Like Cutting Down a Tree With A Spoon

My computer at work is 2.5 years old and for the second time the motherboard has failed.  The first time replacement was covered under warranty but not this time.  So I need a new computer.  With our email upgrades, email is unavailable to me even via the internet. The last time I saw or sent a work related email was on Monday.  Ughhhh!  This is driving me bananas, flip city and just plain nuts.  I can't work without my email.  It's like asking me to cut down a tree with a spoon or fill a bucket with a slotted spoon.  Technology - I can hardly work without it anymore.

Plan D

Plan A for today would have been working, but what fun is that?  Plan B was to go canoeing down the St. Croix River.  That had to be postponed due to grocery store scheduling issues.  Plan C was to visit the Jeffers petroglyphs in Comfrey, MN.  But ancient petroglyphs are not open on Tuesdays.  Most of the Minnesota State historical places are not open on Tuesdays.

The Indian Museum in Onamia was open so we went there to learn about some history.  We got inspired and are thinking we might try and collect wild rice later this summer.

After lunch I kissed a walleye.

Offspring #2 kissed a walleye too.

We found beautiful fungi at Kathio State Park.

We found a meadow of wildflowers in bloom.

Offspring #2 saved this crayfish (who seemed to be molting it's exoskeleton) by scooping it up and putting it back into Mille Lacs Lake at Father Hennepin State Park.  Good karma for her!  Plan D turned out to be a very pleasant day.

Becoming Experts

Offspring #2 and I finished installing the railings on the deck.  We're becoming experts now which is good because I still have the railings on the stairs to install.  Measuring, cutting, drilling, and attaching come easier.  It really helps to have two people doing this not because we need four hands but because we need two sets of eyes and two brains to figure things out.

And we did all this perfectly (see that bubble smack dab in the middle?) despite a big wasp nest under the deck.  As much as I am for saving pollinators and not using pesticides, I sprayed and sprayed and sprayed that nest before we knocked it down and sprayed it some more.  We never got stung.  Normally I would spray the nest at sunset.  Determination to get this job done made me brave.  That and watching Tyler spray a half dozen hornet nests on the farmhouse.  If he can do it, I can too. If anyone else was around to do it, I would have let them.

4-1=3

On Saturday Offspring #2 and was helping me put railings on my deck.  I decided to let my pets out to enjoy a fine summer day.  I put Migwe, the canary, out on the lawn so that grass camp up under the floor of his cage.  He enjoyed a nice day outside.  I let the four chickens out to roam the yard. They like to eat bugs in the compost, scratch for worms in the garden, and eat pebbles out of the driveway.  We took a break about 12:30 to make and eat lunch and that is why the fox struck.  I assume it was the fox but I didn't actually see the assailant.  By what we could gather from the feathers and blood stains, the fox grabbed the chicken on the path nearest my azalea bush.  We found the longer tail feathers there.  The fox took it towards the road and must have adjusted the position of the chicken in it's mouth because there was a pile of bloody feathers there.  These feathers were smaller in size.  The fox followed the path through the woods and adjusted position again.  This is where we found a pile of downy feathers with white on the lower half of the feathers.  I thought I found the chicken's comb but that turned out to be a fungus growing there.  I also found an empty pack of menthol Newport cigarettes which kinda freaks me out to think someone has been smoking on my path in the woods.  We heard the chicken scream out once and rushed out there but could not see anything.  Based on that I think the chicken died quickly.  We could not figure out where the fox took the chicken from there.  The trail went cold.  Either the fox took it away without dropping another feather or it teleported somewhere  I've been preparing myself for this event ever since I first spotted the fox.  I thought if I lost a chicken to a fox it wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen.  Blah, blah, circle of life, blah, blah.  Isn't it better to loose a chicken to another wild creature than have it die from heat or starvation or neglect or illness?  Pep talks aside, I'm still bummed out to loose such a beautiful young chicken. This is what I get for changing my yard from a monoculture of grass full of herbicides and pesticides to a nature friendly environment. These chickens must weight 8 pounds.  How can a fox who weighs between 8 and 15 pounds carry it away so quickly?  And only with their mouth - they don't use their hands.  I surely can't carry half my weight away quickly and silently and especially if it were struggling.  Maybe the fox got lucky and killed it quickly.  I hope so.

Soaking Up The Summer

Tonight my commute on Ferry Street from Highway 10 to Bunker Lake Boulevard took 35 minutes instead of the usual 5 minutes.  The traffic from the county fair was rough.  But as I drove slowly by with all four windows open and my bare arm resting on the car door, listening to the screams of the kids on the Kamikaze, I tried to fix this moment in my mind and come back to it in six months.  Because in January I will be wearing a coat, boots and gloves, driving with all four windows up and the heat set on high, vision partially obstructed by a salty grime in the corners of the windshield, and dreaming of the day when I can drive with the windows down again.

My First

Today I ate my first tomato off the vine - a cherry tomato.  The taste?  HEAVENLY!  The first one of the year is always the best.

A Battle

I have a feeling that I have an internal battle going on.  My symptoms are occasional respiratory stuffiness, a peek-a-boo sore throat, and a here today/gone tomorrow cough.  My good bacteria are battling the bad bacteria or virus or whatever.  This explains why, even though I'm not really sick, I can barely drag myself out of bed in the morning and I am eager to hit the sack in the evening.  I have armed my good bacteria with lots of water, exercise, blueberries, kale, garlic, dark chocolate, and bean sprouts.  As long as I get plenty of rest I am sure to win this fight.

Novel Idea

The Anoka County Fair opened today.  I've watched the fairgrounds get ready day by day.  The sign gets posted.  The trash cans come in and are lined up in 2 rows of 10.  Then the portable biffies are dropped off.  The fence around the beer garden gets put up.  Rows of folding chairs are arranged facing the band shell.  The doors are open to the animal barns and hay is put in the stalls.  Some of the kiddie rides such as the giant strawberries that go around in a circle arrived on Saturday.  The bigger rides didn't come until Sunday.  The carnies have their RV's packed tightly together along the fence.  By Monday evening all the rides were set up.  Last night young girls wearing shorts and cowboy boots were grooming their horses.  Horse trailers crowd the northern entrance.  Microphones are set up and sound systems checked.  Electric cords are everywhere.  Excitement is rising.  This gives me an idea.  If I ever were to write a novel I could write one about the Anoka County Fair.  Many fascinating stories happen between Tuesday morning and Saturday night.  Couples get engaged.  Other couples break up.  There has to be an interesting story about the winner of the diaper derby and the big wheel contest.  There is lots of drama in the grandstand with a motocross derby, the tractor pull and, my personal favorite, the demo derby.  The beer gardens provide plenty of entertainment including a strolling polka show and bands named Snaggletoof and Hitface.  The 4H barn opens a whole new chapter of ideas with the seed art, fashion contest, and prize winning pickles.  Pony rides, the blacksmith shop, the pork chop stand, conservative politicians, and the old school house - what about that one time I personally faked confidence and hid my shaking hands so as not to scare my niece as we rode on the double ferris wheel?  That was a feat of emotional strength if there ever was one. Wow, there is a story just waiting to be written here.

Avian Worry

Lately I have heard  sand hill cranes calling.  And I saw a pair fly low right over my car at the library Saturday morning.  Normally the cranes are silent this time of year because they don't want to draw attention to their babies.  My theory is that with all the extra rain this year wetlands turned into swamps, swamps turned into lakes, and lakes turned into bigger lakes.  I suspect some crane nests got flooded out and the nests failed.  That worried me.  Swiper the fox was back visiting my chickens at 5:25 this morning and that worries me too.  Lucky for me Swiper left with only verbal redirection from the bedroom window.  Hot, loud, emotion verbal redirection but verbal redirection nonetheless. What worries me more is Migwe. Migwe, my canary that I've had for 7 years now, has chosen not to sit on his wooden perch as often but hang out in the food dish instead.  He started doing this when I got home from a week of camping in June.  The first time I saw him do that I thought he was dead.  He wasn't dead.  I gave him lots of extra TLC but it doesn't matter, he's still hanging out in the food dish sometimes.  Yesterday was a nice day so I put his cage outside in the shade so he could get some fresh hair.  His goldfinch friends came by, one at a time, to perch on his cage and shoot the breeze.  I think he enjoyed it but when I brought him back inside he sat in the food dish again.  Does this mean he's not feeling well or has he suddenly changed his mind on what constitutes a comfortable resting place?  I don't know for sure and that is why I worry.

Carrots Are Special

Today I weeded the vegetable garden.  I picked the peas and fertilized the plants.  What a chore!  In the hot weather my face was beet red by the time I finished.  Most of the work I can do with a hoe.  Most of what I dug up today was that grass that grows stickers.  So many sticker plants.  With their long white roots they make a tearing sound when you pull them up that can be very satisfying.  With my chickens by my side I hoed and pulled weeds for a couple of hours.  It's easy to hoe around the potatoes.  I hope the blue potatoes are doing as well below ground as they are above ground because the plants are almost up to my waist.  Some have purple flowers and others have already formed little green balls.  It's easy to hoe around almost all the plants except for carrots.  Carrots demand special treatment. Because they come up so late and are so delicate. I have to get down on all fours to weed the carrots.  I had two sunflowers that survived the deer and were now almost 3 feet tall.  A deer came by last night and ate off all the leaves but did not chew off the very top of the plant so maybe I have a chance of them living  Gardening - it may be hot and it may be dirty and it may be hard work but it's relaxing too.  To celebrate the end of a big job I sat outside with a tall glass of cold water, a dragonfly identification guide, and my net.  Ruby meadowhawks were common in my yard today.  I'm pretty sure they were ruby meadowhawks.  I went through the book five times.  By the time I let my specimen go it had to rest on the sidewalk for a few minutes.  I think I might have pinched it's wings too hard.

Hello Dolly

After a picnic supper on the shores of Lake Como we went to the final performance of "Hello Dolly" put on by the Rosetown Playhouse at the Como Pavilion.  My nephew played the part of Horace Vandergelder, a crotchety, parsimonious man who is convinced into loving Dolly, the local matchmaker.  I loved it.  In the first act my nephew sings and dances to a song called, "It Takes A Woman."  I was so impressed I blurted out to the woman sitting on the next bench, "That is my nephew."  I couldn't help it.  I was so proud.  Horace spends a lot of the play looking scornful and rolling his eyes while everyone else is smiling and dancing.  The best part came at the end when Horace's face changes from scowling and singing about how he wouldn't marry Dolly if she asked him a million times to a loving face and wanting to marry Dolly.  When he started singing, "Hello Dolly" with his new point of view the transformation was so good I couldn't help but start clapping.  It was such a good show!  The weather was perfect and the audience very interactive.  What great entertainment! 

Google Experiment

For this google experiment, go to google and type in your first name followed by "is a" and see what comes up.  For me I get
Sue is an omnivorous reader.
Sue is a gifted cook.
Sue is a exponential discounter.
Sue is an expert is interpreting gestures.
I only wish I was as interesting as Google seems to think I am.

Some IT Techs Lack A Sense of Humor

Today at work our email service was migrated to a virtual server.  I expected some disruption of service but nothing more.  I had a busy day and when I came back to my office there was a man at my desk on my computer wearing a FBI cap.  Another man sat beside him talking to him with a thick Russian accent. They didn't say anything when I walked in.  Caught flat footed I stammered, "Do you really work with the FBI?"  He stopped typing for a moment, looked me in the eye and answered, "I used to."  Then he went back to typing and the other guy went back to giving instructions with a Russian accent.  Did I violate a HIPPA standard?  Was I being investigated for something?  The weird factor was off the charts so I dropped my books on the back of my desk and headed to the bathroom - the bathroom on the third floor and I took the long way.  The two guys were still there when I returned so I hung out in the copy room.  I told a couple people what they said so three people nonchalantly walked by my office to peek at the FBI guy and his Russian counterpart.  Later I heard them talking to our regular IT tech (who does have a sense of humor).  So I knew they were helping with the email migration to the virtual server.  Some things are so weird they have to be true because no one could make this stuff up.

Half Over

So that possum I found yesterday is most likely a mole.  I thought moles had hairy tails but I could be wrong.  I didn't turn it over and look at it's face.  I know I have moles in my yard so that is a more likely guess than possum.  Anyway, summer is now half over. Today is July 16.  Because I was determined to have a double fun summer to make up for last summer when I had less than the usual amount of fun, I had been feeling behind.  The carburetor on my motorcycle needed repair so I didn't get as many miles on as I had hoped.  That is fixed now and I am using the bike.  I lost the paddle of my kayak so I didn't get as much time on the water as I had hoped.  But I have another paddle now and have been out on a lake.  And I've had lots of time camping this summer which has been great.  But what really makes me feel like I'm enjoying summer is all the mosquito bites I've had.  Last weekend alone I got at least 200 mosquito bites.  I'm probably down a pint of blood.  I wore a head net and I sprayed myself with insect repellant but I got bit in many places.  Normally I don't react much to mosquito bites when when one limb has 30 to 40 bites on it, it itches.  One mosquito bit me in the armpit.  I wore long sleeves so how did that mosquito get into such a smelly place?  It wasn't like I was walking around with my arms up in the air. Much as I don't like mosquito bites, they have helped me feel like I'm using my summer time wisely.  I've been outside in nature.  And that, for me, is what summer is all about.

Possum

I found this possum in my prairie area where the grass had been matted down. This is the first possum I've seen in my yard. Either it's dead or an excellent actor or actress. It's about 5 inches long.   I'm pretty sure it's dead because I came back to photograph it an hour later and it had not moved. I didn't see any injuries on it so maybe it died of natural causes.  I don't think it has been here very long.  Earlier I noticed lots of loose feathers in the chicken coop so I knew something had upset my girls.  I suspected it was the fox but maybe it was a possum.  Although I am the one who pays taxes on this property, I am not the only one living a life here.  Look at the hands and feet on this tiny possum - they remind me of the Mr. Potato Head toy I had as a child.

The Casual Vacancy

I've read J.K. Rowling before, namely the first two and a half Harry Potter novels.  I liked her character development but the Harry Potter stories got too repetitive for me.  I could relate to Harry and Hermoine and Ron Weasley though.  In The Casual Vacancy JK Rowling develops great characters again.  Crystal Weedon is a major character.  At first we think she is an impulsive juvenile delinquent in the small town of Pagford.  But Crystal is more than that.  She is a heroine and a villain.  She irresponsible and 100% more responsible than her own mother.  There is an opening on the town council because of the death of Barry Fairbrother, a local teacher, rowing coach, father, husband, and all around good guy.  As people mourn his loss and elect his replacement on the council, the true characters of the people in Pagford are illustrated.  Some married couples look successful on the surface but behind closed doors things are different.  Other families look like they are struggling yet the communication between the parents and the teenagers is much better than in the seemingly successful families.  This author does a great job illustrating the communication gap between teens and parents.  One of the ideas on the town council is funding (or not funding) an addiction clinic that supplies methadone to heroin addicts.  People are divided on this issue.  Small town gossip is another area of Pagford that is developed and we learn that the harshest, most judgmental citizens are so harsh because of their own issues.  I loved this story. Next month I need to present some books as possibilities in my book club meeting and I think I'll put this book on the list.

Lars And The Real Girl

You would think that a movie about a guy and a blow up doll would be rude and crude.  "Lars And The Real Girl" is about the sweetest movie I have ever seen. Set in a small town (not sure if this is in Wisconsin or Canada) the relationship between Lars and his girlfriend Bianca changes them and the people around them.  Ryan Gosling is awesome as Lars.  The movie illustrates the  healing power of acceptance.  I loved it.  I didn't want it to end.

Super Moon Lunacy?

Do you believe that the full moon affects our behavior?  In my years of human services, I've always believed it to be true.  We had a super moon on Saturday and I tell you, I think lunacy was afoot.  I was sleeping in a state park in a tent with Offspring #2.  Next to us was a sibling's tent with her two sons and her two golden retrievers.  As we all settle down to go to sleep, Offspring #2 and I get the giggles.  Again.  We do this in tents and I don't know why.  As conversation among the humans slowed down and dropped off, conversation among the barred owls picked up.  This is not the time for barred owls to mate and most likely their offspring have fledged.  So maybe the parent owls were communicating advice to their young.  And the young owls were hooting back, "Yeah, yeah, I know!"  A white cat with a black tail and black eye brows had been skulking around our campsite.  Now that we went to bed it felt free to walk around our tents searching for snacks.  We could hear it out there and see it in the light of the full moon. So that was the scene - tall trees, a full moon, a cat, and owls.  I was in that state of being partly asleep and partly aware when I heard wings beating against the fabric of the tent right by my head.  The wings pushed against the tent fabric 6 or 8 times.  I screamed.  I yelled, "It's got me!  The owl has got me!"  And then I woke up wondering why I screamed and why I thought an owl got me.  It didn't make sense. Where would I get such a crazy idea?  But I had the adrenalin and panic of a real situation.  Offspring #2 sat up and asked what could she do.  I could hear the fear in her voice.  In the next tent my sibling jumped up to a standing position while her two golden retrievers jumped into her sleeping bag. Man, she acts quick in an emergency.  It would have taken me a full 3 minutes to get to a standing position.  This situation had all the comedy of a sit-com.  We established we were all safe.  No one was hurt.  No one had been attacked by owls or cats or anything.  Nobody was bleeding.  Both tents were still intact.  The excitement of panic morphed into comedy.  While we all giggled we tried to figure out what happened.  In the other tent one nephew heard something outside and kicked at the tent repeatedly to scare it away (leading me to believe a bird was brushing it's wings against the tent fabric and since it's night it must be an owl, right?)  His panic was transferred to my apparently open mind by the light of the full moon and I took it from there and scared the bejeezus out of the entire campsite.  I'm still giggling as I blog about it.  My sibling shooed her dogs out of her sleeping bag and laid back down while we all giggled and tried to shake the panic and go back to sleep.  I apologized for screaming.  I don't scream at night otherwise.  I've never woke up screaming before.  What was going on?  The absurdity of it all stuck with me and for a full hour I had to stifle my giggles so the others could sleep.  It's hard for me to stifle giggles when I'm in a giggly mood so I tried to calm down by reviewing the cast of the Flintstones and as many episodes as I could remember.  Normally aches and pains keep me up at night so having the giggles, although it was a problem, was a refreshing change.  Oh, man, it might be best for me to sleep in the house during the next super moon.

Rice Lake

I went camping this weekend at a state park near Owatonna.  We had a few hours of rain but other than that the weather was nice.

This state park has a problem with invasive parsnip.  These 5 foot tall plants with yellow "dill like" flowers can cause a blistering rash upon contact.  I didn't touch any.  The edges of the prairie and all the ditches are full of parsnip.

We also saw some Michigan lilies in bloom.

What is not to love about camping?  I can tell you - the mosquitoes.  Clouds and clouds of mosquitoes buzz around Rice Lake state park.  Mosquitoes come in herds, in waves, in hordes and by the thousands.  Even though I brought my head net I have more mosquito bites on me than I have ever had in my life.  The mosquito population can make a person not want to get out of the car.  Despite heavy use of insecticides we all got bit. A bite alone isn't bad but it's the slap you give yourself that hurts worse.  Worst are the hits that leave a bloody mark and carcass on your skin.  In between swatting mosquitoes we did have some fun too.  Food always tastes better cooked over an open fire.  Our campsite was a walk-in site set in tall oaks from where we  could see through the trees to a wetland behind us and a prairie in front of us.  We had lots of bird calls to listen to including common yellow throat, a murder of crows, robins, bluebirds, grackles, and goldfinches.  Some of us explored Rice Lake with the kayak.  It's a shallow lake full of reeds and rice with a few spots of open water.  This lake is the headwaters of the Zumbro River.  I looked for but could not find where the river let out.  Too much vegetation blocked my view.  I felt lucky to find my way back through the tall reeds to the boat landing. One nice thing about being on the lake was the freedom from the whine of mosquitoes.  Rice Lake was a great place to watch the super moon rise above the prairie and shine down on us through the oaks.

Awwwww!

I challenge you to watch this video to the very end without laughing out loud.

Summer

"And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of
leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in
fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that
life was beginning over again with the summer." F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)

The Vows of Silence

My book club read The Vows of Silence by Susan Hill.  Most of the members enjoy mysteries.  I don't.  I read the first two chapters, then the last two chapters, and finally the middle chapters.  I prefer non-mysterious mysteries.  Just tell me who did it and I'll go on from there.  Another reason I don't like mysteries is all the violence; specifically shootings in this case.  So I'm not a fan of this book.  I still enjoyed the discussion, learning more about the author, boning up on British slang, and discussing the plot. 

Horrified Fascination . . . Again

I See A Lot Of Salad In My Future

I picked up my second CSA shipment today in the pouring rain.  I got a dozen small red potatoes, chives, red lettuce, romaine lettuce, kale, beans, and peas.  I used the kale in a frittata today but I see many salads in my future.  Potatoes can keep.  Beans and peas can be frozen.  But lettuce has to be eaten quickly.  This CSA will certainly be good for my health!

Back In The Saddle Again

I didn't get to bed until 1 a.m. so I slept in this morning.  I got a call asking if I wanted to join a group of friends on a motorcycle trip.  I hopped right up and got ready for my first real bike trip since last year.  Two guys picked me up and we traveled to Andover to pick up another friend.  We headed north and east through Ham Lake and Forest Lake and North Branch.  My bike runs good now that the carburetor was cleaned.  I have much less backfiring so maybe the carburetor always needed cleaning.  The only problem was that the speedometer cable wasn't reattached so I had no idea how fast I was going.  Since I wasn't the leader it really didn't matter and actually it was freeing not to have to watch my speed.  I felt a couple twinges of lack of power but I put that out of my mind.  I go into denial so easily.  But when the bike died denial doesn't work anymore.  Now I realized those twinges were my clue that I needed to turn the gas lever to reserve.  I pulled over and flipped the switch and we proceeded to the closest gas station where I filled up with fresh gas.  One of my friends attached the speedometer cable and now I could see how fast I was going.  We took the back road and came into Taylor's Falls from the north.  The view as we turned a corner and saw the St. Croix river valley was truly majestic.  Traffic in Taylor's Falls is always jammed because of an odd three way intersection.  As I idled in a traffic jam I saw a man sitting in a coffee shop reading a book.  He was on the second floor of an old house.  He was seated in a comfy chair in the turret with a great view of the town.  I thought to myself that looks like fun but I'm having more fun.  We crossed the border into Wisconsin.  We traveled through St. Croix Falls, Dresser and Osceola.  Back in Minnesota we stopped to rest in Marine on the St. Croix.  We took the awesome road #4 which has a tree canopy and tunnel under a railroad bridge.  We came out on Highway 61 through Hugo, Forest Lake, Columbus, Ham Lake, Andover, and back home in Ramsey.  Wow, a four hour ride makes me hungry, thirsty, exhausted and so very satisfied.  It felt great to be back in the saddle again.  

Frogs and Toads

Last night was the third and final frog and toad survey.  This means the 2014 frog and toad season is over and I am allowed to forget the frog calls until next April.  Kinda sad that it's over already.  We had good weather.  The breeze kept the mosquitoes at bay at most of the stops.  But at some spots the mosquitoes were so thick we were almost scared to get out of the car.  I had a headnet to wear.  I looked dorky as heck in my bib overalls, orange headnet and thick orange shirt but the only mosquito bites I got were on my hands.  We heard tree frogs most frequently.  We heard green frogs sing their song that sounds like a loose banjo string at several stops.  And we heard a mink frog at one stop.  One person in our group had never been herping before so that was fun to have her along.  The fireflies put on a majestic show.  We heard veerys calling and lots of red winged blackbirds.  Some kind of creature called right close to the ditch where we were standing.  I don't know what that was but it sounded close and I backed up a few feet.  I suspected it was a mammal but it might have been a rail (bird that lives in the slew).  But in the dark on a deserted gravel road I didn't want to take any chances that what ever it was would come out and bite my foot.  Aside from the fears and the mosquitoes it was a good night to be outside in the dark, admiring the stars and the fire flies and seeing what I could hear. 

Swiper. No Swiping!

  In the past week I've learned much about the fox bothering my chickens. All the neighbors are on the look out and give me information about it.  Right next to me lives a woman with grandchildren and she has named the fox Swiper.  She even has a little figurine of Swiper in her living room.  Since she is the first person to give this animal a name that is fit to say in public, I'm going along with it.  The fox's name is now Swiper even though there are probably two adult and 3 young fox hanging around.  Yesterday, after I had just cut up a tasty watermelon and was about to enjoy it, Offspring #2 spotted Swiper in the grassy area east of the chicken coop taking a fox nap in the sun.  It was sleeping in my yard!   Swiper, what audacity you have.  So I got my slingshot out.  It took me 5 minutes to get the larger BB's out of the package but the fox napped through that delay.  I went out on the deck and angrily pulled back on the slingshot.  I was a little high and to the right.  I missed Swiper by mere inches.  Swiper heard the shot and put up it's head.  The second shot was also high and to the right but enough to make Swiper stand up in alarm giving me more to aim at.  My third shot tore a hole in a leaf to the left of Swiper and Swiper took off running with the white tail tip showing.  We walked over to the spot Swiper took the nap.  What was I looking for?  A fox pillow and comforter?  A book and a pair of glasses?  All we saw was a sunny spot where the long grass had been matted down to make a soft bed for a fox nap.  Dang Swiper!  Swiper!  No swiping!

The Heiress

Last night a friend invited me to go to the Jungle Theater to see "The Heiress."  What a play!  The year is 1850.  So this is 3 years before Minnesota became a state and around the time of the civil war.  Gas is piped into the walls to light the lamps.  Servants are sent across town to deliver messages in carriages pulled by horses.  The Heiress is named Catherine and she lives with her father.  Her suitor - is he truly in love with her or is he a scoundrel?  Her father - does he have her best interests at heart or is he punishing her for the death of her mother in childbirth?  The actress who plays Catherine does a really fine job emoting shyness, sudden realization of the truths, and cold, calculating emotional detachment.  The overall tone of the play is sad but there are many funny moments.  The emotional dynamics between the players is what fascinated me the most.  As Catherine's eyes open and her mind absorbs the truth of the motivations of the people near and dear to her, she changes.  She changes a lot.  She is not the same character at all.  Also fun were the costumes.  Oh, the dresses were so lovely.  The men looked nice in their breeches, long coats and top hats.  The scenery was nice- the parlor of a wealthy home on Washington Square.  Every act takes place in the parlor and it's just the time and people who change.  The Jungle Theater is actually smaller than the theater in Anoka.  The theater itself is worth a visit because the lobby is very plush and decorated art deco style.  I definitely want to return to this theater again. 

Nature Girl

I chose this book for the cover.  I liked the bright yellow background and the girl kayaking.   But Nature Girl by humor novelist Carl Hiaasen isn't about nature and isn't about kayaking.  I think the actual kayaking takes place in two paragraphs.  As typical of a Hiaasen novel, the characters are numerous and the plot is complicated, confusing, and funny.  There is always a dangerous scene at the end that involves all the characters and this book is no exception.  Hiaasen portrays most people from Florida as rude and thoughtless.  I'm sure he exaggerates but it makes for fun reading.

Seriously Doc? Seriouslly?

http:  //www.health.harvard.edu/blog/expert-panel-says-healthy-women-dont-need-yearly-pelvic-exam-201407027250

Seriously?  I didn't need those annual pelvic exams?  Seriously?  There was no medical reason?  What the heck?  I'll never get back all that time spent in stirrups!  Why could this not have been discovered 40 years ago?  I ask you!  Seriously?

Prairie

Last week I visited the Chippewa Prairie out near Lac Qi Parle.  This prairie has been grazed but never tilled.  The topsoil goes down more than 5 feet.  The diversity of plants and animals is very high.  As we walked through the prairie picking off wood ticks, bobolinks, Eastern meadowlarks, and grass hopper sparrows graced us with their presence.  I've never lived on a prairie.  One advantage there is you can see storms coming hours before they arrive.  Trees don't get in the way of your view of the clouds nor the stars.

Prairie smoke is still blooming here although all the seeds have flown away.

There is lots of beauty here on the prairie but now that I have studied the 3 major biomes of Minnesota I have to say that an oak savannah holds the most interest in my search of natural beauty.