31 January, 2008

30 January, 2008

Please

Get this game over with. I can't take it. All the talk. Enough. Just play. Please. End it now for the sake of humanity.
Two weeks of build up are taking their toll.
It's not longer about football.
The media must be held accountable for the insanity.

28 January, 2008

Poem from Mom

Ladybug, ladybug
How do you fair?
Here in the cabin
With our loving care

We welcome you here
To eat what you may
You bring us good cheer
We think it's ok

At night you are quiet
By day you are clean
We are not on your diet
You couldn't be mean

Stay with us forever
And leave not a trace
We think you are clever
Please keep up your pace

You deliver your pleasure
And seek no reward
You are a treasure
An A you have scored

23 January, 2008

Mom & Gypsy

A typical day with mom and her dog, a spoiled rotten, short-haired pointer.


Winter has made some changes at the cabin. We have wrapped the water lines and turned on our infrared lights in the pumphouse and bunkhouse. I am using the bunkhouse as a greenhouse for now. I brought the aloe vera plant that was blooming there into the cabin and put it on the window sill next to the desk where I write. I have been watching the ladybugs crawling over the bloom eating the aphids. The ladybugs are welcome guests inside the cabin. Our time spent on the porch has diminshed with the colder weather, however, on those warmer mornings we are still there observing the morning. This is typical Texas weather, 22 degrees on Monday and 75 degrees on Tuesday. We have had one hard freeze, but, much of Winter has felt more like Spring.
With this cooler weather, the influx of critters into the cabin has pretty much come to a stand still. Oops, that is until a week ago. There is a mystery as to what actually happened. I am speculating as to the series of events that forced a squirrel to take cover in the only space in our walls big enough to hold it. That Gypsy was involved in the squirrels desperate attempt to escape is pure speculation. The scuffle I heard on the porch within seconds of her exiting the cabin door, leads me to believe she is somehow mixed up in this. Mind you, Gypsy is a near perfect, unspoiled pet. She is a loved, trusted and dedicated companion. I would not change one thing about her. Well, maybe one thing. She is death on cats and squirrels. The episode I mentioned above is due to her desperate attempt to get her teeth firmly around a squirrel, followed by vicious tearing, chewing and of course, lots of blood and guts. My best guess is she surprised a sguirrel on the porch. In it's haste to avoid instant death, it became confused and hit it's head on the swing. In a confused frenzy, the squirrel looked for any place it could find to escape. It ran up the logs near the porch, by the swing, and into the first hole it found. This led to the only space in the wall where a critter could fit. The noise began as soon as it started to investigate it's new found sanctuary. At one point, I thought it had found it's way into the cabin proper. Throughout the day it made it's presence known. When it panted and whined I was concerned for the state of it's health. Suddenly, the noise stopped. We may have heard it a few more times, in the next couple of days. Gypsy with her nose in the air and her ears up insisted it was still in our wall. I did not hear or smell it. The Organic Pest Control guy, Carlos, came and sprayed a large dose of capsicum,(red pepper) into the crevice in the logs where I actually saw a flash of flesh entering. I am not sure what it was. He said not to plug the hole until we were sure it was gone. A few days have gone by, and I am still not sure what to make of this. Could Gypsy have injured this animal enough so it passed away hiding in our cabin wall? Sometimes things are just better left alone. We think this is one of them. Gypsy still seems mildly interested. She says it was a big squirrel with big teeth and bulging eyes. She said it was asking for it and she did nothing but accommodate it. She is probably pondering what could have been if she had captured that squirrel. She probably thinks she came alot closer than she actually did. We think if she had succeeded, we would have had a trip to the vet to get some damage repaired. Does this mean she has given up on squirrels? No, don't think so. There is one eating seed at the bird feeder hanging on the squirrel tree as I write. Gypsy is on the porch on a solid point. Her eyes are glazed and saliva is dripping from her mouth What do you think? Excitement reigns! Gypsy rules! Call The Dog Whisperer, before it is too late for us! Girls just want to have fun!

A poem from mom

Okay, new addition to the Smogranch Chronicles, and this is the poem series from mom. Direct from Alien Ranch, I will post whenever she sends one my way.


The Winter birds of the woods are here
Telling us their story
The feeders are full
Doves, sparrows, finches, cardinals and jays
Their feathers fluffed
Against the cold
Gobbling the seeds
As fast as they can to prepare
For the cold yet to come
Wondering where Summer went
And when it will return
Knowing the first signs
Are buried deep in the woods
Waiting for the warmth of Spring
When life begins anew
Welcomed by raindrops
Knocking at the door
And the sun awakening the start
Of yet another promised year
In the life of the woods
A year of stories
The birds will tell us
We are content
To wait
To watch
And to listen

20 January, 2008

Movie Review: Into the Wild

Haven't seen it yet. I'm about four years behind current films. Can't remember last time I actually went to the movie. Wait, yes I do, got there and the movie I wanted to see was sold out. A small town to say the least.
But, will see, I'm sure, when it hits DVD.

19 January, 2008

Fluid

Life without coffee would not be worth living. Really, imagine how horrible that would be.
Is it wrong for me to go to sleep thinking about my espresso?

16 January, 2008

Book Review: Into The Wild

Emotions I felt while reading this book: anger, sadness, pity, frustration, jealousy.
Whatever your take on this kid, the book is worth reading. Sure he made some bonehead moves, but he also took some unreal chances that paid off with true adventure.
I think we have all lost our heads in the clouds at certain times in life, but few of us have truly put everything we know on the line.

07 January, 2008

Gasp

My respiratory debacle continues into the fourth week. My round of antibiotics have ended and now I wait. Congested. Gasping.
I've had a history of this, from the time I was six-months-old until now. It sucks. I don't get colds, don't get the flu, just this.

No running, no riding, nothing for almost a month.

04 January, 2008

No Kidding

Just got a copy of latest issue of a popular photography magazine. I'm not kidding, cover story is, "D-SLR Wars."
Let me repeat, I'm not kidding.
I just posted a sarcastic note about this very thing, "Hey, what we need is another D-SLR war story."
I guess someone thought I was serious????

Man, talk about a slow day in the newsroom.