Think

Okay, if you've been keeping up here at the border crossing you've already watched the excerpt from Scott Jennings historically pathetic bogus testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning so here's a little fun from Live Earth. It's got a message but don't let that scare you off. At least I found it refreshing and delightful. Give it a chance. Perhaps you will too. As you know, it never hurts to ...

Think


More fun short films from Live Earth here.

Bogus "executive privilege"

BushCo. is defending a house of cards (all Jokers) in this Justice Dept. scandal. Get a load of this "testimony" by Bushman Scott Jennings who was questioned today by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy. The only hope these clown's have left is their bogus claim to "executive privilege". Jennings is a public servant but, in BushCo.'s pathetic attempt to avoid accountability, the White House won't even let him disclose his own job description!

These jokers really have their backs against the wall. They know they are defending a house of cards in a bowl of smoke, remove even one and the whole facade comes tumbling down in a puff.

Bush's house of cards

Babes in Bird Land and old crows too

A young quail couple, barely teenagers themselves, bring their baby over to the Bird Park several times a day. Seems they live at Dwayne's, probably under his giant Indian Willow tree-o-life. I don't know if cats got the rest of their family or they only had the one, but they are very protective of the little guy who, at this point, isn't any bigger than a tennis ball. Generally, one parent hangs back on lookout while the other escorts the baby around but he stays very close anyway. I say "he" because he has a tiny little comb on the top of his head but I don't know. Maybe he's a she. Perhaps time will tell. Anyway, they are very sweet as they work their way along, scratching and dirt bathing and keeping an eye on baby.

I generally watch them while I sit at my computer, which is very convenient for me however, last evening I got trapped when they made an appearance in the front yard. I was sitting on the porch eating dinner when they scooted over from Dwayne's. It is obviously one of the chick's favorite things to do. Before they were half way across the lawn, he made a bee line for the tree with the thistle seed sack and his wary parents obediently followed but they weren't at all comfortable with me sitting so near. First the father, then the mother, took turns keeping me under surveillance while I sat obligingly still as a statue. Talk about time stopping but, most importantly, the baby had a great time, ate his fill of seed, snuggled in the dirt, explored the lavender forest next to the tree, scratched around again, explored the forest again. He even caught and ate an ant.

Since coming back from Portland, I dialed down the feed a bit in an effort to reduce the number of visitors to the park. I was getting a bit obsessive about it all but mornings are still peanut time and some very old crows, Minerva among them, continue to show up for them which pleases me. I've never watched a crow age before. Did you know they get gray like the rest of us?

But before you return to the ongoing reports of mind-blowing human folly, one last bit of news. Yesterday afternoon a sparrow broke all park records for time on a feeder. This fellow stayed on the tube at least an hour, maybe two. Not that he was eating the whole time. He sat for long periods just swinging on the perch, looking around, taking in the day. I like to think he was basking in the peace and quiet.

Price per minute

Here is an interesting tidbit from DailyKos:

Wrap your head around this one. The estimated cost of the war and occupation in Iraq for 2007 is $140,000 per minute. And who do you think is paying the bill?

Pigeon vs. crow

The photos at Everything is Permuted are consistently outstanding. The photographer chronicles the lives of a family of foxes that have visited his backyard for years, but he also turns his camera everywhere, capturing stunning moments like this fight between a pigeon and a crow. When you have a moment to relax, treat yourself.

Baby birds and elephants

Photo from Stirway to Heaven

Scientific American posted an article today dispelling the myth that baby birds and other little critters that have strayed or fallen from their nest
will be rejected by their parents if touched by humans. The good news is: THEY WON'T BE REJECTED BY THEIR PARENTS! You can safely return a fallen fledging to its home. Just be very careful to not disturb the nest. Parents do find that upsetting and may move everyone, including the returned baby, but not without great trouble. I wish I'd known this when I was kid. I still remember agonizing over downed baby birds that died because we didn't put them back in the nest. All those sad, shoe box beds, digging worm, soaking bread in water only to find the poor thing dead by morning.




Okay then. For my proxy amends, I voted for the Elephant Sanctuary again. There's only 3 days left to help them win the $100,000. In case you're wondering if the Sanctuary makes proper use of their funds, they get top rating from Charity Navigator. Be sure and vote everyday!

Off road trailer report

Don wanted to see some photos of the off-road trailer that's been Lee's back yard project since last summer so here they are...


We didn't want to isolate on the shake-down trip we went to that rare Nevada campsite that actually has picnic tables, latrines and, caramba, other people. For the most part, everything checked out just fine but he still has to work on making it easier to refill the tank from the extra gas cans. You can't see them in this photo but, besides the two on the tongue, there are two more cans inside the trailer along with lots-o-water, kitchen supplies etc.The super-siphon is very cool and worked fine externally but wasn't long enough to reach from the cans inside the trailer.


The REI screen house is also new. It is a fucking wilderness palace. The flies could only dream of puking on us and our food as we sat within enjoying scrumptious camp feasts.


We used to think we were camping in the lap of luxury when the tent was on top of the jeep. However, we couldn't drive to a nearby area without breaking everything down and taking it all with us and oops, no screen house! How did we ever get along?



It's a big improvement with the tent on the detachable trailer along with all extra gear and water and, of course, the airy palace which awaits our return after a day of poking around the Great Basin. Finally we have a base camp for extended exploration.

Love among the sunflowers

 

They planted thousands of sunflowers in the spring.

Along with the evergreens, they were stately witness.

The bride was beautiful. The groom was handsome.

The yard, the thousands of sunflowers,
family, friends, food and music, all wonderful.
 

Even though it looked like it might, it didn't rain.

Clark's dog Edison wore a bow tie and
Asia's dog Cairo was lovely in her huge white bow.

 

As the sun set and the sunflower forest faded into the twilight,
the thousands of tiny lights strung through the orchard for the occasion

 

came on adding an extra touch of magic to an already magical day.

Honeymoon in hurricane season

I just got a call from the honeymooners. Blue skies, perfect temperatures and, other than the bride sobbing her heart out this morning over Edison the dog's losing battle with cancer (he was at the wedding in fine spirits, wearing his shiny black bow tie, eating heart shaped cookies and occasionally strolling out to mingle with the crowd) the tensions of the last few months are wafting away like jungle steam. At the moment they're in Old San Juan, soon to fly to the beautiful, romantic island of Culebra. photos I know I'm being silly about Tropical Storm Dalila, but a mama's got to keep an eye on things, eh? Anyway, here's the latest from Weather Underground:

These factors should limit significant

strengthening in the short-term and

ultimately result in weakening beyond

48 hours. Dalila will begin to encounter

cooler waters after 48 hours.
HA!

And this from Dive Global:

Although hurricanes can develop any time of the year in Puerto Rico, the season is generally considered to be from July to November, with September the most likely month. Island folklore has it this way:

June, too soon
July, pass by
August, we must
Remember September
October, all over.

So...

Wedding sketch

I can't go into detail about The Wedding. I'd get into big trouble with my daughter if I did that. You'll have to wait until after the honeymoon and she's back at the keyboard, ten days to a couple of weeks from now but I can't help saying one tiny thing. The Day was, in every way, Perfect.

Currently, the happy couple is honeymooning in Puerto Rico. Haven't been there but I'm sure it's wonderful. However, now that the pre-wedding trauma is over I, for one, am on post-wedding storm watch. Tropical Storm Dalila is just off Mexico's west coast. I'm not totally freaking out because we were in the Yucatan during Hurricane Wilma and, although ultimately Gamma was just one too many, we never felt that threatened. Keep a good thought with me?

Outta here

We're off to Oregon. My baby girl is getting married this weekend! Sorry. Photos and videos story from the trip will have to wait. I have a bad case of the flu.

Hasta la vista.

Return

Earth dreaming sky

We're back from our shake down trip in the Nevada interior. I'm exhausted. Facing the bitter, sad history of the land, the animals, suspended, crumbling into the vastness, emptied me. Oh yes. It was also invigorating and wonderful. There are a few bugs to still work out but, tor the most part, the new gear worked just fine. It was very different having a base camp instead of changing locations every couple of days. We took on too much, drove to many miles trying to cover too much territory. From now on, with a base camp, we can limit ourselves to a radius and get into the details. We did hike about half way up from the floor of the basin to the Alta Toquima snowman, but didn't make it to the top. Not on the agenda this time, thank the gods.

I took several photos and a few videos. As soon as they are ready, I'll post a few. At the moment, I'm moving pretty slow. Nice to be back but the desert hangs over my head like a vulture reminding me that these towns, these comforts forced upon it are, like everything and everyone that has tried establishing itself in this land, passing.

In a couple of days, we leave for Portland and The Wedding.

Hasta la vista

We're leaving in the morning for a four day shake-down camping trip to the middle of Nevada. Time to try out the off road trailer Lee built. We'll skirt the northern boundary of Area 51 for a bit before turning north into the Alta Toquima wilderness. That's where, a few Julys ago, I was lucky enough to photograph the famous, highly elusive Alta Toquima snowman. So, take care. Don't burn down the house. Vote for the Elephant Sanctuary (thanks Asia!) and save my place at the Busy Bee.

Vote for Elephants!

Queenie

Okay, this is going to require a bit of dedication but you can do it. This month, please vote every day you possibly can for the Elephant Sanctuary. It's a vote for elephants. I know that's asking a lot but the voting lasts for the whole month. Yes, its a clever way to get traffic to the ReZoom site but the prize is $100,000 donated to the winning charity. What the hell? It's a just a click. Come on. You can do it.

War costs: 12 Billion a month

Hilarious
Bush blog

In case you haven't heard, this reich wing war is costing us 12, that's TWELVE - BILLION - DOLLARS A - MONTH. For this we can all thank our very own American Idol, The Decider.




Bush blog

Flowin' with the flow

A funny thing happened after I did that I Ching reading the other day. First off, I let go of the whole 5th Friday thing and felt instant relief. That's not so amazing in itself. Letting go of any blocked energy generally has that effect. I had been at the cafe for a couple of hours by then but, except for a few minutes when I first arrived, June was too busy to talk. Free of it all, I started packing up my computer, preparing to leave. After all, I don't need a big event to read a little poetry. There's always Jen's open mic, or I can read in Reno or set something up for myself in Carson City and it doesn't have to be on a 5th Friday or any "special" day. I turned around and June was there saying, "I only have 5 minutes". We had a great talk, at least 15 minutes. She suggested I keep my mind and the night open. Scale it down. Maybe have more open mic spots. Just do a reading. Whatever. Cancel the day of the show if I don't think it's going well. After all, that's Comma Coffee. Do it and see what happens. Or don't.

I'm always one for starting small, working with what is, so I can get down with that. Pause in the jangled rush of the day. That's why I like Comma Coffee in the first place. So that's it. I'm hangin' with it. No decision at the moment. Goin' with the flow. But I did let Mr. Lee know that, as he makes camping plans for what's left of the summer, I've got my eye on that date.