Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween!

In keeping with the spirit of the day, I thought I would post the pic I've been using this week in lieu of my usual avatar, the happy frog.


This is a Surinam horned frog. A quote from the article I read: "Surinam horned frogs are also known as pac-man frogs, due to their large mouths which are 1.6 times wider than the length of their body. They are mostly nocturnal and live among the leaf litter in the rain forest area of the Amazon Basin of South America. This species are avid feeders, employing a sit-and-wait ambush on their prey."
This one is doing a good job in the "sit-and-wait" category.
I guess the reason this particular article caught my attention when I saw the picture posted on Yahoo the other day was that they said the Bronx Zoo gives pumpkins to animals every year "as a form of behavioral enrichment to stimulate animals both mentally and physically".
Now, I'm all about loving critters, but I can honestly say I would have NEVER thought about giving a pumpkin to an animal to "stimulate" them either mentally or physically. This led me to do a little research. I googled "zoo pumpkins to animals" and was surprised to find a number of zoos that give pumpkins to their animals every year, particularly to elephants, chimps, gorillas, bears and such. They even have an annual "Pumpkin Bash" event at one zoo in Washington.
I've read about several other zoos that have assorted pumpkin smashing events and the animals seem to get into it.

I love the hippo!



The bear seems to be getting into it as well.


And you have to admit, this does look like a mentally and physically stimulated frog.
Someone out there decided "Hey, you know what? I'll bet if we give pumpkins to the animals, they will be mentally and physically stimulated!"
Or, it was the result of one of those studies the government spends a gazillion dollars on.
Either way, all over the world right at this moment, there are a lot of behaviorilly enriched, mentally and physically stimulated animals!
Happy Halloween!

Thursday, October 30, 2008

If I were a lizard...



...I'd want to live here.

We have a flower bed outside my office that is absolutely bursting with colors. Over the summer, I have watched the lizards hoping through the leaves and blossoms, happily munching on insects.

I've often looked into the flower bed and watched a tiny lizard jump from one plant to another, grab a tiny insect and munch it down. I got to thinking what an amazing place this must seem to such a tiny creature.

I mean, seriously, how cool would it be to come out of your tiny little egg and find yourself in an awesome, flower-filled jungle, with very little chance of a predator finding you and making lunch out of you?

No cats around to bite your tail off. No real competition for food other than your little brother and sister lizards. You'd have it made!




Then, I get to thinking, how weird is it that I think about what a lizard feels and thinks? Is it strange to apply human thoughts and feelings to a tiny little amphibian? Maybe. But it is who I am and what I do. Some people find God in church and in other things. I see God in every blossom in the bed. In every little lizard that hops freely between the plants, living his ultra secure life in such a beautiful place.


Quite frankly, I think more people should take the time to do a little lizard watching. Maybe they would appreciate God's work just a little bit more.




Wednesday, October 29, 2008

What's wrong with my legs?

Hi. My name is Trip. Since my Aunt Dhcoop doesn't seem to be in the mood to write, I hijacked her blog for a bit.

I'm not sure if my momma was a labrador or a Jack Russell Terrier, but I know that she was one or the other. The people at PetSmart told my female human that much. But they didn't really know much else about me.
If my momma was a lab, then my dad was a very ambitious Jack Russell. If my momma was a Jack Russell, then my daddy probably should be jailed as a pervert. For that reason, I like to believe that my mom was the lab and my dad was overly ambitious. That makes me feel better.

One way or the other, I was "shorted" in the leg department. I have bulk. Not much on speed. But, by golly, I am SOLID. No, I don't know my heritage, but I'm one tough mamma jamma. See me here putting some of my mojo on my puppy niece Meg?





I may only be 5 months old, but this 7 month old British Fox Red Lab puppy ain't got NUTHIN on me!


My Aunt coop laughs at me. She thinks my legs are funny looking. Hey, it's not my fault! I did the best I could with what I had to work with! And, what really matters is I can run with the big dogs.




Monday, October 27, 2008

Little Pitchers...


You know the old saying, little pitchers have big ears? Well, they also have big eyes and big brains and big mouths. I looked that saying up this morning because it kept coming to mind after my experience Saturday night. It basically means that people should be careful what they say around children. The saying comes from the resemblence of the ear to the handle of a pitcher.

Saturday night in the kitchen at my mother's house, I was busy doing something at the sink and listening to my son-in-law proudly talking about how my youngest granddaughter (7) told him the other night how she would be able to read the book he was reading by the end of the year. He's currently working on a 500+page book of the writings of Edgar Allan Poe. Apparently, her teacher had told the class that by the end of this year, they would be able to read anything their parents could read.

Well, the book I am currently reading was laying on the bar. It is the autobiography of Saul Hudson, or "Slash" for those of you familiar with Guns N Roses (my daughter had a huge crush on Slash when she was a teen so I wanted to read the book). I was busily slicing bell peppers and onions and heard the Peanut say "what's this word?" and my SIL answered "weed". Apparently she pointed to another word and I heard him say "bust". "weed bust". I whipped around and realized the Peanut had the book "Slash" open in front of her and she was intently trying to read it. Holy Smokes! I've read enough of the book to be thankful that she wasn't pointing to a four letter word that begins with "f", and I don't mean food.

I quickly said, "Peanut, let me find you a better book to read" and went running down the hall to my father's closet that also serves as a library. I came back with The Adventures of Peter Rabbit and The Complete Tales and Poems of Winnie-the-Pooh. We went and sat on the couch and she started reading Peter Rabbit to me.

Did you know that in something like the third paragraph of that story the momma rabbit is warning the kiddy rabbits not to go into a certain garden because their daddy did and had an "accident" and is being baked in a pie?!? Damn! I didn't remember that AT ALL! I don't want my little Peanut reading about traumatized little rabbits whose dad was eaten in a pie!

About that time, Dad said supper was ready so we put the book down. Thank goodness for small favors, huh?

Anyway, the whole Peter Rabbit thing was just an aside because it freaked me out just about as much as her saying "weed bust". But the real moral of the story is, not only do you have to be careful about what you SAY around children, but be careful of what you leave lying around when they are in an extra hungry mood for reading material.

I can just hear the little Peanut in class today asking her teacher, "What is a weed bust? I was reading my Grandy's book this weekend..."

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Photography at 50


I wondered what would happen if I took a picture going up the Natchez Trace at 50 miles an hour with the window rolled down. This is the result. It is an area of the Trace that is a swampy area where I believe a tornado went through a few years ago and I've always found the trees to be interesting looking. My analysis is that it would be best to come to a complete stop before taking a shot.
The drive up to KO was absolutely beautiful this morning. There were several times I wanted to stop and take pictures, but didn't. I was facinated by the steam coming off the big rolls of hay in the fields; the red tints on the east side of the cypress trees near the reservoir; the lone great blue heron squatting in the shallows of the water. All were beautiful, but for now, are pictures in my mind.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Super Scribbler


I've been tagged for this award by MrsH, who authors Mrs. H. At Large. I must say this is quite an honor. Unfortunately, most of the people I would choose to tag have already been tagged, so I'm going to have to change the rules a bit.

I am not nearly the writer that some of my fellow bloggers are, but I do enjoy having a place to express my feelings and show off pictures from time to time.
If Mrs H had not already tagged Jen and Johnny Beaver, I would have picked them as two of my choices to tag, and certainly Mrs H herself since I enjoy reading her blog as well. Others already tagged that I read and enjoy are Stacey, Supermom, Clucky, Watercolor and Old Bopper. But, since they have already received the award, I choose:

1. Cardinallady. Our resident reporter blogger. Cardinallady is a writer by profession and you can tell it on her blog. Her posts are heartfelt and sometimes invoke memories I haven't thought of in years.

2. tgtank. I've never met her, but I feel like she's an old friend. Her blog, Tanks Getaway, is filled with her thoughts and feelings and pictures of her beautiful girls.

3. Mrs. Jones. Now, this one is really special. I've never known such an articulate feline. Her blog, Feline Observations, contains brief, concise posts about what's happening in her life with her humans and other creatures. And, she types really well for a cat!
  • Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.
  • Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.
  • Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to This Post, which explains The Award.
  • Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we'll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor!
  • Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

An OH SH!T Moment?



Sure looks like it.



Gracie just can't quite bring herself to like Scooter, although she is much more tolerant of her than she was when she moved in with us. But when Scooter jumped up on to Gracie's "spot", she didn't like it very much. Since Scooter can't hear ANYTHING, no amount of growling or hissing gets the point across that she isn't welcome. And, bless her heart, Scooter wasn't trying to start any trouble, she was just jumping up there to say Hi! to Gracie. Not good.



I loved the picture because it captured the very second before Gracie hissed and flew off her perch to her chair, where she settled down and stared at me like 'WHY DID YOU LET THAT CREATURE INTO OUR HOME" and 'I'M NOT HAPPY WITH YOU AT THE MOMENT". See the look?



I get that regularly.

Confederate Rose

I was up at my parents when the confederate rose in their yard was in all it's glory. I took a ton of pictures and created a screensaver for them. I used this pic to set as the desktop wallpaper on their computer. They were thrilled.


I believe they got their original cuttings of this plant from Big Sis in the UAE (well, the cuttings didn't come from the UAE, but from Crystal Springs when she was living there).



ANYWAY, I decided this morning to post a few of the pics so that Big Sis could see them. She'll be home in a few weeks and I'm SOO EXCITED! I can't wait to see her. But Big Sis, until you get home, here's a couple more of the shots I took of the confederate rose.



Wednesday, October 22, 2008

The Great Pumpkin likes Cats

I took this pic last night when Ringo and Scooter decided to take a prolonged nap on my leg. I held the camera way out and thought a got a pretty good shot. Upon looking at it today on the computer, I realized that it looks like a deflated Great Pumpkin is about to eat my cats.




Ok, I know I'm a little heavy, but please keep in mind this shirt is HUGE so it's not all me under the scary face.



They were just so precious, I couldn't resist!




This is my favorite of my snuggle-buddies.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

I want to be...

Gracie. That's what I want to be today. Sprawled out on the hassock (not calling it an ottoman for certain reasons) with my frog blanket.

Yep, Gracie has it made. 24/7 food and water. Comfy places to lounge. A human to hold her and stroke her when she wants it, but not when she doesn't.

Yessiree. I'd trade places with her today. Wonder if she could get my desk cleaned off?

Monday, October 20, 2008

The Frog Farm



One of the highlights of my visit to the Crystal Springs Fall Flower Show Saturday, in addition to seeing several MRBA, was finding a little booth marked Frog Farm. There was a really nice lady there that handed me a card describing "Frog Farm Collection"


"Finely sculptured by hand one at a time, each piece is a true work of art and one of lasting delight. But art is a very personal thing, so, at the Frog Farm Studio/Garden, we make many colors and three sizes available for your specific taste. That way, every folk art sulpture is an original piece created for you. For a look, come to: The Frog Farm Sculpture Garden, where frogs, other amphibians, birds, and reptiles frolic. Located in: Historic Harriston, 186 Old Highway 61, 2.5 miles off Highway 61 South, Harriston, MS 601-786-6448"

She also had a photo album of this place and there were some really cool extra large sculptures of frogs, snakes, birds, etc. I think it would be worth a road trip some day.

This little bugger caught my eye and I had to have it:

I think he looks really cute sitting amongst some bird sculptures I have (and right next to the oil lamp I bought from Watercolor's father at Chimneyville last year)


I love frogs, but don't actually "collect" them, although I do have friends occasionally give me frog things. This is just a piece of frog art that I found cute and I wanted it. It'll be a reminder of a beautiful day when I got to meet new friends and enjoy this incredible weather.





Sunday, October 19, 2008

WHA?

Do you see cute gourds painted like pumpkins with little ghosts on top? Well, that's not what one little old lady saw when she looked at them.


My friend, Bellasera, and I were having lunch at the Crystal Springs Flower Show yesterday. Bellasera had bought a cute little painted pumpkin (actually, I think it's the one on the far left in the pic) and I made a picture of this little grouping.


The ladies at the table were admiring B's pumpkin so I pulled this pic up on my camera to show them. One of the ladies said "looks like Ku Klux Klan on top" or something to that effect. I'm not sure her exact words since my brain froze when she said KKK.


WHA??? How in the world would ANYONE's mind go to the KKK when looking at a cute gourd painted like a pumkin with a ghost on top? It just blew me away.


Anyway, I had a great time seeing my parents and Crystalbutterfly, and meeting Bellasera, clstigger and mickeymouselover for the first time. The flowers were absolutely beautiful, as was the weather.


Bellasera and I weren't really sure how to react to the lady's comment. Maybe she has some memory that I can't even comprehend. Hell, I don't WANT to comprehend it. Bless her heart.



Friday, October 17, 2008

Night Visitor



When I first moved to this little house in the country, I adopted an outdoor stray cat, which meant I was leaving food outside, while continuing to feed my kids indoors.
One night, I heard a commotion on the side porch and heard what sounded like the plate falling from the table I had been feeding Jewel (the stray) on. Sure enough, I went out the back door and saw a young possum coming around the corner headed to the back porch. I watched him proceed to climb up my fishing rod (he was fairly small) on to a table. I had just cleaned the litter box earlier and the double bagged doody was sitting on that table to be later taken to the garbage. The little booger started fondling that bag and I thought Oh no you don't! I'm not going to be cleaning up the mess you'll make when you tear this bag open! So I walked on out to the table. Now, keep in mind that possums don't have great vision. The little one didn't even see me coming. He had a hold on the bag and I reached over and grabbed the handles and pulled. After a brief game of tug-of-war with this little possum, he finally looked up and saw me. You've never seen how fast a possum can run when they want to! He flew off that porch in a flash and I took the doody bag on out to the garbage.



Well, anyway, it seems that the little possum has been thriving on the Purina Cat Chow I provide.














He looks quite healthy. Shiny coat and all. I ran him off three times last night and finally gave up.




Oh well, all God's creatures gotta eat, right?


Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Find the lizard

Can you find the lizard in this picture?

oops!

I usually take pretty much the same route every morning coming in to work. But, you know how sometimes you are led to do something for some reason you don't know? Well, I believe that's just what happened this morning.

Instead of taking my usual left on to DG road, something told me to proceed down LPG road to M road, then on to the highway. So, I did. Shortly after crossing DG road, I see what appears to be a horse approaching me FAST. My window kept fogging up so I was fighting with wipers and the defroster when I realized there was NO ONE ON THE HORSE!!

I knew that I had to alert someone that there was a horse running wild because this time of morning, there are school buses everywhere and all kinds of cars speeding to work. Actually, there shouldn't be a horse running wild ANY time of the day, but that's not the issue. Someone had to be told.

I had slowed WAY down for fear it would run out in front of me, then I see two huge bucket trucks approaching. I started frantically blinking my lights till I saw them slowing down. They had seen the animal. I grabbed my phone out of my purse, flipped it open and hit the "S" to get to the Sheriff's department number I had stored.

Now, I must digress a moment. This particular phone used to be my lil sis'. My phone died one weekend when I was up in Attala county with her and she had a spare since my BIL had just bought her an iphone. I put my sims card in it and I had a new phone. The thing is, it has all of her numbers stored in the phone memory. Adding my sims card meant that there are a whole bunch of duplicate numbers and entries. Oh well... I'll get around to deleting them some day.

So...I have hit the "S" and see the entry for "Sheriff" and hit the button. Keep in mind that I'm now driving very slowly down a country road, trying to look in my rear view mirror to make sure the galloping horse hasn't caused a school bus to crash.

RING RING RING

Lady: Sheriff's department
Me: I'm on LPG road between DG and M and there is a horse galloping down the road.
Lady: What county are you in?
Me: uh Hinds
Lady: WHAT county are you in?
Me: HINDS!
Lady: *chuckle* Honey, you've called the Attala County jail.
Me: I'm sorry!

I hung up and said some bad words. Then, instead of trying to once again locate the "S" and figure out MY Sheriff entry, I just called 911. I got a very nice dispatcher who immediately recognized the road names I was giving out and said me calling was absolutely the right thing to do.

Needless to say, it's time to clean some numbers out of my phone.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

49 and Grounded

This weekend was really tough for a dear friend of mine and I had agreed to go see the movie Beverly Hills Chihuahua on Monday night. Unfortunately, I made that commitment without thinking about the fact that my normal Monday night routine involves watching Dancing with the Stars...with my Mom. I usually call about every other commercial break and we talk about the dance, the costumes, and the scores. Well...at some point today I realized I was going to miss DWTS because of the movie commitment, and fully intended to call Mom and give her a heads up. Then, I forgot...

I have expressed my feelings for the MRBA (Marshall Ramsey Bloggerholics Anonymous) on more than one occasion, and now have a new reason. The MRBA kept my Mom from having a heart attack. Well, maybe not literally, but here's what happened...

I told the blog early in the day that me and friend were going to see the BHC movie that evening. I NEVER go to the movies so that, in itself, was unusual. Then, right before logging off for the day, I posted "Well, folks, it's off to the movies for me. TTFN!"

DWTS begins, and after a couple of dances, I haven't called Mom. She gets concerned. After four dances, she's really worried and she tries to call me. No answer. Of course my phone is on silent because I'm at the MOVIES. Then she calls lil sis in a panic because I haven't called, and am not answering my phone (because it's on SILENT). Lil sis tries to call and of course doesn't get me because MY PHONE IS ON SILENT BECAUSE I'M AT THE MOVIE.

So then, lil sis has enough sense to think "she would have told the blog where she was heading. Let me check the blog!" Eureka! So, she logs on and sees my last entry. Knowing that I NEVER go to the movies, she knew I wouldn't be flippant about a comment like that and assumed it was real. But, she still posted a request for confirmation (at this point she had not gone back early enough in the day to see my affirmative comment about which movie I was actually going to).

Thank goodness Bellasera responded and confirmed I was, in fact, going to the movies. So...lil sis calls Mom and tells her where I am which comforts her somewhat.

ANYWAY...I came out of the movie and had missed calls from both lil sis and Mom & Dad and knew I had some splainin to do! I called lil sis first and was given the Readers Digest version of You are In So Much Trouble, then I called Mom & Dad. I explained what had happened and after Mom finished letting me know that I had scared her half to death, she happily proceeded to give me a recap of the whole show (including scores since she keeps notes). All was well.

I called lil sis back and she laughingly said "So, are you grounded?"

I'm 49 years old. My life includes watching DWTS on Monday night on the phone with my parents. People I've never met know my whereabouts when my own family does not. Funny? Hell yes!

Once again I'm thankful for the MRBA because we keep up with each other to the extent that when my parents couldn't find me someone knew where I was.

Oh, and for the record, the movie was great! Not like anything I had ever seen. Good story, good cinematography. I give it a large bag!

Mom is looking forward to meeting some of the MRBA in Crystal Springs this weekend at the Fall Show. Should be interesting. She is fully expecting I will get a scolding for not having let her know I would be out of pocket Monday night. Lil sis is gleefully awating the comments about me being my age but still in trouble for not checking in.

Oh well...at least I got the Senior Citizens discount at the movie!

TTFN!

Saturday, October 11, 2008

What the HECK??


I'm sitting here at 6:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning (now typing at 12:30 p.m.) wide awake. I woke up at 3:30, stopped up and with a sore throat, cussing my boss who has been coming to work sick and I'm wondering if I'm coming down with something. Now I'm wide awake and have been writing (yes, HAND writing) on a note pad - I don't have internet access at home) some blog posts I want to do later when I can get to a computer.

Suddenly, I see I have what appears to be a yellow jacket flying around the light I'm sitting next to. I'm pretty much the type to hate killing insects, but a stinging wasp in my home is fair game. So, I picked up my Audubon Field Guide to North American Birds that sits beside me and whacked the crap out of it and it fell to the floor.

I continued writing, and a short time later, I saw that, apparently, I had not killed it, because it was up flying around again. DAMN! It finally landed again on the wall near me and I hit it again. This time with more force. THEN I realized that I had, in fact, an already dead yellow jacket on the floor. So, this HAD to be a second one. WTH?? Where are they coming from??

By this time, Scooter, my little blessed deafasapost kittie, is facinated by mommy banging a book on the wall (and then the floor when it wouldn't die) and decides to investigate. I hear a BZZZZ and Scooter makes an EXTREMELY hasty exit from the room and out the cat door. I managed to kill another one and it landed in my extremely campy camel ashtray that Big Sis in the UAE sent me (see pic if I manage to upload it). There is now another flying around inside my colorfully painted lamp shade (another pic if I manage to load it).

WTH??? Where are they coming from?? Why do I suddenly have four or five yellow jackets in my house at 6 o'clock in the morning?? Or any time?? Is there a nest in the wall and they are coming out of the face plate?? I know it's not flush with the wall, but I didn't see them come out, WTH??? I just don't know

Well, Scooter just came back in and is licking her left front paw and I think it looks a little swollen. Bless her heart.

I don't know what's going on and how they are getting in, but I hope it stops!!!

Um is contagious

I was trying to listen to an interview on NPR last night with some man and woman that are supposed to be experts on the subject of the economy and found that I was so distracted by the number of "um"s being used by the man being interviewed that I wasn't hearing what he was saying. "blah blah, um blah , um, blah, um, blah blah" GOOD GRIEF!! Where did this guy come from?!? The worst part is that it's not the first time I've heard this dude being interviewed on NPR. I didn't have anything to write his name on the first time and didn't catch the name last night, but since he is supposedly some "expert" of some type on the economy...WTF??? Maybe THAT's what's wrong! Nobody can listen to these guys!

I also observed that not too long in to the interview, the woman who, at the beginning, was extremely well spoken, started doing it. Not as bad but she started using "um" more and more as the interview went on.

THEN, the NPR commentator doing the interview started doing it! Before long, the whole thing is:

NPR: blah blah, um blah um blah blah um blah?
Man: blah um blah um blah blah um
Woman: blah blah blah blah um blah

WTF???

My conclusion is that "um" is contagious and is the reason for our economy's downfall.

As I sit here now writing this (I was writing on a notepad, now I'm typing), I had sort of tuned out the TV. I thought I was through writing and started watching a bit of the Wall Street Journal Report and I SAW it happen!! Radio is one thing. You are HEARING it. This time, I SAW it! The discussion had something to do with education and school vouchers and the Commentator, Maria something or other was interviewing the Governor of somewhere (Roy Romer?) and a Michelle Rey (?). The Guv is doing fine then Michelle starts adding "um" and "uh" more and more, then the Guv caught it, THEN, by the time they got to the last question, the Commentator was doing it! "Blah blah um, uh, blah uh, blah?

I'm telling you. It's contagious!!!

New Blog

Now I just have to figure out how this sucker works and get my font, background, etc., set the way I want it. hmmm

Blogging

I have decided that I want to set up a blog outside the Clarion Ledger site. I think one of the things that has been keeping me from opening up on my thoughts, issues, whatever, is that when I do, it ends up on the front page of the CL for a while. There may be times when I want that to happen, but I think I would do better with a blog that didn't advertise every time I want to say something.