Category: Life

Ike

Monday we heard from our only family in Ike’s path:  Jack’s niece who lives northwest of Houston. Although the path of Ike passed close-by, she said that their house sustained no damage aside from some loose shingles, and lost power for over a day.  She noticed it more than her kids, who thought it was a “sleep over.”  Her husband’s family lives in Louisiana, and they had more significant damage, but are all okay. 

The short – but eventful – life of Ike – The Big Picture – Boston.com has an impressive photo essay about Ike.

Small Victories


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For the first time in more months than I care to count, we can park two cars in our two car garage. Yay, us! Although in summer it isn’t too bad, I hate having to clean ice and snow off my car in the morning in winter. And after thirteen or fourteen years with horses here, I finally have a tack room (or at least a corner) in our mud room. All this is courtesy of the Tuff Shed that was delivered and installed on Wednesday.

Lucky Bunny

I was scouting around the backside of the house looking for debris to go in the dumpster which departs tomorrow and checked the window well. Sitting at the bottom of the window well (about six feet deep) was an indignant looking bunny rabbit. Jack crawled into the window well with a box and gloves. I stood at the top of the well. Jack sort of scooped the rabbit into the box while lifting it, and I lifted from the top as soon as I could reach it. The rabbit leaped out of the box and dashed down the fence line, greatly entertaining the dogs. (We are keeping the Furry Golden Horde for the next ten days.)

Since we never ever look in that window well, I figure the rabbit was pretty lucky that I had to go to the north side of the house to look for trash. Jack went off to buy a window well cover.

A Productive Day

As a consequence of having some major house repairs done, we have had a construction dumpster by our house for a week. In addition to the debris from the house repairs, we planned to fill it with the old barn that suffered major structural failure during a wind storm eighteen months ago. Not going to fit.

However, we have filled the dumpster, and a lot of the barn is gone now. I couldn’t actually stand to watch Jack do the demolition part: he is scary enough when he is putting something together. And then there is the worry of trying to do demolition in an area that is inhabited by three horses, one of which is Hap.

I used to wonder how Hap found so many novel ways to hurt himself, and then realized it was a consequence of me protecting him from the obvious dangers. He has to be creative to get hurt. One time he got a foot through a pallet and spun in circles in a small area until he broke the pallet and trotted off on three legs. I don’t think I started breathing until I saw him put the fourth foot down. When I examined him I found some abrasions and bruising, but nothing serious.

Still to go: outside painters and roof repair.

Deckers, Colorado

Two recent fires in Colorado, the Oxyoke fire near Deckers, Colorado, and the Hilltop Fire near Parachute, are both now 100% contained, thanks to the valiant effort on the part of the firefighters. I’ve been through Deckers, which is not all that far from our house as the crow flies, but is a considerable drive on mountain roads. As is my habit, when I heard about the Deckeres fire, I found it via Google Maps, and discovered that Deckers, Colorado has a street view on Google Maps. (Colorado Springs doesn’t rate high enough to be on Google Street Views.) Check it out if you want to see the proverbial one-horse Colorado mountain hamlet. Be sure to rotate the view (arrows in upper left) so you can see the mountain stream.

Turn Signals: Cheating, or a Good Idea?

Dear lady who almost drove into me with her silver Camry this morning. I know that Camrys have one hell of a blind spot for the driver, but you better figure that out before you total that pretty new car. Fortunately I was able to brake so we didn’t collide when you switched lanes without signaling, but you will increase your long-term odds of surviving if you start using your turn signals.

Ice Cream for Supper

My root canal procedure this morning seems to have been more painful than the general run of such things. (Or else I am just a total wuss.) I did go to work for thirty minutes afterward, then gave it up since I was unable to concentrate and came home. (On the way to work, I kept telling myself to suck it up: people have these things all the time without it being the end of the world.) Fortunately, the Tylenol plus codeine the dentist prescribed took the edge off the pain, and left me nicely fuzzy. Jack brought me home ice cream for supper: I figured I might as well get SOME pleasure from not wanting to open my mouth.

This is the first one I have had, and if I ever need one again, I think they are going to have to sedate me.