micro balance

I just read an article that spoke of America's obsession with clean and what this may be doing to people's bodies. So in an effort to control my allergies and boost my immune system I will continue to adhere to the expectations of cleanliness that I do. At work in a food plant the company has (and we adhere to) high standards of hygiene and cleanliness. I have made every effort to balance this environment with my home environment. Therefore, Pene will continue to sleep on the bed, dust bunnies will continue to lodge themselves in the corners, and I will wash the floor when I am interested in seeing the original color again.

peppered 'paintings'

back to Wisconsin

Dad's John Deere went to NM with us and is now back again. It was a bit difficult to unload - the frost on the trailer didn't help anything..)





Even Pene was a bit paranoid. (Okay, Pen is often a bit paranoid)

Aragorn and Aerosmith

I've been rewatching the LOTR trilogy this weekend. I'm nearly finished with 'The Two Towers', but I'm going to go to bed and will miss the not-so-grand ending until tomorrow. To recap - Two Towers has the scenes of Aragorn and Arwen separating so that he can go off and save the world and she can go off and not be subjected to the nastiness of war, evil, and
despair. When I left the movie and came back in my room Pandora was playing 'Don't Want to Miss a Thing' - the love theme through the movie Armageddon - which also features Liv Tyler as the leading love-crossed gal. It was humorous and disturbing as my mind conjured up an all new music video for 'Don't Want to Miss a Thing' - featuring Aragorn and Arwen, Aerosmith, and all the grandeur of Middle Earth. Steve Tyler looks like he could belong in Middle Earth - probably not as Liv Tyler's father though - that would be coincidental to be realistic.

Until it's personal

Standing in friends' garage I nearly hyperventilated as a meadow mouse scurried towards the center of the room and was consequently nearly stomped to death by one of the boys. I claimed that my massive intake of air had been in concern for the mouse and not in alarm at it's sudden appearance. It was of course explained to me that they are a nuisance as they tear out the insulation and they need to not live in the garage. I still didn't point out where the mouse had gone when he headed across the back of the garage a second time.

After lunch we worked with Sheryl and Mark to clean out the U-Haul.
We found that Hunca Munca and Tom Thumb had been there first and apparently, a bit longer. Our Fisher toys from the 1980s looked liked they had housed families of mice for years. I'm afraid that they interiors will have to be completely redone to rectify the damage. The little people themselves are going to be fine. I ran them through the dishwasher, and then ran all the dishes again just for good measure. Perhaps my soft heart for mice has to do with my pack rat tendencies, or just the fact that they are so cute. But I really don't think there is much in this world that smells worse than years of mouse urine. After today I think I may settle to post 'No Trespassing' signs and then let the mice fend for themselves- I'll be helping along the evolution of mice.

The upcoming Wisconsin holiday (deer-hunting season) is bringing another childhood 'friend' to the forefront of my mind. Which is a beautiful image - until I hit one with my car.

haycorns and hot cocoa

Haycorn wars and repeatedly well-made hot cocoa. Family devotions and playing with hair. Good bye hugs and staying up too late. It is the little things of life that make life so worthwhile.

glue boards don't just catch crickets

It took in excess of half an hour to free this guy from the glue trap that was supposed be trapping crickets at my door. I was certain that we wouldn't be able to get him off. He had wrapped his body around the trap, encircling it and then affixed a few inches of his tail as well. The upper portion of him looked like he was skinned - the skin was so spread out from the body stuck to the glue. I couldn't remove even his tail. With a lot of dish detergent (careful to keep any from getting in his mouth) and delicate persistence on the part of my Dad - he was off. (My job was to hold the freed portions of it to keep it from reattaching as it squirmed.)
I would've taken pictures in the trap - but I didn't think we would get him out and I was very upset about it. So I didn't want pictures to remember that I had killed it.
Mom even 'helped' in the process (having grown up in E.Africa - she's not at all fond of snakes). After it was freed I had to rinse it off for a long time - we can't have a fully functional but sticky snake. Mom held it so that we could smell if the detergent was rinsed without smelling my hands.
We think he's free, clear, and very clean.



I've never been so happy to hold a snake.

For those who are wondering - he's a fox snake, the most likely of the species of snakes in Wisconsin to be found in the house. The young snakes will eat insects (crickets obviously) and then move up the pest chain to rodents and such.
They are useful to have around. Completely harmless, even though they will rattle their tales when provoked - moreso when they are larger - it's more impressive. This is not the first time that we've interacted with one at the house.

supper had to wait

but it was worth it

looking for a few good men

I was a country girl traveling 800+ miles to the huge city of Toronto. I should've been a bit scared - cities aren't safe, bad things happen. But I looked around the Greyhound bus and I realized that it couldn't be that dangerous because there were all these people around. If anything happened or tried to happen there would be witnesses, someone would help - no one would dare attempt too brazen with all these people around. Pick-pocketing, maybe, but nothing life damaging or threatening.
This is what I thought until I talked to my roommate who was from Montreal. She said that stuff does happen, in broad daylight. No one helps. Someone may call the police, but generally they would not get there in time to be of any assistance to the victim. They may apprehend a suspect, but they won't be there in the crucial first half minute to a minute of an attack. I asked why no one would help. The answer was that there isn't anything that anyone can do, and others need to stay alive and protect themselves.
This country girl thinks there are things that can be done. Even unarmed, there are things that can be thrown, distractions that can be made - something. I would like to think that there is something that can be done and I would like to think that there are some people that are willing to take the risk, and possibly the injury for the wrongs that are done in this world. Someone could at least stand up, make some noise and let it be known that the bad things are being noticed and it's not okay and if they don't stop there's going to be consequences - painful consequences. Those who turn away from injustice are no different than those who encourage it.
I think the bad guys count on the fact that no one will step up. They don't expect retaliation, they don't expect Todd Beamer, they don't expect to be hit by flying luggage or a fire extinguisher.
There's something that we can do, even if we end up hurt too - it matters to say that some things are wrong - before someone loses their head.
In this country each of us owes our lives and our freedoms to the sacrifices of someone else.
Have we become so self-centered that we are comfortable enough to say
'I thought someone else would help',
'Who do you think I am - the cops?',
'What's done is done, that's their problem'
'There was nothing I could do'.

What does anyone try to do?

Sometimes heros aren't 'successful', sometimes heros get hurt, sometimes heros die.

The tinder story:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25966835/

summer time

Summer has hit hard and fast - just like normal. This time it hit right at the point of my right shoulder, thereby dislocating the shoulder and stretching or tearing my ACL. The healing process has gone much faster than I initially thought it would. Prior to going to the doctor for my expensive x-rays I was certain that my shoulder was busted in at least three places. I don't find it nearly as impressive to say that I have a grade I ACL separation, although the bruising 'dripping' down the front of me may indicate some tearing of the ACL. (researching stuff on the Internet is so educational;) Sometimes, I feel, it's not so good to be impressive. I do find it a bit difficult to shift the car into fifth gear, but such is life.

The summer has brought enough news that I don't feel like I have the time to type it all in. I feel that I need to run off and attempt to keep up with the rest of the summer before it's gone.

In summation:
I was gone for all of July - "visiting friends in a large city located in North America" During this visit I was able to spend some time tutoring kids, learning to fix bikes, sewing with B. and learning about other cultures and religions of the world. I also learned that it is not politically correct to say that I have have little interest in politics and would rather not vote at all. I had hoped to come home and work on finishing the walls in the basement, but within 24 hours of my bus pulling into the McDonald's in Eau Claire, I dislocated my shoulder and put construction plans on hold.
So, I'm job hunting, and doing projects that do not require pushing, pulling, or repetitive motion. But, alas, these projects have yet to include updating my blog with photos.

kayaking

Kayaking along the lake shore is much prettier than I can get it to be in pictures. I took this shot and skedaddled out of there, the mosquitoes were so bad.

On the way to go kayaking I found a peacock feather along the road. I didn't know that they lived around here.

distractions

Pene and I went walking down to the road to get the mail. We nearly stepped on this guy on the way back. Mom answered the barking and yelling and it was then at least half an hour of jumping back and pictures (it's hard for the camera to know where to focus when I keep jumping around)
and containment attempts.
And I wonder why I don't get everything done...


When we moved the bucket to the grass, the contained reptile easily exited beneath the edge. He's now on rodent control duty up at the sheds. And I am brushing through all the tall grass before I step down.

Pyro Technics

Midwestern lights

It's quite beautiful what a little bit of wire in the fire will produce. It would be a biti difficult to tell the metal ions present in this uncontrolled environment, but I think it would be safe to assume there is copper in those copper wires.

Ants vs. wildflowers

While perhaps mildly entertaining at first, watching me lying on the ground taking pictures of flowers does not hold the kids' attention for long periods of time. While I was taking pictures of a violet, I was privileged to overhear a lively debate regarding the importance of ants and wildflowers. The importance of wildflowers (to me) had been firmly and rather fervently established, but the question of the importance of ants came up when Dani appeared to nearly squish one. Her brother was quick to point out that she ought not be squishing ants. (This coming from a guy who enjoys telling me of his deer hunting adventures and chicken butchering.) Dani quickly retorted that he had no right to be telling her not to kill an ant when he had been mucking about squashing wildflowers.
Josh explained to her, as gently as any knowledgeable, older brother would, that there is, indeed, a difference between squishing ants and squashing wildflowers.

She replied that there was no difference and they were both alive and neither should be killed - they were both important in the great processes of life and oxygen recycling and such.

Here Josh threw his trump card and stated that scientists had conducted an experiment in which they had 'boxed' an ecosystem to see if the process of recycling oxygen would truly work. It didn't. There was missing aquatic bacteria and everything died of oxygen deprivation. I think this ended up meaning that ants are more important than wildflowers. Dani replied that it wasn't fair that her science book didn't include such useful bits of information. Right at this point in the discussion Josh looked up and discovered that I wasn't actually taking pictures of wildflowers.

Which ended the discussion -

I really only wish that I had changed the setting on the camera so all the pictures of them would be in focus.

More Signs of Spring

The 'ladybugs' have awaken and they want out. I have vacuumed up and released hundreds of them, but I think the insulation in the basement is even better with the addition of ladybug corpses.



I don't know why we have decided that lady bugs are so much more delightful than these 'Asian beetles'. Sure, the Asian beetles stink a bit, and perhaps pinch if rolled over on. But I think it's pretty cool that they have hundreds of different spot patterns and they turn yellow and tan when they are dead. I also like their faces with the big white spots. I guess when I live with hundreds of them, I might as well find something pleasant about them. I have also decided that they help with pest control on my houseplants. I have no proof of this, but it could give them some purpose in the basement.

Signs of Spring (?)

April Fool's!!
We didn't have school today - snow day! We just thought that spring was comin'. Friends have new chickies, so that should mean spring is hatchin' somewhere, somehow.

























One hundred and two chicks arrived at the post office on Saturday night - after 9 o'clock. What a delivery! Well, actually, they had to drive to go pick them all up. They spent the first night in the kitchen, but they now have their own trailer to live in outside. They are doing just fine in the heat lamps - haven't noticed the four inches of snow at all.

Spring Break to the Conservatory