Tuesday, August 28, 2007
My mother told me that I had to write this or she would not do any more blogging stuff. So here it is.
My mom had said that Jay and Squirrel were dead, or disappeared. She was wrong. Right then I looked out the window, and there was Squirrel, hopping along with a giant nut in his mouth. He looked around once he was in his digging spot, to the side of the garden, and began digging. After about a minute, he stopped, looked around and began again. This happened two or three times. Squirrel ran off after the burial was done.
Immediately Jay showed up, and went to the hole, dug around a bit, and fished out a nut. Quickly, he went into the garden, dug another hole, and buried the nut. Jay looked around now, and put a few crumbs of dirt back in. Looked down, wasn't satisfied, and put a bit more in, and a bit more. Then he flew off into the tree to watch.
Squirrel came back from whatever errand was keeping him, looked into his hole, and dug around a bit, looking for the nut. He looked up, sighed, and in my mother's words, said, "Oh well. Better go get another one."
My mom had said that Jay and Squirrel were dead, or disappeared. She was wrong. Right then I looked out the window, and there was Squirrel, hopping along with a giant nut in his mouth. He looked around once he was in his digging spot, to the side of the garden, and began digging. After about a minute, he stopped, looked around and began again. This happened two or three times. Squirrel ran off after the burial was done.
Immediately Jay showed up, and went to the hole, dug around a bit, and fished out a nut. Quickly, he went into the garden, dug another hole, and buried the nut. Jay looked around now, and put a few crumbs of dirt back in. Looked down, wasn't satisfied, and put a bit more in, and a bit more. Then he flew off into the tree to watch.
Squirrel came back from whatever errand was keeping him, looked into his hole, and dug around a bit, looking for the nut. He looked up, sighed, and in my mother's words, said, "Oh well. Better go get another one."
Mars was close enough to be seen by the naked eye last night, something that happens only once every 200 years! But I couldn't see it. Only my Mom could. Oh well, at least there was a lunar eclipse! The lunar eclipse happened 1:00 - 5:00 PCT this morning. Looked wonderful. The moon looked like it was being eaten by something, little by little chomped away, whilst being changed colors. Once, the moon was in enough shadow to be barely seen, it was just an outline. It was amazing. Unfortunately, the best view was on the west coast of North America. Even in Ottowa, the eclipse was just able to be seen when day was about to break. It was still a wonderful sight for me to see.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Timberline Lodge, Mt. Hood.
August 13, 2007
It has been cool for several weeks, and finally yesterday it turned hot. So we decided to have an expotition. It would make sense, on the first hot day since July 10, that we would go to the beach. Which is why, of course, we went to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood.
It was a long drive - just as long as going to the beach. We went through one town, which was BORING. And another town, whose name I forget, which was even BEYOND Boring. Boring is a town in Oregon. And we kept going. Finally we got to Timberline.
It was like going to Mt. Rainier! There is a great lodge, made during the 1930’s by the WPA folks. It’s at the timber line. And you get a fabulous view of a snow field, maybe a glacier - I know there are glaciers on the mountain, I just don’t know where they are. And the air is so CLEAN.
We moseyed around a bit. I saw some chipmunks. Bob called them squirrels with racing stripes. They move so much faster than our squirrels - and they do have those stripes. We watched two of them chasing - one was chasing the other, and then chipper #2 said, hey, I’M the one with the seeds, and he turned around and chipper #1 started chasing him! Then they both lost interest and went off chasing something else. We watched several of these hyperactive racing squirrels for quite a while.
And we walked, along alpine trails. I really understood why you’re supposed to stay on the trail. One step off it destroys the vegetation. And when many people step, as happens at Timberline, there are so many trails that you can’t FIND the trail, and the whole mountain is in danger of becoming a trail. But, eventually we figured out how to go.
After a short while of hiking the beautiful mountain, Soren got hungry, so we went for some lunch (for which he had to fight me), checked out a bluegrass concert, and finally left the mountain for lower pastures. But the clean air, the hikable mountain, the fabulous view, and the energetic chippers certainly made Mt. Hood an adventure worth taking.
August 13, 2007
It has been cool for several weeks, and finally yesterday it turned hot. So we decided to have an expotition. It would make sense, on the first hot day since July 10, that we would go to the beach. Which is why, of course, we went to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood.It was a long drive - just as long as going to the beach. We went through one town, which was BORING. And another town, whose name I forget, which was even BEYOND Boring. Boring is a town in Oregon. And we kept going. Finally we got to Timberline.
It was like going to Mt. Rainier! There is a great lodge, made during the 1930’s by the WPA folks. It’s at the timber line. And you get a fabulous view of a snow field, maybe a glacier - I know there are glaciers on the mountain, I just don’t know where they are. And the air is so CLEAN.
We moseyed around a bit. I saw some chipmunks. Bob called them squirrels with racing stripes. They move so much faster than our squirrels - and they do have those stripes. We watched two of them chasing - one was chasing the other, and then chipper #2 said, hey, I’M the one with the seeds, and he turned around and chipper #1 started chasing him! Then they both lost interest and went off chasing something else. We watched several of these hyperactive racing squirrels for quite a while.And we walked, along alpine trails. I really understood why you’re supposed to stay on the trail. One step off it destroys the vegetation. And when many people step, as happens at Timberline, there are so many trails that you can’t FIND the trail, and the whole mountain is in danger of becoming a trail. But, eventually we figured out how to go.
After a short while of hiking the beautiful mountain, Soren got hungry, so we went for some lunch (for which he had to fight me), checked out a bluegrass concert, and finally left the mountain for lower pastures. But the clean air, the hikable mountain, the fabulous view, and the energetic chippers certainly made Mt. Hood an adventure worth taking.
Friday, August 10, 2007
There are many generations of us. Some of us look more related than others. But here is your chance to vote: which two are sisters? who is whose daughter? and who does THAT one resemble?
