Evening time

Baby deer gets chased off as he started sniffing big brothers butt. Older deer is just a little touchy with mating season going on. Turkeys hung out most of the day here. Squirrels had the run of the place this morning and after noon.  Leaves are getting to be a real problem. Moon's almost full. Jupiter is just below the moon. The forest and surrounding lands are going through a drying out period. Air is getting to be under pressure as it evaporates and examined with the direct sun light we've been getting. Kind of nice, little rain then a drying out period. Skunks ate well last night. It was the pan with all the turkey drippings. I sliced some bread and soak up the juices. The little guys were having a blast going at the bread. One of the guys was in the roaster pan and not paying much to the other guy walking up behind him. The skunk sneaking up gave him a nose in the butt. He kept eating ignoring the skunk behind him. The skunk just lunged forward and snipped him in the butt. The guy in the pan jumped straight up and over. He just wanted to eat and not have anyone bother him. They are having chicken eggs tonight. I should try doing some time laps photography. I need to get the remote for the camera. I didn't realize it was so cheap. I thought it was going to be about $70 dollars. Time to roll me a after dinner smoke.

To nice a day

Sunday. Suns out and the squirrels are playing in the freshly fallen leaves. Looks like everything in the forest wants to be in the sun, including me. I'll let the squirrels play longer and have another cup of coffee, take a few pictures of the kids playing chase. Listen to a little Sunday radio theater and reflect a little. Take a good look at the forest and see if I can find something new about it. Want to keep trying to make some sort of natural material check dams and organics holders which also doubles as water reservoirs. Something to keep the moisture in and from evaporating. A gust of wind sets the forest in motion. The squirrels jump and grab in at the sudden movement claws gripping like they were upside down holding on for dear life The hens are here. I'm getting a few shot off. Good color and light. Interesting brown tinge to the light. Looks like I'll have a lot of turkey until spring when the food source is returned. Maybe this year I can get a few to eat out of my hand. Got close last year but they stopped about a foot away. Seems the seven sisters turned out to be the Amazon hen army. The seven are this one mothers kids from last year. This year she had three kids. The momma bird had some sisters which took off in the spring to raise their young. So there's a few mothers here with there young and the grand kids. One of the mothers with the kids and grand kids has a terrible limp. I also found a arrow razor blade for the arrowhead. That could be one reason they are coming around too, hunters. Well they are going to the side of the hill to pick feathers. Little later it will be  a lap around the place to look for bugs and other strange things. Couple more hours and the males will be showing up. Set you watch by them. Always the last place before they fly up into the trees for the night.

California Spoke

Yes, Californians spoke today in the special election. They said, "yes" to higher power cost.  I guess they like what Enron did to California. They said, "yes" to high drug costs. And yes, they said they are a bunch of morons and idiots. They have to be to afraid to read the voter pamphlet. They believe propaganda on TV. Maybe it was because they couldn't read or something. I know it wasn't an informed decision. Maybe if the teachers were better they could read and not rely on TV ads to scare them. I swear people would kill them self if you told them it would be good for them. How soon they forget how good things were when power was regulated. People! that was 4 years ago. When things were deregulated the power cost sky rocketed. I believe half the state are on crack and the other half are followers. I guess when you don't understand you just vote no. IDIOTS!!!! STUPID, STUPID, STUPID.

Fascism, Republicans and the Religious Right

Fascism, Republicans and the Religious Right something about other people telling me how to live just doesn't sound like freedom to me. As the Bible said, God gave you free chouse but the Religious Right takes that free chouse away. The Republicans are only using the Christian movement for the votes and don't really care about what the Christians have to say since they are into big business. They have always been into big business at the cost of any one that gets in the way. When it comes to workers rights you have none , you are a disposable cog in the machine. When you get broken by the machine you are cast a side. Regan showed the unions what for when the Air Traffic controllers went on strike. Whether it would even make flying safer it didn't matter. The controllers were going to have to use out dated equipment and face mental burn out. Every one that is in the union that votes republican is like shooting yourself in the foot over and over, you going to have less and less. The American dream is just that a dream. It's easier to get out of poverty in Canada and Europe then the United States. Your twice as likely to get out of poverty not in the United States. What really gets me is the way the religious right reads a page in the bible and take every word as fact. There are writers putting out books which are fiction and they are reading these books as they are fact. The idea of teaching theology in science is truly the dumbing down of America. The republicans talk about morals saying that abortion is murder but making war is okay as long as they aren't Christians. There was a song I really liked that came out some twenty years ago by the "Call," "When the walls came down." Not the John Cougar Melon head or what ever he's calling himself these days either. It has to say, "There are no countries, just corporate criminals, playing with tanks." The oil companies are in the Whitehouse and they are going for all the oil and they do not care how many cogs in the machine get toast out. It's perfect to see ho the republicans took in the religious right in that they make good solders, blind obedience without question. I don't think these people really know what is happening to them as they get brain washed in to thinking like what some one else wants you to think. It's sort of like becoming an alcoholic. At first it's fun and you think there is no harm. Slowly it takes over until you have to drink and you don't know how to behave with out it. You have to drink it's your life now and there is nothing that anyone can say to stop you. When I hear a Christian say, "I'm ready to die for the lord," I'm wondering if he really hears what he's saying. It's just like the suicide bomber who gets to go to Ala for being a matter. That promise of the after life where they promise you everything and you need to take it on faith. Just as long as you reach deep in you pocket to show God how much you love him. It doesn't matter that the guy saying that has a dozen mansions and a couple dozen car, with his heavenly bank account. For some reason, call it ignorance they can't see the similarities of the different religions. Every one thinks there's is right and the others is wrong. The Christian religion remember is Jewish light. The same old stories but if you pay some money you don't have to do the eating thing. For a few more bucks you don't have to be circumcised. There was even a time that you do all sorts of bad things but then the church needed money so they made you a deal, give them money and they will for give you sins. The church over the years did some really bad things like killing off millions of people. What a deal, "take Jesus or we will kill you." Let see what other good things were done in the name of God. We burned witch's. The Nazi party were all Christians. The KKK were all Christian. The church said slavery was okay. It's amazing how people make laws to make injustices okay. I guess it makes them sleep better at night. People around the world think "Bush" is delusional when God talks to him. Before I thought we locked up people like that in hospitals. That's right we need to stop abortion because we need a next generation of tax payers. The churches want them to donate the big buck and follower there every word. When it comes down to it slavery is sort of still here when you take into the fact inflation keeps taking and making you money worth less. Unless you not making a million a month the republican party isn't for you. If you are making the big bucks and have those millions and don't care about anyone but yourself then the republican party is for you. From what I hear you can live rather comfortably if you have 400 million or more. Below that you might still have to work. Rather funny how rich people get to vote themselves raises because they make the laws and poor people get what they can. If people didn't have to worry about money we would generate some outstanding people. It's amazing how much people believe in propaganda. It spreads like wildfire. Fear is a big factor in controlling the masses.

I just had to vent about people that say one thing and do another. It just gets me.

Stinkers having turkey

Stinkers having some turkey. Yes, I was that close. Funny how sometimes they prefer sunflower seeds over animal parts but they never turn down turkey of chicken. Still, they are very shy creatures.

My turkeys all stopped by including the hens. The males were showing off and the hens didn't want anything to do with them. The hens except the mothers are to young for breading and will stick with mom until next year learning how to be a turkey. Looks like three young males too.

Beaned Stinkers

Was feeling a bit sorry for the skunks last night since it's getting close to raining. I cooked a store bought turkey yesterday and not one of the wild ones here. I pulled off a wing and tossed it out the door towards the skunk. I didn't mean to hit him but I did. The wing landed right one him. He was a little dazed at first and sort of walked in a circle to get his bearings. He found the wing and picked it up. He looked like he was in fat city strutting off with the wing. It was like he was saying, "Look at me with the big bone." Usually they keep their heads down sniffing everything. Not this guy, he had his head high as he walked to the under brush to take part in his feast.

 

Looking like rain today. The squirrels were eating but took off. They must know something I don't. Usually they will continue eating even if it's raining, well sprinkling. The foods out there for them. Don't even see the turkeys so it must be a good storm coming up. The place looks void of life, not even a little bird or anything. I guess this is the calm before the storm.

Stinkers

I sure get a kick out of watching Stinkers the skunk. I find myself watching the little guys for hours eating and looking for food. They really rely on their nose to find things. To make them so brave "the Gland." Still the are very shy. Haven't feed them by hand in a while. I can do that when I cook up some chicken.

 

They are just little eating machines sniffing and eating. Now that there are only two skunks here they haven't been fighting. During the summer it gets a little funky when they start fighting and emitting the "odder." Seemed like my house smelled like skunks for a couple month. The worst time was when they were fighting under my bedroom. I couldn't sleep in my bedroom for a week.

 

Still they are very fascinating. They seem so gentle as the move about.

 

Was eating an apple tonight. It was tasting so good until I bit into the moldy section. I've tried rinsing my mouth out but the taste is still there. With my lucky it'll be some sort of ergot.

 

Only four turkeys today. I hope the rest of the girls are okay. No deer tonight either. What gets me, is the yards full of apple and no deer. I just might have to spend a few days walking around the property.

What a night, cool, clear, and you can see for light years

It's so clear I can see andromeda without anything. Tried to take a digital photo but I was blinded by the led's inside the view finder window. Couldn't focus on anything. Jupiter is out too. Didn't uncover the telescope just a little cool to be outside in my sweats, tee shirt and slippers. It was my quest that brings me outside on cold evening like this. Was having a problem with my right legs standing. Sort of a lot of pain. That'll keep you from doing things. I can feel my lower spine trying to come out of my back.

 

Got a treat for Mr. Stinkers today, got him some dog food. He seems to like it too. Missing one skunk though. Heard coyotes last night. The dogs were backing off in the distance. I saw Big Buddy and his son Ear' along with momma girl and the two young boys. Was rather strange not seeing more than that. Didn't see one turkey today either. I heard gun shots north of the house. Sounded like several guns. Maybe a couple small calibers and one larger. Still it sounded like a bit of a war a few times. I just might have to take a walk with my cameras to see what's going on and document it. They were shooting a couple years ago up that way and a round came over my head and hit a tree. I could hear them shooting in a half circle with the bangs getting louder as they pointed my way. That's when the one round hit the trees above me. What's bad about that is if it missed my farm and the park it would have traveled into a group closely spaced homes. Hearing the coyote last night and watching the deer I could see it was bothering them. Didn't seem to bother the skunks. Loud sound need to be almost on top of them. I know if they see me they hide so I can't see them but they never run to far away. I seem to worry a lot about the critters that come around. I know they are wild but they really have hard life's. When Buddy broke his leg, every rescue group told me to shot him. I couldn't get any help from even a college that did veterinary work. Seeing my deer family and how they are as a group they truly are a family unlike what people think. There is some independence but for the most part they have their running friends. The older deer teaches the younger deer. I seen the mother teach their young what to eat how to hide and where to go get food. Here, it's a safety zone for all the critters. I discourage them from fighting. I know it sound weird but I swear they know what I'm saying as I talk to them. My hand greeting seems to be being past to the young or they might pick it up. I know if I come upon then in the forest and they can't see me, they will take off running until I give them a whistle. Soon as they know it's me they stop and continue grazing or what ever. I've been finding arrows and arrow heads, a cross bow arrow here. I hate to find anyone killing my forest friends.

 

I've notice since I've moved here my hearing has improve in that I can tell what is around me. When I first moved here I walked outside at night and it started bothering me. Now, not at all, I know the sounds of my friends. My second skunk just showed up. He's the one living under the house. It's 43 degree outside. I've noticed that I can tell how far things are from me too. It's amazing walking by star light too. Funny how little light you need to see. I have notice that the deer can see in the dark but not as good as people think. They do trip over thing and run it to things.

 

Well if I feel more motivated I might get dressed and go back outside to view some stars. Right now that back is aching and the pain pill is making me woozy. Seeing the galaxy is a motivating factor.

Scooter takes the sword

Libby goes down for the President and his Vulcan's. The cover up continues in the reasons to go to war but Scooter was caught. Watch for the spin to come because it's coming. Then Libby will be the leper and be distanced from the Whitehouse.

It turns out the war was really for oil.

Rove develops an emergancy brain tumer and can't be questioned anymore.

The whitewash is coming.

Fornicators from Space

Isn't it amazing that there is "fornicators from space" that can hook up when they come from the other part of the galaxy. At least in the Sci-fi movies people always seem to find something to getting rid of some stress. Call it cosmic collisions or the planetary pelvic thrust it's always in a Sci-Fi movie. Chances are that life in other parts of the galaxy are completely different then us on earth are very high. That all thing on earth look a like are no great mystery but that doesn't mean that it's spread through the galaxy. I wonder if aliens use condoms? Just think if they were like the Spanish conquering the New World raping their way across the galaxy. Taking what they want and leaving their seeds. What happens if they are "Asexual" and go after every orifice they find that is warm and fuzzy. If they were like a cell they might suck the juices right out of you and divide into two cells. Say one human and it makes two cells or something like that. Then again they could be like a virus which seems to be rather common here on earth. Say they come down here on a rock or something because I don't think they have legs and arms to control a space ship. They could come as spores get stuck in your nasal cavity and make your head explode when you sneeze spreading the spores all over. Did you ever notice that aliens always have stand up poke you in the eye breasts. Seems the aliens have the same fashions as we have on earth. I like Star Trek in the sixties where all the women wear mini-skirts and high puffy hair. When you see a Sci-Fi program or movie these days they have some great prosthetics which they add to peoples faces but they forget to blend the colors past their neck. They might go from a green face to a nice tan neck with some good cleavage none of which matches the face. I also love that the good guys have light weapons of one color and the bad guys have another. What's the chances of that?

Still Summer Outside

Was a rather nice morning watching the squirrels and turkey have breakfast and play. Saw a little squirrel that I haven't see in a while. Little Sparky, he's got more hair and getting bigger.
It was a lazy morning for me. I spent most of it listening to the radio and drinking coffee. Been getting ready for winter and the rainy season. Still need to trim up some dead or dying branchs. Still need to do some painting. Got the TV antenna fixed. There are still some late bloomers out which I find very interesting even if they are called weeds.

What ever you want to call this little flower I think it looks rather nice.

Think I've got raccoons again. That's not a bad thing because they are rather cool. I had a guy last year that I almost started feeding by hand. At least I could get an arms distance away. It takes some time for them to get to know you just like the skunks did. Still the skunks run off as soon as they hear any noise. Even a board creeking will scare them off. Me standing up will scare them off. If I squat down then they don't see me as threatening and will come right up to me. Some of the larger ones look to be about 20 pounds. The guy living under the house is a lot smaller. Not to sure what sex they are because of how hairy they are. I know when one of them fell into the water bowl and came out he was mostly hair. Enough playing inside today, time to get out in this nice sun shine.

Fake TV

Ever notice how fake TV can get. It's the little things that add up. Like the cop that can't shoot and hit a car from 10 feet away. Or the bullets that bounce off a car and don't leave a dent. What about the bullets that can't go through a plaster wall. In the CSI the one in Los Vegas they use digital Nikon cameras. Did you notice the film winder sound every time they take a picture? What about those flashlights they run around with, ever notice them using them in bright sunlight.

From Thunder to Hot Summer Day

The hens are making the rounds. There's a nice warm breeze blowing in the house. Rather different from a couple days ago. Today I can wear shorts again but I won't since I'm cleaning brush. The squirrels are running around playing chase. What a life but there is the down side of hunting for food in the cold winter. One of the guys found the peanut butter container I cut open and left outside. I see the little guy has a dab of peanut butter on his nose as he looks over the top of the jar. With the moisture in the air there is a variety of fresh smells of the forest.

Republican back peddle as Tom Delay is indicted for campaign fraud matters. White House says, " Tom's a good guy, we will watch him swing when he's hung out to dry." Soon the deck of card will fall as the people see through the rose colored world the republicans have painted.

I need to fix my TV antenna before winter comes. The antennas are pointing into the sky and the mast is leaning. I'm going to have to make the whole thing stronger and make sure it's grounded.

What a light show

The thunder turned into thunder and lightning for most of the night. I set up the video camera to take pictures of the flashes. I caught on bolt hitting the ground which was rather close. When I was looking at the seconds on the monitor it clicked over just one second before the sound and the sound was house shaking load. It seem to ran most of the night but the lightning tapered off after about 10 PM but for four hours it was a great light show. Listening to emergency services there was a lot of strikes that hit things from trees to telephone poles. I thought that the thunder didn't bother the deer or the skunks but I was wrong. When the lightning and thunder got right over head that's when they went off to hide.

---

Bush ask the country not to use gas or take unnecessary trips. Then he got on his jumbo jet and flew to Texas and New Orleans. There goes an extra 70,000 gallons of fuel each way. Just follow the "Fearless Leader" and set a great example.

Lightning Storm and some rain

Big Buddy is here eating apples I cut up for him. The lightning doesn't seem to bother Big Buddy or Little Stinkers. Me moving around bothers Little Stinkers more then anything else. The deer and the skunks seem to get along and not bother each other. Big Buddy still only lets me get about ten feet from him. While I was getting apples and trimming the apple tree it started raining, not much just enough to get the ground wet. It felt good because it cooled things off but then it got real steamy. It was suppose to cool off and get hotter later this week but it doesn't feel like it. TV had a warning for a sever thunder storm in Butte County. Maybe that's why I can see the light from the lightning but can't hear the sound. Did earlier, it sounded like a plane was flying right over the house but it wasn't. The babies are here along with Momma deer. The baby deer can't even see over the top of the picnic table, it's so cute.

Well got a head ache starting so I think I'll turn down the lights and watch some TV. See if I can find an aspirin or some thing.

The deer are pushing each other again

Looks like it's going to rain, that's what the weatherman said too. The moisture is coming from the south. This place could use some water. The rainy season should be stating soon and will stop six months from now. Here comes the hens the weather doesn't seem to bother them. Last night big Buddy and another deer got into a pushing match. For an old deer Big Buddy came up on top. I was worried that his broken leg wouldn't heal but it seems to be working just fine. I picked about a shopping bag size of apples. Big Buddy had a time trying to eat them so I had to cut them up for him.

 

I need to fix my TV antenna. Since I put it up the wind has bent it back pointing the elements off of horizontal. It worked rather well until the storms of last year. Wonder how the storms are going to be this year. Are they going to be more intense. Last year they seem to come in groups or waves. Hot for a while then massive down pours. That reminds me to dig the drainage trench.

 

I've been hearing the geese flying south. I haven't seen them just heard them. I want to get a picture of them flying in formation. Last Wednesday was the mid point of our journey around the sun it's down hill form here on till next spring. I noticed Orion and Pegasus in the sky. I'm going to have to look for Andromeda before it set weather permitting.

 

Well better pick up my tools before it rains. The days of leaving them where you finished off one day and picked up the next are over.

What is America coming too

Sunny day with thunder off in the distance

Had a good nightmare this morning. Dreamed that my ex-wife came to pick up things. That woke me up. I remember asking where she's been and she said Brazil. For some one that didn't like to leave the state that was a stretch. I know she's off some where in New York but that's all. I guess it's good that I don't see her or know where she is. I guess listening to the radio while I was sleeping wasn't a good idea. Seems when I do I wake up to something in the news. What this dream has to do I don't know. It seems that I was in peace until I saw her. Seems I had everything I wanted and was living where I wanted but seeing her tended to shatter my dreams.

 

Well I feel better now that I'm awake and had my coffee. The hens are out doing their hen things and my little furry squirrels are playing in the yard. Thought it was a jet going off to Tahoe but it was some thunder off to the south.

 

Watched another show last night about H5N1 virus. Then this morning I heard that there was an outbreak in the Philippians. Something that our country isn't doing to much to get ready for. Today's topic on Talk of the Nation was that baby boomer that are retiring. I wouldn't put it past Bush to let the supplies of anti-viral medication and vaccines to run low so that the government wouldn't have to pay out retirements. It the republican way. Seems that the republicans want to skate by and not prepare for any disaster. Manly they cover their rich butts and let the rest of us fend for ourselves. It's going to take years to undo the things Bush has done. Maybe these hurricanes and other disasters will let the public see how the republicans really are, blaming everyone but themselves.

 

When Lindy England was first putting in her plea the judge ended up throwing it out. Now she is on trial again facing even longer jail time even though one of the solders cleared her of what she was involved in. I don't see why that bottom of the chain is getting prosecuted when the people that came up this the plans to get rid of the Geneva Convention treaty. That's not the way Bush team works though. Now that the team Able Danger has appeared and had identified four of the terrorist a full year if not longer before the 9/11 event the pentagon wants to cover that information up. Almost seems like what I posed to my dentist a retired military officer that the Neo-Cons planned the terrorist even or let it happen. I don't think it will come out in my life time and if it does come out it will be like the Kennedy assassination and the one man theory. At least those sealed papers will be coming unsealed soon.

Concerns about FEMA and Homeland Security, (a must read, please)

You guest had said that FEMA ask for 20 computers and phone lines which surprised me but not really.

Seems the last four years homeland security has turned into a money pit.

We keep spending money and for what?

We really don't have more first responders.

Cities are going out and buying stuff that they don't need like a mobile lab.

They have these wimpy decon outfits able to decontaminate only a few people an hour.

There is no plans set up for any kind of large scale hazard.

So a city has a lab that can tell you what kind of radiation you are dealing with this doesn't save people.

So a few cities have those cool space suits to go into a biological area or some space suits to get close to a radioactive area, they don't have enough suits.

What about mobile hospitals?

We have those in Iraq and they take days or weeks to set up.

 

Seems FEMA and Homeland Security should have a way of communicating with itself and to the effected communities.

The FBI still doesn't have a workable software program to talk to each other when that is a standard off the shelf product.

We have the best software companies in the world seems like a good idea that we use them.

FEMA should have had laptop computers with hookups to satellite communication.

The directors of FEMA and Homeland Security need to have experience in the fields and not be political appointments.

From what I see the first responders are set up to handle matters like a car accident and not a large scale event.

The idea that the White House said we should use the military over the National Guard is wrong when The Guard was designed just for that.

Seeing the military in New Orleans walking around doing nothing since they were not trained in emergency services was another waste of money.

 

We were warned from Alquida that Los Angeles will be a target.

When the Los Angeles police chief was asked about it he said, "We don't have any credible threats" and discounted the Alquiada threat.

From every thing I've learned over the past four years it seems that people should be connecting the dots and not discounting them.

Our homeland security needs to be set up like the Civil Defense that we had in the 50's.

A lot of small groups of first responders and small groups shelters across the United States.

When it comes to the leaders of this country that all have a place to hide in the case of attack.

If the tables were turned and they had to wait outside while something was happening the story would be changed.

You could be assured that they would be jumping into action and making the people safe.

 

This war on terror seems to me a way of scaring the public into spending money on matters that aren't really there.

It reminds me of the witch hunts done in the 50' looking under ever rock for a communist

 

 

Bob Sakall

Placerville, California

Snot hand George

Did anyone see George Bush wipe snot from his nose on his hand. Then wiped his hand onto the butt of his pants?

"Crap from Space"

Could it be ABC is clueless about sensitivity when disasters when they show a disaster movie right after a disaster. Sure it's about a group of misfits doing something that no one else could. Even though I like the movie and it does have the effect of choking me up in parts I still see mistakes. It just might be a bit dangerous to launch to shuttles next to each other.

 

I don't know if this is Disney's way of getting the countries spirits up or to make them patriotic. You can't compare it to Bush and company because that would be like the keystone cops or three stooges after the disaster in the South. Looking back at New York it was the people of New York that took care of the people of New York. The US Government really didn't get involve. Bush didn't even want a commission to look into the failures. Then when the commission finished it was a pansy white wash. I'm sure when the republicans get done again it's going to look like the people living in the South will be their faults. Just face it, Bush isn't one to do any real job he's just giving breaks to his friends and the hell with anyone else.  

Squirrels in the sun having fun

Another nice sunny day. The squirrels are out feeding and playing. So neat to watch the little one play. One squirrel a real young on is jumping and hanging on branches and the base of this tree. He jumps from the plant trellis to the tree and back then on to a little branch. Not a care in the world but doing all the squirrel things he would do later in life.

 

Turkeys are lounging under the trees. Some are walking around but for the most part they are taking it easy. It's so interesting watching the turkeys eat apples pecking at them, getting a little bite out of the apples. They don't eat as much as the as the deer but it's the number of them that suck up the bird food. The deer really like the apples. I like watching the babies eat apple trying to look like they are big deer taking on a large apple like a big buck. In a bit I'll go to town to get some bird food again. I must go through at least 300 pound of grain a month. That's not including the sunflower seeds I buy also.

Must be winter

The weather warned that snow maybe at 8500 feet, that is if it rains or snows. Been cool every morning for the past few days, about 49 degrees. Closed up the house tonight because it was feeling chilly. Haven't turned on the heat yet but am baking something in the oven. Was a great day in the 70's. Picked more apples today, got four bags full. It was a real enjoyable day out.  woke up early but feel back to sleep listening to the radio watching the forest come to life. Maybe I should sleep in longer so I don't have to fall a sleep later. Well it was worth it to see the light moister layer in the forest. Don't get to see that if you sleep in.

Could the Oil companies be giving Bush some payback

In O'Neil's book he pointed out Chaney had divvied up Iraq for the oil companies. Since things didn't go as the administration promised. As Paul explained in his book and on talk shows Chaney was laying out plots of land for many oil companies to lease. Could the high prices of today reflect the broken promises. Would drilling in Alaska change the price of oil like it did in the late 70's? Also what's up with Bush filling the oil reserve salt mines? Is this a way of giving back to all of Bush's friends by paying top dollar for a barrel of oil?

Tiny birds

Look out, I'm comen' in

Bob

Fruit picking

Picked two bags of apples and plums. Filed two 50 pound grain bags. The one bag had about 30 pounds of plums which I toped off with apples. When I got home I was so tired I slept for two hours. Tempted to make up some apple sauce or plum preserves. Not sure but I have a good idea on how to do it.

Body isn't even cold

Chief Justice Rehnquist isn't even cold yet and Bush is pushing his buddy into the supreme court. Mean while the south is a disaster area. Bush just doesn't have his priorities set right. I guess being rich makes you un in touch with common people. Michael Chertoff looked like a jerkoff on meet the press patting himself on the back all the way for what he has done so far. As far as protecting the Homeland like he's suppose to do, it looks like the country is on it's own. I don't know about you, but some one that looks like they are homeless doesn't instill confidents in me. I've never put one's facial just to much at credence but looking at the Bush administration most of his buddies and himself tend to talk out of the sides of their mouth when the are telling a lie. I know it's a little defect but people need to pay attention to these details. Seems all the republican are all real works. From what I get from listening to them is they wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire.

6AM and still dark out

Winter is coming, the days of getting up with day light are going. Not to reappear until next year. As I watch the forest come to life my first little buddy to come from the trees was a little female squirrel. Then there was a couple doves. Next was momma turkey and her two kids. Seems one bird is missing. Then the girls showed up, my 7 hens. Watching them enjoy an apple.

 

Went to bed at 12 midnight last night. I check outside before I turned in and saw three deer laying in the chaff of the alfalfa. They looked so relaxed and comfortable.

 

---

Bush gets blasted by the news this morning, how he dropped the ball. Homeland security is also on the firing line. If homeland security can't figure out hat to do for some thing like this then they are not ready for any other large scale event. Most of what was done in New York was provided by the city and state. Bush will go down in history as a lame duck and idiot. When the word gets out that he cut 95% of the funding to repair the levies and cannels of Louisiana and along the Mississippi water way people are going to really look at the republican party as a bunch of greedy bastards. Every thing the Bush administration has done over the past 5 years is for his friends and not the good of his country. When it comes to Bush the buck never stops there it's always some one else's fault. He and homeland security are already blaming the states for their poor response. When the state is devastated and their national guard if off fighting a endless war then how can it be their fault. Telling the states that they need to ask for specific aid is a cop out. When a governor ask please send help that should be good enough. The idea that Washington couldn't figure out what kind of needs they have is a hopeless state that this Bush administration has put us in. Lets close more military bases. Lets give tax breaks to the rich. Lets loose 21 billion dollars of the Iraqis money. Maybe people will see what the republican party is all about, greed.

Bush Blows the Big One Again

Bush had the chance to prevent the problems of New Orleans but cut funding. Isn't just like a rich person to be tight with the purse strings. Have you ever seen you boss tell you is good enough when you know it's a safety issue. I've never seen a republican be ready for nothing except the pursuit of power. Frisk is in the battle zone but does he put on some rubber gloves? No, he talks a mean program and that the only things republicans know to do is talk. It's time for change and that change doesn't include the republican party. It's clear they are only in it for themselves. When it comes to innovations we are going backwards compared to the rest of the world. I don't see any real loyalty in the republican party as far as this country goes. If the republicans could send all the poor over seas they would.

Decentralization: Security First

Decentralization:

It seems that if you want to make a place safe for an event where one point of service is a crucial. Either you fortify it or decentralize it. The internet was designed to solve this problem from attack of a nuclear exchange. Seems like having all the oil works in one area is a national security risk. I understand that 1/4 of all the oil comes through that area of the country. Since the wetlands have been lost at a rate of 40 square miles a year and that all the oil pipelines that were buried. Seems that a revamp of the oil pipelines and power distribution is a national security problem.

To me decentralization is a problem that needs to be over come. Maybe in the interest of this nation nationalizing the oil fields would be one step in making this country safe. Also if the power companies were owned by the government then there wouldn't be price spikes and gouging. It seems that a few oil companies really want to be drilling in Alaska driving up the price of oil similar to the oil shortage in that late 70's. Once that papers were signed the price of oil stabilized and most likely will do the same now.

It's terrible that international companies can and do push countries around. Maybe it's time to change that. Bush has been using companies like Halliburton. A company based in the Caribbean to evade taxes. Seems a loop hole as big as a country could be plugged but if your the international company plugging the holes they will never get plugged. What is good for a company may not be in the best interest of the country.

Maybe having all the eggs in one basket in one place isn't the way to go. Maybe having a lot of little oil refineries and power generation plants is the way to go. Bigger isn't always better.

BUSH Knew but cut the funding

According to Now on PBS last night they brought the point that Bush cut funding for the repair of the levies and water ways. He also cut the restoration of the wet lands. The funds were requested back in 2002 but were cut up to 95%. The years after the first cuts were added to by his "War on Terror." If it wasn't for his tax cuts giving his buddies a big break, we the United States would have had the money to do the repairs on the water ways along the Mississippi. All this was predicted by the leaders of the area. It was also predicted by the Army corp. of Engineers. Bush's idea was that we have got by so long and we could skate a few more years. His ideas that the local people should take care of everything and people will volunteer is wrong. If we can't take care of an event like this then we couldn't handle any event that might be man made from terrorist.

 

 

Hurricane will drive up the price of insurance

Hurricane caused a lot of damage and the insurance companies never loose money. So it has to come from some where. The price of your home, car, health insurance will all be going up. No ones a winner when it comes to dealing with an insurance company.

 

Bush gets the votes and now he wants the FEMA money back. FEMA is taking the money back from the hurricane disaster of last year. Why it's after the election and Bush doesn't need your vote. Since Bush doesn't need the votes what states will get the best service from FEMA after this hurricane? Since the Presidents brother is the governor of Florida stand to reason that Florida will get the best service if Jeb Bush plans to run for President.

Oil price and drilling in Alaska

In the late 70's we went through a bad oil shortage brought on by Exxon. This was so Exxon could get their way and put in the Alaskan Pipeline. Then we had oil as soon as the okay to put it in the works. If history repeats itself then this oil shortage which we won't find out why it's happening until years later but the new pipeline in the Wild Life Sanctuary. Where they say there will be little impact. People must have forgotten about the Exxon Valdes because they are going to let it happen again. This time in the North of Alaska where it is supposed to be protected land. What's so unusual about this project is that it's going to take years for the project to be put in place but the day the government okays it the price of oil will stabilize. Part of the problem that went wrong was Chaney's plan to lease out the oil field in Iraq but that didn't happen so there is some pissed off oil companies. Bush keeps saying were staying the course but does that mean we are going to be in Iraq until we have every last drop of oil. Generals from the army say were going to have at least 100,000 troops in Iraq for the next four years. Guess that's why they have been building permanent bases since they first invaded the country.

 

Mean while, Bin's on the loose and Bush isn't doing anything about it. Makes you wonder if Bush out sourced the terrorist. I wouldn't put it past him and the oil companies and military supply chain that would have put him up to it. Say the Carlisle Group.

The Worminator

Just watched the old movie the Terminator. What a looser of a movie when you see it years after it was made and see all the defects. The gas tanker has a line pulling it before it blows up. When the robot skeleton is walking around it doesn't move with it's own steps. It's like a puppet on a dolly which it most likely is. The scene of the terminator cutting the loose skin around his eye is a puppet too.

 

Arnold's only claim to fame is taking steroids. When he was elected governor the rest of the world was laughing at California. What kind of morons voted for an action figure. People need to get there brains examined. His best line in a movie was "I'll be back." He would be able to talk better but the steroids messed up his hearing and vocal cords and brain. Soon like all steroid users, he'll develop some cool illness, then we all can laugh at him and say your terminated.

Religious Bone Heads

Forest FloorWhen a religion thinks it's right and wants to make it a
national policy then they are making the biggest mistake. Watching the news
of the Israeli people being idiots and putting up resistance to the give
back of Gaza to the P{Palestinians. Yes I said give back, but the Islamic
group hamas is saying that their terrorist actions worked is a big mistake
too. Why are there so many religious bone heads out there. They can't see
what would be good for their country. For example, the woman that set
herself on fire to show them. Boy, she really showed them, now she's burned
up and still alive, that really showed everyone. What did it show them, we
got an idiot woman setting herself on fire.

Iraq is sort of the same mess. Every group is saying that their God is
better then the other guys. When some one blows themselves up to show them
how much they believe in there God, it only shows me how backward they are.

In this country, the religious right is doing the same thing but they can't
see it. They think every one else's God is wrong. That only the born again
Christians are the only way. If they had their religion down right the first
time they wouldn't have to be born again. What about a child brought up in
this born again culture, do they need to find some other better religion so
they can be born again. They can't be born again in the church they are
going too. If this country doesn't get it's act together and keep the
separation of church and state then this will be it's down fall.

Looking at what the church is doing to science is setting the wrong image of
science. It's turning superstitions into fact, in stead of disproving the
superstitions. Seems anyone can right in the bible, there is no
prerequisite. All you have to do is say is God told you to write it and
everyone bends over to kiss your butt. If this is your requirement then I
can say God inspired me to write this and it's divine. Who is going to
disprove it, you can't.

Nice Morning

Forest FloorMy Big Buddy and his friend Mr. Stumpy showed up around 11AM
today. (Yes they are deer) The turkeys and squirrels were here several hours
earlier. Looks like it's going to be a hot day again. They say it's cooler
but anything over 90 is about the same. So low 90's isn't that great of a
break. Sure it's better then a 104 degrees.

More leaks in the cause of 9/11. Army had a secret data mining team called
"Able Danger." They looked into Al Quida and knew that some of the terrorist
were here in 1999. They didn't tell the FBI about them because they weren't
suppose to be spying on American Citizens. So when did this new policy
happen. The FBI is full of files of normal people, now they are protecting
the civil liberties of foreign terrorist. now that makes a bunch of sense.
The lawyers that told the Army not to tell the FBI must have been informed
by one of Bush's buddies like Roberts or our new Attorney General now.

Sense the Bush team planned the fowl up during the first election and
Diebold put them over the top in the second, the country need to start
paying attention to what is going on and not listening to sound bites. The
people with the most to loose voting for the republicans for moral values
need to be stopped from breeding becasue the definitely have the stupid
gene. The group calling themselves the religious right really are a bunch of
sheep in that they follow blindly, without logic or reason. To say Bush is a
Christian is like comparing Adolph was a Christian too. Germany use religion
to control the masses when Adolph came to control. Now Bush is doing the
same thing to America slowly,by righting new laws like the patriot act which
takes away our civil right and make the government more powerful without any
checks or balances.

The only God Bush and his friends have is money, Good Old Dollars. For the
Christians to think Bush is on their side they need to take a real big look
after taking off the blinders.

Farther and cancer

Forest FloorMy father called me Sunday to tell me he had surgery for bladder
cancer. He still hasn't got the stitches in. He didn't tell me if he need
more treatment. It's sinking in more today of what is happening. It's to bad
I live 600 plus miles away. I'm wondering if this is something new or
something that is spreading.

Lost a one year old deer yesterday

Forest FloorIt was day break and the turkeys were going crazy. Turns out it
was two coyotes chasing tow young female deer. The caught on deer and ate
most of her by the time I got there. Today the vultures are here. About 6 of
them. And yes they do circle. I thought the turkeys were big but these guys
are BIG. I'll see if I can get some pictures together and post them but not
tonight, hands hurting from typing. It's getting better then last week after
surgery, that really put me in a different place.

Nothing but Butts and Antlers

The deer are here. A lot of deer are here all at the same time. Usually they stagger in at different times all night long. Well it's hot and they need water and I'm glade to sit out with them. They really like the apples that fall from the trees. They also like the plums which really gets their tongues going. I can't believe it, another over 100 days. This whole summer has been that way. The winter was rather wet too. Now, it's dry, spitting dust dry. The apples are green and very tart. Not to many peaches. The red plums came in but not the yellow ones. Think the blossoms were washed off. Turkeys just left for the night. It's quiet out, even the bugs aren't making noise.

 

Back is hurting not sure what I did to make it feel this way. Wrist is healing after the surgery yesterday. Have to keep the pain pill going or the pain gets out of hand. Right now my wrist has a big old bandage on it and it doesn't move to much. Moving it does put me through some changes. I feel like I need to lay down and rest my back. The problem with getting old.

Cool morning

It's cool now and I'm watching the deer feed in the field along with the squirrels. It's going to be hot again today, yes in the 100's again. Yesterday it was about 5 PM and I was walking on the hill south of the house. The air was so sweet smelling. The smell of pine was the most dominant it reminded me of being at camp when I was younger. It was a feeling that I used to look forward to every year. For a few minutes I was back in the days of my youth. Smells change and so does times, people and the world. Back then it seemed a lot simpler then today. The farther I remember back in my life it seems life was simpler. Seeing things for the first time without any reference was fresh and impressive. I still get that here but not so much. I still find new plants I've never seen before. I guess it's like watching the baby deer exploring the world. They seem so happy with out a care in the world. I've never seen an animal, which I shouldn't just call them that but they are so happy. They don't bother no one, life is very simple. To say they are animals, bring me to that same level of being an animal. There are so many similarities in all the mammals. There is only minor differences. They don't have to re-download programs because you pressed the space bar and it canceled the installation. No frustrating computers to deal with. Sure they say it's an advancement to the humans but what does it take away. 

New Life in the forest

This morning was great watching mom and her to babies having  snack. The kids were exploring the world with such happiness. Every things new and fresh to them, they want to see every thing and run just to have fun. The forest is coming alive. First it's one then two then dozens of squirrels. The young one that seem to need the most energy because of the energy use by playing games like chase or climb the tree and run back down. The older squirrels are more calm and just interested in eating. Momma turkey and her three little babies are here briefly as they make their daily rounds. Slowly more and more birds come into the area celebrating the morning. 

 

I new there was a pregnant mother skunk around here ready to give birth. Well, she did over night under the house. As a matter of fact they are right under my bedroom door and wall. I can hear the little ones, they sound like little birds chirping. If it's like the other skunk families I've seen born this year there should be at least six young.

 

It's going to be another hot bad air day according to the news. You couldn't tell that by the squirrels playing outside at this time. Later today if it's going to be like the rest of the week, when the heat is on the forest seems to stop. For now it's great watching all the life of the forest.

Buddy didn't show up until 12:30 AM

To hot to be outside. The house hasn't warmed up yet since I have it closed up. They said it's going to get to 103 degrees down in the valley. Lucky I'm under the trees where it's cooler but not to much today. It's 79 degrees in the house and a oven outside. I just turned on the fire scanner to listen if there is any fires.

 

Most of the deer showed up just after sunset, even the mother and her two babies. Every one loves a baby deer. They were more interested in running and exploring the world then eating. Still I waited outside getting eaten by mosquitoes so I would move fast to swat them. The girls showed up first then the mother with the kids. Then slowly the rest of the boys drifted in except Big Buddy. I went to bed early but woke up at 12:30 AM just in time to catch a little "Conan" in HDTV not that I could see it that way but could see the frame size. I noticed the porch light was on. When I went to the door Big Buddy was there with his son Little Buddy. I went outside and encouraged Buddy to eat. I put out two pounds of corn which he walked over to as soon as I put it down. When he was first hurt he was very stand offish but now he is more tolerant of me. He ate most of the two pound of corn then went off to the alfalfa. I'm very glad he's keeping his weight on and eating even though he is limping and his leg is very swollen where the break is.

Had to sit with Buddy

Last night as the deer came through, I've been trying to help Buddy recover from his broken foot. The other deer were trying to push him out of the way and get to what ever Buddy was eating. I sat out there to protect him and to encourage him to eat and drink.  His break is very swollen up and big as his foot. At least Buddy is trusting me more again since I was keeping the other deer away from him.

 

The skunks have been getting out of hand. Just to many skunks. The momma skunk is ready to have kids, either that or she is really big. I put out some steak parts and those guys went to town on it, fighting fiercely over the steak fat.

 

Well the squirrels are looking at me funny since I ran out of sun flower seeds. Off to the feed store.

Nice warm relaxing day

Saw a mother deer this morning with two fawns but she still looked pregnant. The fawns were having such a good time running and bucking while mom looked on. There's nothing more happier then a baby deer. Later on after a couple cups of coffee I noticed Little Buddy laying out in the yard. It's late afternoon now and the only critters outside are the baby squirrels eating and having fun chasing each other. It's that time of the day and here comes the turkeys on their tour of the property. They come down and eat and lay around about 3 o'clock each day. Momma turkey and her three kids should be coming around. It's like clock work every day when every one shows up. The only ones I don't like showing up are the pigeons. They make it so I have to wash my car daily.

 

I saw Big Buddy later night and he seemed to be doing okay. Still limping with a broken foot. I cut up at least 10 pounds of green apple and they are all gone today. I noticed Big Buddy and his two kids really went over then last night.

 

Well it's time to put out the nights feeding for the kids. The turkeys seem to get bothered by the incoming pigeons. When they take off they scare the squirrels which grab hold of what ever they are on.

Another Momma Skunk showed up today

Yes another mother skunk was on the porch enjoying popcorn and sunflower seeds. She's getting ready to give birth. I can see that some of the other skunks born a couple month ago are getting rather bi about the size of a gray squirrel. That will make three families of skunks that are living around here. Watching pushing and shoving but not really fighting but just trying to get the most food. Life is a challenge for the little guys. And no they don't go spraying everything that comes their way. You need to have to really piss them off, like your planning to eat them or something. Other that they are rather gentle in their actions. Like I noticed in the squirrels they all don't look a like, there is minor differences in the fir and the spots on the fir.

 

My Big Buddy broke his back leg. I think he stepped in a gopher hole and his foot fell in. He's still getting around but not to fast. I feel so sorry for him and I've been trying to get help but no one will help. The local "Animal Control" wants to kill him. UC Davis Veterinary University says they don't do deer. If you go to their web site you will see how they are rescuing a horse with a helicopter. I thing the picture is more for there ego then the care of animals. They will take care of a dogs and cats cardiac system but not a deer. Goes to show you when your a Republican you play God with who lives and who dies.

 

It's amazing that pet owners spend millions each year on their pet which I don't believe in, we outlawed slavery a 150 years ago. I guess it part of the capitalist system, this is mine and you can't have it. Sort of like how some people have their marriages. Just a gathering of toys to prove how successful you are.

 

I can see how the European invasion of the Americas and the way they treated the Native Americans as they were animal. Well the tables are turning, the conquers will be conquered and we will be the looses. If You look at history you will see that this has happened over and over. No one country has lasted forever and never will.

Cute baby skunks

It's been the first time I've seen baby skunks. I've seen al the other babies in this forest and this year is the first for baby skunks. No raccoons yet. No baby deer yet but I know they are coming. Last night put out a couple bags of microwave popcorn. I must have spent a couple hours watching them eat the popcorn.

There is a lot of groups of quails but no babies yet. Going to have to get some pictures of them this year. They are small and fast so they are hard to get pictures of.

Cutting that tree down yesterday did me in. I was supprized at how fast it came apart. Nothing like sharp manly tools.

It feel like a Hitchcock movie with all the pigeons that are coming around. There must be at least a 100 of them outside.

They say there isn't going to be anymore rain. I just can handle setting up the trees that fall over.

No cherries this year the rain got them all.

Well time for my next cup of coffee and then it's outside. Have to pick up a couple bags of grain for the birds. The poor turkeys are missing out because of the pigeons

One other thing, a skunk or something was eating the scraps I put out from the chicken I had but they broke my Vision frying pan. It was my favorite glass frying pan for baking in.

Summer and it's going to rain

It's one of those days again where I don't want to get out of bed. Feed the kids some time around 7:00 AM and again around 10:00AM. Momma and her kids just stopped by. The chicks are getting so big so quick. The skunk family is growing rather fast too. I've been noticing a lot of baby squirrels the last few days. I watched one that was on the picnic table and was looking for a way down. He ran back and forth on the table top looking for the shortest distance down. He took a leap of faith and jumped to the seat of the table and went through the same process looking for the shortest distance down.

 

The "Black Headed Grosbeak's are getting big enough to feed themselves but momma bird still feeds them. They look almost the same size as an adult but the coloring is lighter to blend into the back ground of the forest. The kids are more brown and have a orange stripe on their heads. The parents don't have the orange strip and have black feathers with a brilliant orange color on their bodies.

 

I watched Mister Stinkers come in last night at sunset. He walked up the old road and down to the creek. I thought he was going to just walk up the creek and to the house. He ducked into the thick forest under brush. Later I saw him walking up the hill. I don't even go up that hill since it's so over grown.

 

Wow, this is interesting. Their are three young Grosbeak's and one is all black with a brown head. The way they are traveling as a group, it looks like they are all from the same family.

 

The other day I was watching a more aggressive pigeon on the porch. Usually they don't come on the porch but this one did. I thought he was going to choke on the sunflower seeds. It seems he would crack the seeds but was so hungry he wouldn't finish taking off the husk and swallowed the whole thing. Usually the pigeons just seeing me they will take off but this one didn't care. He just looked at me and kept eating.

 

Well it look's like I'm going to have to get dressed and head to town soon even though I could just as well sit here looking out the door and watching the birds and squirrels feeding.

Oh' Man Could the day get any worse?

It's been raining for a day and raining real good. I woke up early to turn off my computer after defragging it last night. Then I noticed the computer has locked up. Re-starting the computer the dreaded "CHECK SUM ERROR." No problem, I'll deal with it in the morning. Well waking up at a normal time and watching the baby chicks and mom. I feed the other turkeys and squirrels then went back inside, not looking outside in great detail. After a few cups of coffee I returned to feeding the squirrels. That's when I noticed the fig tree had fallen over. My road is completely blocked. I'm going to imply some of my climbing skills and a little physics to try to stand it back up. I'm going to have to have to sacrifice some of the branches to lighten the load. Well, guess it's time to dig out the webbing and carabineers

 

Pictures to follow....

Had Enough for Today

Had enough poison oak, bugs, pokes, sticks and scrapes. So tired feeling so drained. Time to get on my back and if I stay awake long enough to watch the news. But, for right now falling over is the plan. Question, If a Bob falls over in a forest and no one is around to hears it, did Bob really fall over?

Pictures from the forest

Mr. Stinkers
The Stinker family came by last night again. The little guys were trying to get the pecking order but Mom was the top skunk and they couldn't get close enough to her. I blocked off a way under the house but I think the family of skunks have moved in. I had sealed the hole where a drain pipe comes out from under the house with foam. They eat or clawed their way through the foam. I don't want to seal the hole right now since dead skunks under the house would smell worse then skunks spraying on each other.


Little flower from the under forest. These flowers are very delicate. The seem to pop up after all that rain has come for the year. The little flowers don't stay out very long but the color I find very pleasant.


Wild Peas. They are small but still they are wild natural peas. You could be hiking along a miss these peas since they blend into the back ground and are not in big groves. I missed them many times as I walked past them dozens of times.


Left overs from the mining days. 3/4" cables
Not sure what I'm going to do with them since they are big and heavy and don't fit into a trash bag.

Well, I feel like I got it again, poison oak! My arms and face is itching. Even my fingers itch. It feel like it's in my right eye too. I'll find out more when I wake up tomorrow. If I wake up and have scratched al night or my skin has red bumps then I'll know how bad it is. Sneaky stuff, it doesn't show up for a couple days after it settles in. Think I'll take another cool shower with lots of soap.

Also, going to have to wash all my cloths so I don't contaminate myself further. Well, time to wash and watch the news. Take the weight off my dogs, back and what ever is aching.

The first baby chicks

While sitting here today scanning some slides, the first 3 babies turkeys came by with momma turkey. The daughters of this same mother were all excited. The males wanted to check to see if they were their offspring but the daughters were protecting the mother. I can't tell which one is a male turkey yet but it seems the males can. They don't like any competition in male turkeys so they like to kill off the young. I have to say it's another exciting day for me here in the forest. Since they stopped here today they will be coming back every day after this unless something happens to them. Mom has to teach them where and what to eat. I noticed that with the skunks too. There was two young deer with pregnant mom here this morning. The males didn't want to share but I could see the youngsters wanted to come down and see me. They remembered me from last year and remembered our hand signals. It sounds crazy to name wild animals but I do and they seem to respond to their names too. What a great day, sunny and warm out and I'm inside scanning slides. Guess I'm going to have to get out there and work up a manly sweat and try to get another case of poison oak.

Cutest thing I've seen so far

I saw a black and white tail moving in front of the door. When I got to the door it was six baby skunks and momma skunk. The babies all kept close to mom but wanted to see what the world had to offer. They were so small even smaller then a young squirrel that mom would let run out of the nest. Seeing all my steps covered with little black and white bodies was one of the exciting moments of living here in the forest. They were scared off by the boys Big Buddy, Mr. B, and Stumpy my friendly deer that visit most every day. Since they seem to like the dark I'm thinking that they will be back later. As far as I could tell they ran under my tool shed. Don't know if they are living there but if they are that makes working in the shed a little tricky. Going to have to walk lightly. Still This has to be one of the high light of  living here like when I saw the family of raccoons come through.

Don't scare a skunk

Well, my Big Buddy and Stumpy was outside having a snack when I decided I'll give them a little more to eat. Soon as I opened the door the skunk started freaking out. I think it was because there were two skunks out the one the porch and one next to the planter, a half oak barrel. Scaring the skunk on the porch got him running to hide but he came in contact with the other skunk. An invasion of food territory. Well, the little guys started screaming and the next thing I knew there was this distinct odor. Not bad as skunks go but one of them did go. Funny how living in the forest and how you get used to odors like skunks. The screaming chased off the deer. Well they all will be back some time over though the night.

 

I got some pictures of the one skunk at sunset. It was the big tailed skunk. Usually the skunks never fight or if they see me they just run off. Then again, the first year I was here there was a cat that wanted to mate with the skunk but the skunk didn't want any part of it.

 

Can't believe the traffic going to Tahoe. There must have been three miles of traffic backed up just coming into Placerville. Yes the fruit cakes are on the road. Why is it on a holiday people just think they can do anything. Driving at unbelievable speeds on the roads. Yesterday a car changed lanes into a motorcycle. The motorcycle crashed into the center divider and killed the driver. Lot of one car accidents too. Those always amaze me why one car would just flip over or run off the road.

Singing in the Rain

Nothing like the deer making fun of you


I'm singing in the rain...


Last night was great with the almost full moon. The light came through the sky light and window and I could make out the trees almost like day light. Went to bed early did to much yesterday. It's always that way, do to much and take two or three days to recover. Some times it might even take months to recover if I do one minor movement wrong. Terrible getting old when your mind still fells so young.

The last couple days have been sunny and warm. Sure beats the rainy days but it's all a part of life so you just need to get dressed up and experience the weather. If you don't it's like only experiencing part of life.

Haven't seen so many quail here before. They are doing real good this year. The turkeys and squirrels are having a great time too. What I get a real kick out of is the Black headed grosbeaks.

Well, better fill the seed bags for the finch's and get ready to go to the doctors office.

Rain and Wet Skunks

Sprinkled all day and was dark out. Couldn't get moving since it was so gray out just wanted to sleep or at least stay under the covers. It's pouring tonight and I have two wet skunks on the porch. It's worse then a wet dog their hair gets all matted down and not the usual standing up. Feeling sorry for the little guys I put a bag of microwave popcorn out for them. They just love popcorn, don't know if it's the grease on the corn or what. They go at it like jocks eating steaks without their hands. The popcorn is to big for their mouth so they have to chew it to smaller pieces. It's almost like they are attacking the popcorn they way they hop around. Their bodies remind me of a miniature bears. There's a woman back east that sells de-gland skunks and says they make great pets. I'm not one to keep any animal a prisoner for my enjoyment. People that own pets do just that own like they used to own people a 150 years ago. I don't agree with hunters because of their mind set. It the adrenalin rush of chasing and killing something that can't fight back. I guess they might be the same ones that keep their wives in place and own dogs and children and other living things. It might be fun to hunt the hunters with tranquilizer darts. Tie them to the front of your grill as you drive your trophy home. Could you imagine the reaction of a hunter waking up tied to the front of a car on the freeway. Seems like it would be a fair game, a catch and release program. Sneaking up on the sneakers.

"Stay the Course" of at least 50 grit

Nature these last few years we have come up with some new quotes by the administration and the war. "Stay the course," and "Mission Accomplished are two of the most recognizable. What is bad is they are becoming common place words that don't mean much. "Stay the Course," seems to mean, we are going to cut off our noses despite our faces no matter how wrong we are. The Republican agenda is some thing not what's good for the country but what's good for a few of the top 1% of the rich. Going into Iraq was like kicking a dog while he was down, there was no weapons of mass destruction or WMD as we now use it as slang. Mission Accomplisished means we go the oil and you don't. Even Greenspan is using "Stay the Course" for the economy even though it's been going down hill since Bush took office. The Russian President was right when he said you call yourself democratic when a court appoints the president. We don't know how much graft there was in the second Bush election because there wasn't a paper trail and it seems like pulling teeth to get a paper trail. The Republicans didn't want a paper trail because they didn't want to loose. It's to bad that the today's Republicans have the I.Q. of hand balls in the way they voted. If the Republicans would have said that there agenda is to break the unions and make most of the people of the united stated live below the poverty line similar to how it was in the 1800's. Where the company used you until you died. Now with United Airlines passing off their pension plan to the government it's going to be a rush by the other corporations to follow to stay competitive at the cost of the tax payers and at the expense of the pensioners. Out of the five years Bush has been in office we haven't met the need of jobs per month. Which was 350,000 new jobs per month. Inflation is another one of my beefs. When inflation is higher then what you get back from your savings your a looser. The numbers might say your making money because of the interest but when you take in the fact the negative part of inflation your going backwards. When Bush say's he wants to support the troops and then cuts their pay, medical services, close down the VA hospitals. It's so amazing how misinformed the American people are worried more about gay marriage then the security of the country or the solvency of social security. If the people would have known that Bush was going to cut their social security I don't think Bush would be president or the puppet of the corporate world. United Airlines is a dead dog and should start be dismantled selling off the planes and terminals to pay for the pensions of it's workers. The no child left behind should be no rich child left behind. The clean air act is how to confuse people to make more money while people choke down more chemicals. They blame smokers for lung cancer but it's more the environment that is killing you.

More Rian

Rained yesterday and all night. So far today it's just overcast. The squirrels must know something that the weather service doesn't because they are eating like it's going to rain for several days where they won't be able to gather food for days. Then again the squirrels are like dogs in a way, you can feed them to they explode. I should give them more credit then that because they do eat seeds then go off and eat greens. Same with the turkeys, they don't just eat grain but bugs and greens. My lawn is growing to fast for them to keep it trimmed down. Most of the time it's well manicured.

 

I sat outside with the squirrels while they came up on the porch a few feet from me. It still amazes me the variety of the squirrels, in that they are all gray squirrels but each one is just a little different. From the shape of their nose to their eye brows. There colors very widely from light colored to a dark gray. The younger ones are like puppies with a more fuzzy body hair. They have longer black hairs which seems to make up their color. Take out their black hairs and you'd have white squirrels.

 

The suns out again for a few minutes. The pigeons are hanging out in the trees waiting for the squirrels to leave. The turkeys are the only one that get close to the squirrels while eating. A siren went off some where in town and the squirrels scrambled to the trees. The turkeys started gobbling every time the siren whined.

 

Well better get ready to go to the doctors. Seems when I step outside there is always something to do. Just one more thing, always just one more thing.

Jumping Squirrels

I slept in today when I was a woken by a squirrel. He was running into and up the door just past the window. I've heard the little guys scratch on the door to get my attention but this was a first. I have to tell you I'm always amazed at something here.

 

Today was a good day for turkey watching too. This one male is so shy. He still thinks he's small like his sisters which were all here too. Was a good day for deer watching too. Friend sat with me for an hour or so. Bullwinkle a young deer about two years old has a well developing rack. You can see he's young by his narrow body and nose. They are have little things you can notice to tell how old they are or how's in charge. Like Big Buddy is the one to watch out for the rest of the group. The quail are some what the same. One of the males will be up high while the rest will be looking for food, always in pairs. I like seeing the pairs of doves walking together. I know they do greave if their mate dies because I've seen that when I was down south. They will go around just like the other one is there so I felt it was like a period of sadness for the bird.

 

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Want to hear something scary? I seen one of our elected Republicans using Michael Crittians new novel as fact about global warming. Yes that's "right" using a science fiction novel as truth. This goes along with the same people that bring you "Creationism" and Intelligent Design." This country is going backwards as far as intelligence is going. Why are the jobs going over seas? It's because we have people that read a sci-fi book and take it as fact. The worst thing about that is here's someone in a highly elected position preaching how sci-fi book is for real. Makes you wonder if the people that take the Bible word for word, totally out of contacts because they only read one line at a time as fact instead of science. When the founding fathers used the word "God" in the language at the time it was a group of people called free thinkers. They believed that there was some one that gave the universe a push and that was about that.

 

The matter in Kansas that is going on is a bunch of morons trying to get the bible in the science classes. What's real sick is that they will most likely win and we are going to have a generation of idiots. Smiling and blessing you without a clue voting for the republicans because someone told them to. Just like the past two elections with it's wedge issues..

 

Hearing the nominee of Bush's from Texas the woman who thinks that raping the earth is just fine. When it comes to the earth and making money there must be defective genes in republicans to think they can destroy the earth and still be able to live on it. I don't know if it's that they are waiting for some sort of scientist to fix it all. Come up with some sort of cleaner called "Nuke Away." When the air becomes more deadly then smoking cigarettes like in Los Angeles rush hour traffic. From a study I heard some years ago, they said, "driving in rush hour traffic is like smoking 4 packs a day." The cover up of using diesel fuel and how much it pollutes has been covered up for so many years by the trucking and truck manufactures.

 

What is this world coming to? A bunch of apathetic people that don't care about anything but their own back yard. 

Watching a squirrel make a nest.

I don't see this to often but when I do it's real neat. Theirs a squirrel stripping bark from a cut down apple tree. As she pulls of long strips and hold them in her mouth she stops and reworks the pieces turning thing into long stringy parts to the nest. I've seen them also cutting fine blades of grass sorting them all out to 1 1/2 inches long. The strips she's cutting today look like they are around six to eight inches.

 

Since it looks like it's going to rain again, it throws off the critters timing. When the clouds come over they think it's getting dark and need to eat for the evening. When the sun comes out it's time to play.

 

Well, the clouds are really coming in now. It's a real dark gray sky and it doesn't look like it's going to be a outdoor day. I wanted to do some weed eating but that looks like it's going to have to be put off. Same with the foundation fix, the ground is to wet and muddy. It's only in the 50's today. I noticed that there is a lot of cherries on the ground because of the rain. It's been too windy for the fruit to stay on the branches. If things keep going like they are there won't be any fruit this year.

 

The turkeys are walking down the road thinking it's going to get dark soon. I've been able to gauge what time it is by watching the wild life and where they are moving during the day. Right now it looks like it would be around 7:30 PM on a normal day. Some times I like dressing up nice and warm and getting outside. Being cold is okay but cold and wet is another. There was a day when it didn't matter to me but getting old and slow moving makes staying inside seems the thing to do.

 

It's turning into a feeding frenzy for the smaller birds. The jays and pigeons and out in force. When I see them eating like there's no tomorrow then I know that the rain will be here soon and maybe for a long time. They say it's going to be in the 80's later this week but you couldn't tell that from the way it looks now. I'd be taking pictures but there is not enough light even using 800 ASA film.

 

Looking out the window I can see things are getting wet. No down pour, yet. This winter has thrown a lot of curves. Hot where you can be out in shorts then rain then hot again. Some of the weeds are almost full grown while others have just started. Well better check the NOAA website and see what's going to happen. Yesterday they had tornado warnings out and had some funnel clouds. I missed most of that real bad weather mainly because it went around me.

All weather all the time

Dark, rainy and want to sleep but I had to go down the hill to the doctors. What a journey this was. Rain, hail , fire brimstone, funnel clouds. There was a brief period that it wasn't raining but for the most part it rained. Saw a couple cars on the side of the road that smacked into each other. One was on the side of the hill going the wrong way. Right at that time was when I hit a squall line so I guess they got caught off guard and smacked into each other. Like the rain hit and one bone head slammed on the breaks forgetting people were behind them.

Hand has lost it's numbness after the cortisone shot. I feel the cortisone part as a stiffness but the lidocaine wore off. It'll be a couple days before I start having better hand function.
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Back at home.
The deer stopped by. Big Buddy, Stumpy and one guy last year was big buck on campus and now has a limp and Marty Feldman eyes. I thought he was going to die he was in such bad shape. One of his eyes last year was closed and his antler were knocked off. It looked like he dislocated his front left leg but it's seem to heal sort of well. Still he has a limp. Don't think he's going to be that same scrappy young thing he was last year.

It's nice having it stay light so late but today it just was one of those days. It just had a red dark fade to night.

24
Only two more episodes left. What city will get blown up! Let see the little places I used to see around Los Angeles that are suppose to be else where. Still, the series has a lot of great tension. The best way to see 24 is to rent the whole series and watch them all at one time. You don't even want to pause the DVD play to take a pee.

Good day for the critters

Sort of sunny today. Some high cloads so the sun comes out in spots. Had five deer here a few minutes ago. Have six squirrels outside right now chowing down. I guess it's going to rain again because every one is eating early. Usually this part of the day every one is kicking back in the trees and don't come back out until 3 PM. Grampa Tommy and one of his young hens are outside too. Since the turkeys have all mated they are out nesting. The only hens are one year old and daddy bird is watching the youngsters. It so cute to see the young squirrels. They like doing squirrel things to make them into a strong squirrels. They play chase and bounce off trees. The grosbeaks are becoming more visable. guess it's because there is more of them. The young squirrels are so small you could put one in your hand. I can get close to them but not that close. Everything here is wild and I bilieve that it's because of trust that I can get as close as I do to them. Well, done with my coffee and watching, better hop in the shower and get out and do something before it rains.

Rainy day but the little critters are out.

New "Life" in spring.


A great looking flower with some great detail.


Lazy day and a little hen getting some rays.


Big Buddy stealing the birds food. He lost a lot of weight since the rut and he's growing new antler.

Last night I had a bunch of deer eating in the field. There was Big Buddy, Stumpy fellow, Friend, Mom Girl and the two babies which are one year old now.

There are a lot of quail and grosbeak out today. My favorite little bird is the nuthatch but the little guys won't sit still to get the picture taken.

You can tell you have a healthy forest by the amount of birds you see. At least that's what I'm gauging my forest by.

I saw Mr. Stinkers last night. I didn't see him come on the porch but I did hear him pushing things around.

I see evidence of the bobcat coming around but I haven't seen him in a few month.

With all the rain we have been getting everything is growing so fine. Going to have a lot of fruit and berries. I think I picked up a little poison oak but it's not bad yet. It's just that I've got the scratches all over. I think what happened was the oil from the poison oak soaked through my sweaty cloths. Well it's sprinkling again and all the little critters ran off for shelter.

When I hear that Kansas is having talks on intelligent design and no science people are there to debate it, it shows me that the country is going backwards as far as science goes. Without people going into the science industries we are just making a country of burger flippers. It's one thing to have faith but to make that faith the law of the land is like Islamic countries making it the law of the land. That's why we went to war in Iraq and won't let them have an Islamic government. So why does Bush keep pushing the Religious Right as the Germany did before WWII? Unless this is a ploy to do the same thing that Adolph wanted to do in making it a "Christian" country. But no one learns from history these days. Hell, you don't even know what you did last week. To ask you what you did last year would be a pipe dream.

Getting ready to rain

Have all my toy put away and ready for the rain. Did some more forest cleaning today used the chain saw like crazy. Well, here comes the quail. They're here early. Then again every one ate early getting ready for the rain. It looks like it's going to rain 3 or for days then a one day break and rain another 4 days. Looks like inside work for me. As it is right now I'm still drying out from my forest fun. Been dragging a lot of trimmings that the power company has left be hind after there trimming. Makes a lot of sense to put a pile of dried wood under the power line so if one breaks and drops to the ground it could start a good fire. The bad thing about them trimming trees is they don't know how to. They cut the top of a pine tree off then it turns into six or eight trees growing up. Not to mention the branches they leave hanging in other trees as they fall. To avoid any clean up work the push the branches under other bushes. If it's one thing I learned in life, short cuts will come back to make problems. Last year when I complained to the tree service the power company uses they said they don't have to clean up in a forest but it was my back yard so I don't get it. Last year they started a very large fire in the county and it was totally out of control. Highway 50 was closed. Then it rained which put out the fire but also caused a land slide. I just wonder how many people have no idea they are sitting on time bombs.

Long day

It's been a long day of tree trimming. The good part of the day was watching the birds and squirrel. I never get tired of watching them. Saw two grosbeak today. Friend showed up, a young Stumpy Fella's son. Never thought I'd be naming all the deer but when you can tell them all apart and see how they all act it make them rather special. Trimming the forest of the dead wood to make it look like a fire has cleaned it out is a job. I did that on the south end of the property over three years and it's growing great. Now to the north end where the poison oak bushes are as big as trees. Took a few picture with my 500 mm lens with the Pentax, they came out rather well. Using the Canon they didn't. Not sure why that was, the Canon always worked well. Think it has something to do with no f stop. Thing is I had a Phoenix lens with no f stop and it work well. Maybe the shutter is hanging up. I don't use it enough. Although it will work with a 200 mm zoom lens with f stops. The Pentax I can control that problem. Think I'll be getting a lot of pictures this year. I've been slacking off the past year. Funny, a few years ago I was shooting 12 to 24 rolls a week.

Well, had a nice sit down with my Big Buddy. We both heard a noise of towards the creek then Mr. Stinkers popped up on the road. I see he's wandering up this way and will be here when it's a little more quiet. I know Buddy will run off as soon as he sees Mr. Stinkers. Later this summer I'll keep trying to get close to the little guy. Last year I was laying in the door way and he came right up to may face. Skunks got a bad rap. Then have such a nice coat of fur, it's just amazing. I hope to see some raccoons this year. The first year there was mom dad and the four babies. The deer didn't know what to think of then and the babies didn't know what to make of the raccoons. The deer did try to give them a sniff.

Have my coils almost finished to do my low frequency studies of the magnetic field of the earth. I'm sure I could read more on it but there is some new facts happening to the earth magnetic field. Could we be instore for a polarity shift? Again? From what I've read in college it looks like they happen over a 100 year cycle. So looking a Polaris might be the south pole. What they didn't say about polar shifts is does the planet turn over. That would be a real drag. But it could happen to keep order to the solar system. The suns pole has been constant as far as we know. I still look at it as our planet if like a spark from a welder that is cooling off with the hottest parts keeping it moving until it's cold like mars.

First grosbeak today

Saw my first grosbeak today. Got out the 500mm but he was gone by then.

Big Buddy and Friend came by and had dinner. I sat outside with them till they left. I don't think many people can say they can walk around with wild deer. When I bump into them in the thick forest and they can't see me, I give them my whistle and then they stop running because they know it's me, their friend.

I gave a whistle this morning and five young squirrels came running down with mom. They knew I had place sunflower seeds out.

The pigeons are coming back. They are good looking birds and they are wild but they are destroying my paint job on my car.

Having a good herd of quail this year too.

Saw the Jack Rabbit the other day. What a great looting creature. I was folding socks and I think it saw me move and took off running. It was just a few feet from my telescope and that was about 30 feet from my bed.