medication she was prescribed.  He took notes on how much she ate, slept, and when she took her medicine.  He was innovative and creative in his care for her.  He accepted her where she was and was patient.  He flirted with her to take her mind off her troubles.  He missed the woman she used to be.  He protected her privacy.  He treated her with respect and dignity.  He put her needs first.  He was grateful for the assistance and support he got.  He focused on what she could do instead of what she couldn't do.  He kept her entertained. He held her hands when she was scared.  He gave her reassurance and love.  And now, as she lays dying in the living room, he holds her hands for hours every day.  He treats her like a queen.   He doesn't say much but his actions scream commitment and caring.  He sets the bar really high.  He is part of the Greatest Generation.  We stand in awe hoping to learn all we can from him.  And he would hate me putting all this on "that Internet" so please don't say anything.

Sometimes

This song matches my mood today.

Sometimes

Sometimes getting old sucks.  It's like being alone in a dark room with a rattlesnake.

Shanghai Girls

Lisa See wrote the novel Shanghai Girls.  I was entranced from the start.  Two sisters, May and Pearl, grow up in Shanghai.  They are spoiled children sheltered from the reality of life by indulgent parents. In their later teens, they pose as models for artists.  Pearl and Joy are jealous of each other as children and they never loose that green eyed monster even as adults.  The author makes this evident by having Pearl describe their dining room as a child.  Pearl describes their square table and writes that her parents love May best because they seat her between them.  Pearl never understands that because it is a square table, she also is seated between her parents until May tells her so when they have a big fight forty years later.  Pearl and May fight about petty things but also love each other enough to make huge sacrifices.  This story really took me away into China and later into Los Angeles prior to World War II.  At that time Chinese people were considered to be a "Yellow Peril."  Discrimination was open and rampant.  May and Pearl barely survived the bombing of Shanghai and the subsequent invasion of the Japanese soldiers.  They arrive on American shores as illegal immigrants arranged to be married to other immigrants.  They make a life for themselves in California.  Their story illustrates the harsh treatment of Chinese-Americans by our government.  Lisa See wrote Peony In Love and I really loved that book too.  I'll look for more of her books to read.  I'd like to go to Shanghai some day.

Bossypants

I do not recommend you read Bossypants by Tina Fey-at least don't listen to it on CD while you are driving because it's so doggone funny you will not be able to concentrate on the road. This book will make you snicker, giggle, snort, laugh out loud and almost wet yourself.  Tina Fey can be charming, disgusting, endearing and SO SNARKY!  Do you need cheering up?  This is the book for you.  Just make sure you are seated in a safe place while reading it.

5157.4

This morning I got dressed in warm clothes. I put on my snow pants, wool socks, neck gaiter, and three jackets.  I had an appointment to get my oil changed on my motorcycle.  My destination was about 25 miles away. Overall I was comfortable driving.  My shins were slightly cold and my hands were cold.  At stoplights I put the engine in neutral and sat on my hands to warm them up.  The bank sign said 40 degrees when I left and 53 degrees on the way home but going home didn't feel much warmer.  My odometer reads 5157.4.  I wish I had noted the mileage in the spring.  I did write down the date.  April 6 was my first ride so that gave me almost 7 months of riding.  My last ride of 2010 was October 22.  So now the bike can rest for a time with fresh oil, a fresh filter, and a full tank of stabilized gasoline.

Owl Hunt

Earlier this week I heard about an Eastern screech owl hanging out in a wood duck house in park in Maple Grove.  The park is on Fish Lake near Hwy. 94 and Weaver Lake Road.  A good friend of mine lives very near to that park so she offered to accompany me on a screech owl hunt this afternoon.  My friend jogs though this park several times a week.  She has seen owls pass silently over her head when she jogs in the early morning darkness but she's never seen one clearly.  We arrived about a half hour before sunset.  We stayed and hunted for owls for about an hour.  We even looked for the telltale whitewash that some owls leave below their favorite roosting spots.  We came up empty handed as far as owls go.  But we enjoyed walking through the leaves, watching the waves roll into shore, watching flocks of ducks and geese, watching the sun go down and light up the clouds in purple and pink, and talking.

Pamela

Pamela.  A Cute Chick.

Even as a week old chick, Pamela was distinctive.  Her dark coloring set her apart from her peers.  She was dark and she was small.  Her behavior set her apart as well.  From the time we could distinguish the hens from the roosters, Pamela hung around the roosters.  If the hens were pecking near the rhubarb and Dwight moved toward the compost, Pamela was there, right at his side.  If all the chickens were in a tight group, Pamela was closest to Dwight or closest to Angela (who later was named Angelo once we realized she was a he).   All the chickens could be busy scratching and pecking but if a rooster moved away from the group, Pamela was the always the first to notice and the first to follow.  This meant she got mounted more often than the other hens.  My early impression of her is that she was one of those sexist women.  Do you know what I mean?  I know several of these sexist women.  A sexist woman will seek unnecessary attention from men.  If a sexist woman had a screw loose (and they often do) and they see two people in front of them (one a woman holding a screwdriver and the other a man not holding a screwdriver), the sexist woman will ask the man for help.  OK, I will stop ranting about one of my pet peeves.  My point is that even though Pamela hung around the roosters, she was not a sexist chick.  Once the roosters were culled, Pamela hung around Meredith.  In a coop with no roosters, Meredith took over as the head honcho.  Meredith stayed the boss except for a couple days she spent recuperating after she was abducted by the gray fox.  This means Pamela was not sexist.  Pamela was a survivor.  Pamela had street smarts.  Well, no streets were involved.  Pamela had yard smarts.  She was watching out for her own safety.  If a hawk flew over the yard, who noticed and ran under the deck?  Pamela.  If I had sunflower seeds in my hand ready to lure the chickens back into the coop, Pamela noticed first.  Pamela paid more attention to her environment.  When the gray fox abducted Meredith, I wondered why it didn't try to get Pamela who was smaller instead.  I suspect Pamela saw (or smelled) the gray fox first and took steps to protect herself.  I am going to miss Pamela.  She was one of a kind.

Pamela is in the lower right corner of the photo, back to the camera, staying close to Meredith.

RIP Pamela

Pamela is on the right.

Pamela The Chicken, hatched April 14, 2009, from Ramsey, Minnesota died on November 2, 2011 of natural causes.  She died outside on a sunny day in the green grass next to her water dish.  She was preceeded in death by brothers/husbands Dwight and Angela(o), sisters Phyllis and Kelly.  She is survived by her sister Meredith.  Pamela was a lover of life, black sunflower seeds, sandy soil to bathe in, and the bugs found in the compost pile.  She will be deeply missed.

Another Scary Sight