Unutterably Silly So what are you doing RIGHT NOW?

[red_phoenix]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

We just narrowly averted a tragedy - in more than one sense. Our new neighbor has 2 cats - one of which is a "goodwill ambassador" type - he visits us every day, hangs out on our deck and stairs, and is quite friendly. Today he was in the driveway when we came home from the grocery store, and watched us carry bags up the stairs - trying to sneak into the house.

Several hours later, we went out to fill the bird feeders and heard a faint meow. You guessed it! He was locked inside the car and had been sitting on the passenger seat (as shown by his muddy paw prints) waiting for someone to let him out! I'm so glad we decided to fill the feeders, or he could have spent the night there!
Poor baby!

I have a similar problem with the barn cats at a friends place. If I dare to leave the windows down while I am there I have to check for cats before I leave or one might come home with me.

[dreams]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

Trying to decide which Crocs to order. I know they look horrible but they're so comfy and ideal and quick to put on when my father needs some extra help in the store for a little while.

I always thought crocs were like the ones my aunt wore - bright colors and looking like clogs, but I was gifted a pair like the below and love them. They are comfortable and easy to slip on and off.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

We just narrowly averted a tragedy....

In the building where I work a tragedy did occur yesterday on the day shift. A hawk got into the building. The fellows who were there at the time opened all the doors including the two roll up doors to let him out. They didn't see it for about an hour and assumed it had flown out. Then they heard a loud 'whump'. The hawk had flown into one of the plexiglas portals near the ceiling with such force they thought it might have broken the plexiglas. The found the hawk's lifeless body on the metal gratings below.

They showed the body to me when I came on duty. It was a beautiful specimen. At least the other birds are breathing easier tonight.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by dreams

I always thought crocs were like the ones my aunt wore - bright colors and looking like clogs, but I was gifted a pair like the below and love them. They are comfortable and easy to slip on and off.
Attachment 91733

I agonized over buying a pair of the ugly ones... right up until I put a pair on and walk across the floor. Grabbed a pair of black ones and took 'em right up to the register. I wear them anytime I need to make a quick trip outside that doesn't require too much walking around town. I'll let others 'look' at the 'ugly.' I'll just 'feel' the ease and comfort!


Stitchawl

[Love.Forever.]

Trying to figure out which DVD I should watch, or if I should take a cat nap.. had a long day today.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I've always liked the Harvard song:

I feel compelled to point out that Yale's fight song was written by Cole Porter.

[Rumpelteazer]

Originally Posted by dreams

I always thought crocs were like the ones my aunt wore - bright colors and looking like clogs, but I was gifted a pair like the below and love them. They are comfortable and easy to slip on and off.
Attachment 91733

I've had those but now I'm going for the old fashioned ones with a lining because they keep my feet nice and warm in winter in the store (even better than my other shoes). I like to have a lot of space around my toes; I regularly bump into things when I go to the toilet in the middle of the night and occasionally tear a toe nail, roomy shoes are a must when that happens.

Right now I'm getting ready to go to the dentist, to have one or two cavities filled that the previous dentist didn't fill last year and have new overview photos taken.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

In the building where I work a tragedy did occur yesterday on the day shift. A hawk got into the building...........The found the hawk's lifeless body on the metal gratings below.

In the early 70's I was a avid 'game bird and duck' hunter. It was the only game I would hunt with a firearm. I was walking in the Vermont woods one Fall afternoon, hoping for a dinner that night of Grey Partridge, Ruffed Grouse, or woodcock. I saw a nice fat grouse walking through through the grass 30 yards away, and stomped my foot to give it a chance to get away. It took off, rose about 50 feet, I took aim, and just as I fired, a Red-tailed Hawk stooped on it and both were caught with my shot...

I was devastated. I've spent countless hours with binoculars watching hawks, participating in Hawk Counts in Vermont (VT. has 12 different species of hawks!) I've helped put up hawk nesting boxes... I don't kill hawks. But I did. I sat down and cried. Then I dug a grave and buried it together with 'its' kill. But I kept one feather... I've carried it with me, attached to my 'Medicine Shield' for the past 40 years. I've never hunted with a firearm again.

Stitchawl

[WT Sharpe]

That's quite a story, Stitchawl. I have a similar tale, but it's nowhere near as dramatic. I'd never been hunting in my life. In the woods one day as a young man I shot at a bird and hit it. When I came upon it it was still alive and suffering, so I ended its suffering with a second bullet. I felt so bad I never hunted since.

[Stitchawl]

I'm not against hunting, just not with a firearm. I lived in rural Vermont for many years before moving to Asia, and I hardly knew anyone who didn't hunt. I didn't know any 'trophy' hunters. The people around me hunted for food. Pay scale in the 70's-'80's in a Vermont lumber mill or a garage wasn't near enough to feed a family of 4-6 people, so if a family didn't fill its freezer with deer, ducks, turkey, game birds, and fish, the kids would have to miss a few meals each week. My nearest neighbor had five kids. Each one old enough to get a hunting license did, and dad would take them out during different seasons. Deer season in Vermont usually meant you could take one male deer with a rifle between the end of November through January. If you also have a bow license, you can use a bow to take a buck or doe from October through January. During deer season (that's the important one for meat in Vermont) dad and a different child would go out each day. Dad would take the deer, but put the child's deer tag on it, and bring it to the weigh station. It was serious work for them. Not sport. Every year they harvested seven deer. That family ate venison all winter, and gave away a lot of meat to families who were not such good hunters.

I stopped using a rifle or shotgun in '72. But I continued to hunt with a bow. In those days I had no education so my income wasn't any better than my neighbors. Venison helped us out a lot too. Holding a bow license usually meant that I could take two deer (buck and doe) each year, and that was enough to supplement our meat for the winter. Vermont rivers were full of trout and the lakes had salmon. We did OK.

And special thanks to Vermont Fish & Game department. Their planning for the numbers of deer needing to be harvested each year was spot on! The Vermont deer herd is the largest and healthiest it's been since before the Civil War! Balancing the available food supply with the size of the herd insures healthy animals. Healthy animals produce more offspring than sick ones. Right now, Vermont doe's produce 2.4 fawns per year, the highest recorded for any US State!. With lumber harvesting laws prohibiting clear-cutting and requiring forested lanes at least 50 yards wide between areas cut so the deer can travel from feed lot to feed lot in safety, the herd will continue to grow. I wish I was there to see it again!


Stitchawl

[ProfCrash]

I understand and can appreciate hunting for food. I don't get trophey hunting. Michigan allows trophey hunters to donate their meat at the TB test stations. Donated meat goes to local families in need or to the local food bank. So the hunter gets the rack and the meat is not wasted.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I understand and can appreciate hunting for food. I don't get trophey hunting.

I'm with you!
1. A 12-point old well-muscled male tastes like old goat. Or worse!
2. Being able to hit a target 250 yards away with a laser-powered scope and bullets that don't drop more than an inch in that distance certainly isn't any special achievement. The scopes today are so powerful that at that distance you can count the hairs inside the deer's nose! Point and shoot.
Granted, it takes skill and knowledge to find the really big ones, but 95% of the hunters today never move more than 200 yards from their car. They rely on luck, rather than skill.
3. What is is that makes a natural growth such a 'trophy' anyway?

If it weren't for the game laws and a desire to protect and preserve the herd, I'd take end-of-summer young soft doe that have been feeding on corn, viburnum, and clover. Tastes a whole lot better than an old male whose been eating acorns, bark, and spruce tips!


Stitchawl

[ProfCrash]

In new Zealand they raise deer like you raise cow. It was quite yummy.

[Latinandgreek]

I am back to working on my thesis. I hope to be finished writing by Christmas. Wish me luck! I'm sort of freaking out thinking about what I will do when it is done.

[dreams]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

I've had those but now I'm going for the old fashioned ones with a lining because they keep my feet nice and warm in winter in the store (even better than my other shoes). [snip]

I looked up the fur lined ones and noticed that the liner can be washed. I will have to check some of those.

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

I agonized over buying a pair of the ugly ones... right up until I put a pair on and walk across the floor. Grabbed a pair of black ones and took 'em right up to the register. I wear them anytime I need to make a quick trip outside that doesn't require too much walking around town. I'll let others 'look' at the 'ugly.' I'll just 'feel' the ease and comfort!


Stitchawl

I saw the new line of crocs and they have some different styles, so I think I will look into getting some more... just not the color or kind my aunt likes.

Originally Posted by Latinandgreek

I am back to working on my thesis. I hope to be finished writing by Christmas. Wish me luck! I'm sort of freaking out thinking about what I will do when it is done.

Good Luck.

Time for me to get back to basic house cleaning and laundry. Ug!