My Blizzard Hike Misadventure

Hey there, fellow nature enthusiasts and reckless adventurers! Today, I'm here to share a tale that you might think is a little funny but also wags a finger at the more foolhardy among us. It's about the time I decided to challenge Mother Nature herself and learned a lesson in humility – and physics.

Picture this: a few years back, I was your everyday hiking adventurer, hitting the trails of my local nature park with the enthusiasm of a squirrel on an acorn hunt. Rain or shine, I was there. But then came the day when the news forecast a blizzard. Did that stop me? Of course not! I laced up my boots, grabbed my trusty camera (a partner in all my escapades), and headed out into a winter wonderland.

The trails were a blanket of untouched snow, and the snowfall was so thick it turned the world into a giant snow globe. I was a few miles in when I decided to take a loop back, probably prompted by the tiny voice of reason that I usually keep gagged and bound in the back of my mind.

As I trudged along, I reached the top of a large gulley. It looked innocent enough, but looks, as we know, can be deceiving. The moment I stepped onto the snowy and icy slope, my feet decided they had enough of being under my control. Whoosh! Down I went, sliding all the way down the hill. It was like an impromptu sled ride, minus the sled. And in a desperate attempt to save my camera, I held it high above my head like a trophy, making the whole scene look like a bizarre ritual to the snow gods.

When the ride was over, I lay there on my back, a human snow angel (or snowman-in-progress). First things first, I checked for injuries – none, thankfully. My camera? Also unscathed. It seems luck favors the foolish – sometimes.

Getting up, I decided that was enough thrill-seeking for one day. I walked back to the park exit with the cautious steps of someone who's just learned their lesson. That day, my love for hiking had pushed me into a foolhardy blizzard adventure.

So, here's the moral of the story: love nature, enjoy hiking, but maybe, just maybe, when the news screams 'blizzard,' it's a good idea to listen. Stay safe out there and remember, a good story is only fun if you're around to tell it!

I'll talk to you later.

Robot Woes

While I'm still very distracted from my nature adventures I want to tell you the story of my vacuum cleaner misadventure. Let's get into it.

It started out wonderful. I bought a brand new robot vacuum cleaner to replace my old Roomba that wasn't quite as spry as it used to be. I told you about it here in this post. It was the Neato Botvac D4. And it ran wonderfully for the first 3 months.

Then one day it began acting kind of confused and was moving a little slowly. The main problem though was that it kept getting stuck and giving an error whenever it tried to return to its recharging base.

I have to admit that I panicked a little. I thought I had spent $500 on a lemon and it would never work right again. I needed that robot vacuum cleaner! I'm much too busy to vacuum the house every day myself. And it had been doing such a great job of cleaning up the dog hair! But not now. A house full of dog hair is a horrible thing.

After I calmed down a bit I followed the links to the chat with Neato Support. The guy was actually very helpful. He asked me to try a few tests, which I did, to see if the machine could fix itself. Which it didn't. At the end of the chat, there didn't seem to be a solution. I was not very happy.

But then the support person followed up on my case through email the next day. He asked me if the machine had improved. I said no. And after a little back and forth he set me up with the information to send my vacuum cleaner in for the company to look at.

I took my machine to FedEx where I paid them about $20 to package the machine securely for me. I could have done it myself for free, but I figured they'd do it better. And they knew exactly what to do. And so my precious investment was sent off for servicing.

After about a week I got a large package delivered to me by FedEx. It was my vacuum cleaner! The great thing was that I didn't have to pay a dime for them to fix it for me. I wasn't sure about that part when I began the process.

I got it all unboxed and took the time to charge it back up, and then I started it up on a good test run to make sure it was okay. It wasn't! The robot acted confused and then errored when it tried to return to the charging base. After a closer examination I saw that they had replaced the filter, and maybe the brush, but they had done absolutely no repair on it. Again, I was not happy. It was time to try the chat support again.

After quite a lot of time and frustration talking to this new person who seemed kind of skeptical about my situation, I finally got it through to them that this machine really needed to be repaired. I learned during the chat that they could monitor the machine over the internet. I'm not so sure how much I like that. But it was time to send the machine back to the company for them to service it one more time. Would they actually fix it this time?

This time I just packed it back into the box it came in. No extra charges for me. I made the trip back to Sioux City to the FedEx Store and sent it off again. Again, they knew exactly what to do. The woman there even knew right away when I walked in that I had a robot vacuum in the box. Impressive.

And so, after another week I got my machine back again. I wasn't exactly encouraged about a successful repair this time because of my previous experience, but I was still hopeful. So, what do you think happened when I was able to do the test run?

Success! It was working! My vacuum cleaner was repaired this time, and it was back to its old great working self. My dog still thinks this second robot is a jerk, but it works just fine now. My dog doesn't like this one because she was kinda best pals with the old one. She loved playing with it while it cleaned. She thinks this one stole its job.

In the end, (and after this long post), I'm happy with the support I received from the company. It took a little too long to figure out that the machine should get fixed, but they did fix it and they did it for free. Free is all I could ask for.

And that's my story. Maybe you don't want to read another one like this, but I think my next post is going to be about the new computer I just built. I'm going to whine a bit about that one too. I hope you can stand it.

I'll talk to you later.

Delilah And My Sister

As you can see, I have finally come back for an update. It's been quite some time, hasn't it? I think last time I said I'd be posting more often. That turned out to be a whopper of a lie, didn't it? All I can say this time is that I'll be back whenever I can. So let's get to today's post.

This one is going to be a rambling two-parter. First I'll tell you about the pictures. Then I have an amusing story about my little sister. So about the pictures.

I took Delilah back out to the nearest nature park recently. She really loves to go, but she still has a hard time getting there. She's about 8 months old now and you are finally seeing the way she looks mostly grown up. She looks like a skinny German Shepherd. She's the same size as any normal German Shepherd but she is skinny looking compared to a full-bred dog of that kind.

That was a short update, so let's get to the story about my sister. She has a full-blooded German Shepherd and it's a huge one. My sister goes on Facebook, and everywhere else, constantly bragging about how big her dog, much bigger than all other dogs. She's one of those kind of people that has to have the biggest and best of everything, especially compared to yours.

So I decided to tweak her nose a bit about it. She, like you, has also only seen my dog in a few pictures. So I went on Facebook and began bragging about how it is actually my dog that is the biggest.

I didn't tell her this information specifically, but it got the desired results. Her whole family got angry at me for daring to say that my dog was the biggest. Maybe a little childish? Maybe I'm being childish as well, but I'm also having fun. And since I got the desired reaction I decided to add a little more to my puppy's story.

I went back on Facebook and posted that I got one of those doggy DNA tests to find out why my dog is just so huge, much bigger than all other German Shepherds. I said the results came back that the reason is that my dog is part German Shepherd and part Dire Wolf. Of course, Dire Wolves are long ago extinct.

My sister immediately got on my posts feed to inform me of that pesky extinction problem. She usually ignores me. She informed me that her oldest son told her about that knowledgable super-fact. Then she proceeded to comment on this same post about a dozen times with all of her knowledge on the subject and how superior she was for informing me of my lowly error.

That is the most she has spoken to me in the past year. She had no idea I did it all just to get her going and I was laughing at her the whole time. It's still pretty funny. I'm not sure if she has caught on to the joke yet. I do think she did finally begin to feel foolish towards her last comment or two. Next, I'll Photoshop a picture of me standing in front of my giant dog.

Just to finish today's post off, I want to say my sister and I get along just fine. I just thought it would be amusing to exploit this little vanity(insecurity) she has. And I had to tell a few people some of the kinds of things I do to make a person angry with me. And with that, hopefull sooner this time, I'll talk to you later.

Um, Snow Monkeys

I'm back! Did you miss me? ...Wait a minute! Didn't I say that last week? Why, yes I did! But this time you might have actually noticed my absence. So what happened this time? It was the computer again! This is why I had such trouble figuring out the problem before. The computer kept crashing and the monitor wasn't working right.

When the monitor finally went all the way I hoped the problem was solved, but I still had my doubts. I never believed the monitor could cause the crashing, but I also never thought the monitor was the problem until it died on me. It turned out to be two problems at the same time that seemed like the same one.

I also don't have most of my other computer equipment with me so I was very hesitant to mess with anything, so I was hoping I could keep the computer limping along until I could get my stuff here. But unfortunately the computer finally quit cooperating at all. It began crashing every time I tried to use it, so I had no choice but to reinstall the whole operating system. And it worked! The computer finally seems okay, so now I can show you a snow monkey! Get ready...

And here he is, in chair number 2, your dream gorilla! Not bad for a snow monkey, right? Don't ask what's in chair number 1 or 3. You really don't want to know! This guy here was really the most presentable of the three. You'd get night terrors if you were to see even one of the other two. I'm not so sure how you'll fare with this snowy dude in the dark parts of your memory.

Just think how I feel. I had to see those three weirdos sitting on stools in the middle of my street when I went out the door. They were really the ones Isabella was chasing. You should have heard the howl that came out of her when she saw this guy!

If that wasn't enough, the neighborhood children all came down to hoot and holler at the big strange looking snow monkey. I swear, after all of this I need a vacation! There's nothing better than all inclusive holidays at a time like this! You'd do well to follow me there while you're at it. All of those kids laughing at the silly monkey will drive you to it.

Eephus there in the middle is the handsome devil of the bunch. And Simon is the merry mischief maker. They always have something to say when there's a bit of strangeness in town. Those little rascals!

For some odd reason Isabella will have nothing to do with them. I always thought she liked children, but she always runs and hides whenever this bunch of bananas comes around. I usually find her a bit later whimpering under my bed. Strange.

Maybe Isabella needs a vacation too. I guess everyone needs to get away from that many rambunctious kids every once in a while. I guess it would help if their parents wouldn't send them down here ready for dinner with their knives and forks. I don't understand what they think I'll feed them.

I'll be back tomorrow with... something.


Nature Center Magazine - Your starting place for nature!

That Face! That Horrible Face!

You're not going to believe what happened to me when I went out to confront the orbs, and I don't know if I believe it either! I am shocked, I tell you, shocked! Poor Isabella not only refused to go out there with me, she tried to stop me from leaving the house. But did I listen to her? No! And now I wish I did! I'm not sure if I ever want to go back out there again!

When I got out there I heard a strange howling sound in the wind. No, it wasn't in the wind, it was part of the wind. This did not sound like coyotes. It sounded like voices! I was too stupid to take that as a warning, so I began taking pictures. I wish I hadn't done it!

It was only after the first flash that I finally knew something was wrong. I thought I heard my name coming from the wind, so I dropped the camera and looked up to see it floating there in front of me! It was an orb with a face! Upon seeing it I ran for my life back to the house.

When I got back in and gathered my wits I put the pictures onto the computer and found what I have here for you. You probably have to click on the pictures to see the face, but it's there floating in the air staring back at me.

This next picture above is the same face from the first picture. I cropped it out of the picture and expanded it so you can see it better. Again, you might have to click on it to see it better because it's so dark. For some reason I can only see it on my monitor when I look at it from the side.

After that night I don't think I'll ever be able to forget that face. that horrible face staring at me from out of the darknessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss...

...Wait a minute! I know you don't believe that outrageous story. You don't, do you? Because it's all a big stinking load of manure. The orbs from my other posts were real, but this face was made by me in an image editor. I thought the real conclusion of the story of the orbs was much too boring so I decided to give you something a little better. So what really happened since my last post?

What really happened since my last post is much more mundane. There is only one real mystery. Isabella. Late in the afternoon Isabella's mood changed completely. All of a sudden she came to me and enthusiastically wanted outside. She has been enjoying being out there much more than usual now. I even let her go out and play in the snow for over an hour one time. It's been hard to keep her inside now.

So when nighttime came we went back out to where I got the pictures of the orbs. I took extra pictures this time to see what might show up. I was hoping for something almost as provoking as that face, but you know what I really got? Nothing! No orbs at all. The orbs have completely vanished.

I have no explanation for why they were there, and I have none for why they are gone. I changed nothing with my camera and I didn't clean the lens until after they were gone. The most plausible explanation for them is dust either in the air or on my lens, but never rule out anything. Logic tells us to always first assume that whatever you see is already known, but it also tells us never to rule out the unknown. Until there is a real investigation, the orbs I saw could have been anything.

It may have been a little mischievous for me to play this little prank on you, but those who have been with me here since before my car accident know that I am fully capable of something like this and more. After all, this blog was once taken over by a squirrel named Mister Nutz. Stupid, I know, but it was funny too.

Even if you knew right from the start of the post, or you were completely fooled, I hope you liked this little bit of goofery. Goofery. I just made that up. Now I can't unsay it. I'll be back next time with something much more close to nature. In the meantime, watch those orbs very carefully.


Nature Center Magazine - Your starting place for nature!

Inside Stone Park

Even though it was closed, I did it. I parked my truck outside the locked gate. Opened the back and let the dog out. And I walked into the park. That makes me a daring adventurer and a shameless rule breaker! Yeah!

Of course I didn't go very far. I would have just left without ever going in, but poor Isabella had such a pitiful look on her face. We came all this way to go to this giant nature park only to have to turn back around and go home? And poor Isabella rides in a cage when we go on trips. I couldn't disappoint her further.

So we walked past the gate and wandered over to the first fork in the road. Isabella was in heaven, sniffing up all sorts of new smells. When she gets going she sounds like a car with a flat tire, flumpalump flumpalump. I smelled some smells too, but only smells from things that came out of the wrong end of a lot of large wild animals. Uhhhh!

Those bad smells are the kind of thing you have to expect if you like enjoying nature though. It becomes easy to ignore after a few minutes. A few looong minutes! After awhile you begin to associate some of those bad odors with fun adventures, so they're not reqally that bad.

Now, the worst smell I ever smelled came one time when I was over in Nebraska, just across the border from here. Driving past a place with thousands and thousands of cows that were packed very close together. Unfortunately the windows were down at the time, and that smell came right in. I rolled up the windows much too late, but that didn't slow that odor down anyway. I thought I might die that day.

Huh? Oh! Sorry. That was just some sort of bad flashback. Let's finish my story. Even though we didn't stay long enough, the dog got to sniff out several little areas near the parking area. We had a pretty good time, even though it didn't last very long. But after a few more pictures it was going to have to end.


Nature Center Magazine - Your starting place for nature!

I Found Frogs!

Just like it says in the title, I found frogs! I'm really excited about this because these are the first frog pictures I've ever had. As a matter of fact, these are the first frogs I've really even seen on my everyday adventures.

I've had plenty of toads before, but no frogs. I know toads are really a kind of frog but a little different, but finding real frogs has been a goal of mine. I never thought I'd be able to see any frogs because they are almost always in the water. Let me tell you how I found these.

I was walking across a small footbridge, and I was looking down into the water when I saw little bubbles in the water. I was expecting to find a crayfish, but when I looked closer I found this frog above. He looked to be about as long as one of my fingers.

I did the second picture with the flash on because it was dark. It makes the frog look very different. I don't normally use a flash, and I was experimenting with it a bit. I found two frogs near each other, and I took pictures of each one with the flash off and then on.

While I was taking the pictures, a dragonfly kept flying near the frogs, and the first one jumped at it and tried to catch it. But I didn't get any pictures of that. Such a shame. Now I'm doomed to a life of utter misery.

Let's pause from the frog talk for a minute so I can share a couple of blogging tips, as I promised. Most of these will be more closely related to Blogger because that's what I use, but some, like today's are useful to everyone.

The first little tip I want to share is a Blogger related thing. Many of you may have noticed problems with Blogger and the comment system. I'm guessing that you are using Internet Explorer. If you switch to either Firefox or Google Chrome your problems will go away. Don't worry, you can use all of these browsers at the same time if you like. I use five different ones. This problem is Blogger's fault, but that is the solution.

I also recently found out some information about Picasa, the service where all of our Blogger pictures are stored. As many of you know, we have a total of 1 GB to store our photos. After that, we're either out of luck or we have to purchase more. But Picasa has given us a workaround.

They say if your pictures are 800 pixels or less, then they don't count towards your total 1 GB storage limit. So I am now making my pictures 800x600 or less. I may be wrong, so I'm going to monitor my amount used to see if I'm right. Here's a link to their post about this info. See what you think.

Back to the frogs! I can remember hearing frogs croaking at the edge of most ponds I've been to, but I never see them. Now I'll know to look for those bubbles. That's one more little nature thing I've learned now. Now I can find frogs easier. Maybe I can even learn to con them into liking me, like I do with deer.

I'd show you a picture of the bridge I was on, but it's only a couple of pieces of plywood nailed to some four by fours. Really not much of a bridge at all, but it does the job. Otherwise I'd have to walk into the creek and get eaten by alligators. Well, maybe only imaginary-gators. But those kind are sometimes just as dangerous if you walk around the woods in a giant rat suit.

You don't believe me about the rat suit? I'll leave you with one last picture then.

It's only because the zipper's stuck and I can't get out.


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Happy Ratty New Year

Happy New Year, everybody! I have to tell you, I don't really have much to say today, but I just felt like writing. Does that mean I'm feeling better? I don't know, but writing has to help. In my last post, I showed you a picture of my ghostly white arm. Take a very close look at the picture above. Look at those arms. That's me! And you thought it was just a costume.

Well, I do have one confession. I lied just a little bit. Yes, part of it really is a costume. Look closely at my face in the picture. I'm embarrassed to say it, but I disguised myself a bit. Alright, I'll just come out and say it. It's the eye patch, okay! I'm just wearing it because I think it makes me look cool. C'mon, everyone does some small thing like that, don't they?


Nature Center Magazine - Gloofhrtd goedfrig sedrik un tro wersd facvolm! And that's the bottom line, 'cause Ratty said so! (You figure it out!)

Flynn The Conqueror

Hello. I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Flynn. But I'm sure you've already heard of me. I'm famous all over the world. Every squirrel knows who I am. I'm their hero, fantastic Flynn. I'm the daring superstar who performs feats of bravery like no one else ever before!

Maybe you human giants don't know me quite so well, yet! Just to give you an example, That guy Indiana Jones aspires to be the human version of me. He gives a good try, but he's not even close. I bet he never rode on a dog's back before! That was an amusing little stunt that I did on my off time.

And I'm sure you've seen me on your primitive television at one time or another. I sometimes like to go and run around on the playing field at your sporting events. It drives you giants crazy but it sure is funny sometimes. Just think of all of those giant sports players chasing me around and around! They never catch me though. Never!

Oh, you probably want to know exactly why I'm here today. Well, there is this strange guy you all know as Ratty. I've been seeing this weirdo in the forests for the past few years. He wanders around taking pictures of all the animals, and a few other things. Last year I thought it would be funny to run right up to him and pose for a few pictures. That got old, so to really freak him out I stole a camera from some giant's attic and decided to do it right back to him. You wanna see?

Here he is looking highly surprised at the sight of me standing there with my own camera! He was just strolling along when I popped out there and began taking pictures of him! Take a look at him! That guy is a strange one. He actually walks around out there with a mouse costume on! I know a few real mice, and he is no mouse. They would be highly insulted! I gotta admit that it's kinda funny though.

Just think of what all you other giants think when you see him! You'd run away as if you saw a squirrel with a camera or something! I know you wouldn't want to meet him in the woods! And you don't know how many of my fans were just rolling on the ground laughing when he saw me standing there waiting for him!

I thought he was going to run away. But then he looked at me for a second and yelled some gibberish at me about not taking his picture because he was too embarrassed to be seen in a rat suit. You think he was embarrassed? You should have seen the poor squirrel that fell out of the tree because he was laughing so hard! That's something to be embarrassed about!

I'd stay a little longer and tell you a few stories about my favorite subject, me, but I know that I need to keep it short. I told that kook Ratty that I wasn't going to share these pictures of him, but would you keep these to yourself? I couldn't pass up an opportunity like this. This was pure gold!

I'll say goodbye with one last note. I'm sure you giants will be seeing me soon. Whenever a squirrel gets into your house, it's me. If one of us runs right at you to scare you, it's me. It's not because I'm a bad guy. It's because I'm a daring adventurer. You will soon become one of my many adoring fans, just like the squirrels and everyone else. See you soon!


Nature Center Magazine - Did you ever wonder if humans were the only creatures that could laugh? Well wonder no more! Apes giggle like humans! That's our Cool Nature Video for this week.

The Cowbird And The Golden Idol

What can I say about this Brown-Headed Cowbird? I don't honestly remember taking these pictures, but I know I did. I mean, it must have been me that did this because they were on my camera. Who else could have done it? And I like the pictures, so that's how I know I'm the one who did this. And that's why I'm sharing them with you.

Here is the part where I usually tell you of the little adventure I had when I took the pictures of this bird. But I can't really do that, now can I? So what do I do when I have no story to tell you? That's easy. I make one up! The most preposterous tale I can think of. So here goes!

It all started after I stole the Golden Idol from the Troll King (He stole it first!). I was running out the back way of their cave with about four hundred angry trolls chasing me. This place happened to be high up on a mountain, and the opening I was headed for only led to the sheer face of the side of the cliff. The only way to go was down or sideways along a long ledge. I obviously chose sideways. I soon found myself standing next to a waterfall, but about halfway down. I was going to have to jump.

I made my leap of faith and found myself extremely lucky to be alive at the bottom, but I was also extremely wet. Meanwhile, the fifty trolls that still followed were all standing on that ledge afraid to jump. I made it! I had escaped! Now I could take the idol and go home. But wait. Where was it? I had lost it in the jump!

I slogged out of the water dejectedly, and headed for home. On my way past several trees I saw this brown-headed cowbird. I quickly pulled out my camera which was surprisingly dry (Hey! This is my story, and I'll tell it as I wish!), and I began taking pictures of this lone cowbird.

I made it home safely from my arduous adventure, but without the idol. I would have shared the pictures with you! Honest! But at least I'm able to share these pictures of this cowbird. It's almost as good. And I guess you can understand why I forgot taking these pictures after going through all of that.

My Blue Nemesis

I am getting closer to defeating a major nemesis of mine. I'm getting closer all the time. The one I speak of is a blue jay! You see, one of my first photography goals was to get a picture of a bird. Any bird. It took me a very long time to get to that point.

Since then I've done that, and with each goal met with my bird photography there have been greater goals that become a next step. I took pictures of birds in flight. I found new types of birds, and took photos of them all. It was amazing to find out the many varieties and colors of birds as I went on. But one well known bird eluded me.

It was the blue jay that did it! Oh, I saw the blue jays, of course. It wasn't that there weren't any around. There were plenty of them, and they always eluded me. If I was able to get a shot of one out in the open, the picture would turn out blurry. If the picture wasn't blurry, the blue jay would be only caught hiding behind a tree branch. Again, no good pictures!

Now you see my latest efforts. I am getting closer every day. The first picture almost had him, this terrible little beauty of a beast. He was lost in shadow that day. If I had been looking away from the sun he would have been mine. But the blue jay knew that, and in his devious little mind he stopped to torment me once again!

In this second picture, just above, I saw a flash of white in the trees across a good sized pond. I zoomed the camera in all the way towards him. I gave it my best, but it just wasn't quite good enough. I just wasn't close enough, and he still hid behind a tree branch. He once again knew I was there!

I think they are laughing at me, those monstrous little blue jays. But I know that I'll have the last laugh. I'll get you, my pretty!

Then I almost had the blue jay again. He would only stop for a few seconds at a time, leaving me no time to quite get my shot off. Still teasing. Still tormenting. But I know I'm getting closer. I know that it is only a matter of time before I will have my prize!

You cannot get away from me! Do you hear! I'm coming for you, little blue jay, with your little pointed head and glorious bluer feathers! I'll never stop til you are mine! I'll capture you on camera, and then you'll be mine forever!!!

Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering blue jay; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee.

This post was brought to you by The Mr. Nutz Facility for the Mentally Demented.

My Own Personal Easter Bunny

Yup, I have my own personal Easter Bunny! I've shown you this little rabbit before. It was sitting in this exact same spot. It seems that this is her favorite spot to sit every evening just before the sun sets. And yes, I said "her" favorite spot.

I'm suspecting that this little bunny is a girl, or more so a little mother rabbit. She's sitting next to a place in that wall behind her where she has a hole she sneaks into. That hole is the front door to her nest where I believe there are little baby rabbits hiding inside. I've been wondering if I'll be lucky enough to see them one of these days.

She has actually been living here since last winter and maybe even longer. I kept seeing her tracks in the snow all over my yard. They would be everywhere from the back to the front, and even all around my truck. Maybe she would sometimes go under there to get warm.

I think she's furry enough that she didn't need that warm place, but it was probably a nice luxury sometimes, plus it made a good place to hide when she was out. Her hole is probably just as warm for her in the winter. She's obviously a fat healthy little thing. She doesn't need it, but I've tossed food to her a few times.

I hadn't seen her in a few days, but I still planned on writing my post today about her. Even so, she came out a few hours before I wrote this post just to remind me that she was still there, and maybe so I would remember to show you all my latest pictures of her. She also brought me a present!

Here they are! And I bet you all thought there was no real Easter Bunny! There really is an Easter Bunny, and she lives in my yard! Again, yup, I said she! I'm telling you the Easter Bunny is really a girl! Think about it. Santa Claus is a man, so the girl Easter Bunny should get an equal opportunity. I like the name Peter Cottontail, but maybe Betty Bunny is just as fun.

And I'll tell you what else. My girl Easter Bunny gives bigger eggs. Those are goose eggs in that picture. That other guy only gives those little chicken eggs. Hooray for Betty Bunny, and Happy Easter!

A Big Fat Goose Egg

Leprechaun Wednesday

This is the story of something very strange that happened to me, and the little weirdo that I met at the nature park. I gotta tell you, it seems like something almost identical to this story happened to me about a year ago. I guess I'll never learn...

It was another quiet day at the nature park today, but it was okay because I like days like this. I thought maybe I'd go down and check out the newly thawed lake, since there didn't seem to be much other animal activity either. There weren't even any geese swimming around, so I decided to just relax and watch the water.

After awhile, I noticed the geese were all over at their nesting area, further up the lake. Usually they come over to beg for food, but they seemed strangely quiet today. I decided since they wouldn't come to me, I'd take a few pictures of them right where they were then. They wouldn't get away that easy!

As I was looking over there to decide where best to point the camera, I noticed something odd. There was a glint of the color gold in the weeds, just to the right of the geese. At first I thought nothing of it, but as I kept looking, I noticed that the gold seemed to be in the shape of an egg.

Then I started to put two and two together. The only problem was that I kept coming up with five. I remembered the story of the goose that laid the golden egg, but I knew it was only a fairy tale. Fairy tale or not though, I seemed to be looking right at a golden egg myself.

My mind started to race. I began to think to myself over and over, "Gold! Gold! GOLD!!!" I needed to climb a hill to get close to that end of the lake and the golden egg. So I ran up the hill so I could get what I now convinced myself must be an actual golden egg.

I reached my destination, and I was now standing at the top of the hill looking far down at the place where the geese were nesting. I guess I was going to have to climb down there if I was going to get what I decided was now rightfully mine. I was going to be rich!

As I began to move forward, I felt a push from behind! I now found myself tumbling all the way down this thirty foot slope. I think I landed on every tender place on me that there could be! What seemed like hours took only a few seconds, and I had bounced to a halt at the edge of the lake.

I was surprisingly unhurt. After I stood up, the first thing I did was look back up the hill to see who pushed me. It better not be a squirrel! I quickly saw that it was no squirrel. It was a little guy dressed in green that I encountered about a year ago.

As he looked down at me, he yelled, "I know what yer after! That's my gold, and you better stay away from it!" I wasn't going to take that from a runt! No leprechaun could stop me. I turned toward the golden egg, with the intention of claiming my new prize. As I looked for it again, I quickly realized that it was gone!

The geese were still there though, and they didn't look happy with me. I was done starting wars with animals a long time ago, so I turned and quickly left them in peace. I went as fast as could, right back up that hill. I was going to get that leprechaun this time!

I finally made it to the top, and I stood there trying to catch my breath. Then I saw the little jerk leprechaun standing a short distance away grinning at me. He had the egg! That egg was almost as big as him, but he held it as if it weighed nothing. He was bouncing it from one hand to the other.

I wanted to get that egg! I had to catch him and take it from him! I quickly( well, almost quickly) moved towards him, and he turned and ran! He was heading straight for the tree that he jumped into the last time I chased him. I made it in there before, so I didn't think he could escape like that. I just wish I could remember what happened after I got in there last time.

I was right behind him as he made his way toward the hole in the side of the tree! He dove in and quickly disappeared. Then I leaped towards it, knowing that I had him now, and with a loud crack I slammed head first into the side of the tree!

I laid there for a minute realizing that the cartoons are right. You really do see stars when you crack your head. I slowly sat up trying to focus my eyes. I noticed that I was several feet away from the tree, and I couldn't quite stand up yet.

As things started to come back into focus, the leprechaun came back out of the tree. I thought maybe he was going to make sure I was alright. But then he did something else. He turned away from me, dropped his pants, started laughing hysterically, and he was now moving his butt from side to side! The little jerk mooned me!!!

I was furious! I started to get up, but my legs were still limp from my collision with the tree, so I flopped back down to the ground. The leprechaun, still laughing at me, then slowly raised his pants and calmly walked back into the hole in the tree. I knew I wasn't going to catch him now, so I was left with nothing. Zero. Zip. Nada. A big fat goose egg. Oh well, there's always next year.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Attacked By Snow Fairies

You know, I try to mind my own business while I'm out hiking, so I didn't deserve this at all! So what if I pester the animals sometimes with my picture taking. It doesn't hurt them one bit, and I think some of them like the attention. I mostly just quietly walk around looking at the trees. So I ask you, does this deserve a vicious attack?

No sooner had I gotten into the forest than an army of rotten little snow fairies came tinkerbelling up to me. I say rotten now, but I used to think they were delightful little creatures. I loved the way they looked like little fireflies until you got a closer look at them, to discover their little fairy faces and angelic wings. Now they're just rotten little monsters. Do you hear me snow fairies! Rotten little monsters!

It all started out innocently enough. I was happy when I saw them coming towards me from what seemed like every direction. I took as many pictures as I could while I watched them approach. I assumed that's what they wanted. I mean, why else would they approach a guy with a camera who wasn't bothering anything?

Before I knew it, they began landing on me, one after another. Even that was fine enough with me until they began their awful attack. And would you like to know in what form that attack took? It was horrible and disgusting. If you don't want to know, you may not want to read any further.

I thought there was nothing wrong until I felt something wet running down the back of my neck. It was then that I slowly reached up and gently touched my hair. It was completely soaked! On nooooo! They were using my head as a toilet! I'll get you, you rotten little snow fairies!!!

I began swatting at them to try and get them to go away! Even after their terrible attack, I still didn't want to hurt them, only to get them away. Of course this didn't work even a little bit. They still kept coming at me no matter what I did. So I ran!

I ran and ran, but this only seemed to increase the fury of their attack! I had to get to my truck! I ran out of the forest towards the parking lot of the park while the fairies still came at me. Stupidly, I stopped to take a couple more pictures, and they swarmed me again.

I quickly realized my mistake and ran for the truck. I dropped my keys twice before I finally unlocked the door. My hand slipped on the door handle when I tried to open it, because it had become slippery with their awful emanations. After all of that, I finally was able to get in.

Luckily none of the fairies followed me into the truck. But after I got the door closed and I looked out the windows, I saw that the fairies were still trying to get me. They were falling out of the sky and crashing into my windshield in their efforts to assault me. I didn't want to stick around any longer than I had to, so I started the truck and drove back home.

After all of that, I now know why so many people don't like going out in the snow. The snow fairies will get you if you don't watch out!

Walking In Heaven

What else could it be? I made a comparison the other day about a little bird that looked like it was standing on a cloud. But little birds aren't the only ones that can walk through the clouds. We usually have images of people or angels when we think of the guys that sit around on the clouds of Heaven.

But what if Heaven came down to Earth? What would it look like? Now before anybody gets too excited, I just want to say that I'm talking about the cartoonish Heaven of TV or fantasy, not the religious one. I'm not sure any of us could even begin to imagine that one. But what about the place where angels float on clouds? What would we see?

Just imagine if the clouds all floated down to Earth, and we were able to walk upon them and see some of the most amazing creatures walking or flying there. I guess it would turn the ground silvery white and fluffy looking, with a little bit of mist floating around. Some of the cloud stuff would even stick to the trees and anything else that's around.

There wouldn't be crowds of people, because in Heaven there is plenty of room for everyone. And it wouldn't be completely empty, of course. There would be a few other travelers of the clouds to talk to every so often. And there would be plenty of fun hidden places to explore. Some of those places would open up into great meadows where little white fairies flutter by.

What an amazing thing to see if Heaven came right down to me. I'd be happy all the time, but only as long as I dressed correctly. I'd be so embarrassed to be seen there looking too out of place. Of course, nobody would judge me for it. They would just simply try to help me find the right heavenly garb, because it really is more fun if you dress the part while you're in Heaven.

But I guess none of that could ever really happen, could it? I guess it's just an odd fantasy by an everyday adventurer looking for Heaven.

Computer Problems?

"Have I come to the wrong place?" That must be what you're asking yourself while looking at this picture at the top. Obviously it's not a picture of a squirrel or a robin or some other little creature of nature. In fact, it's not a nature picture at all! What's going on here!

Well, this is the maintenance crew of this nature preserve, and they're at the front entranceway. It seems there has been a problem with the park, and they've been working on it for a few days now. The main computer that powers the park is buried just to the left of those trucks, and they have to dig it up and fix a glitch in it.

I've been noticing some strangeness in this place for some time now, and it seems the computer is the cause of it all. The first problem was when the leaves all fell off the trees. Then the temperature began to drop throughout the park. It didn't seem to be too bad of a problem at first, but then the days became drastically shorter, and the lake froze over. They were hoping it would sort itself out but then a few days ago all hell broke loose!

For some odd reason it became difficult to get good photos of the animals, mostly the birds in flight. The deer disappeared completely, and all that was left of them were their tracks. Then the cloaking device on the black squirrels went down, and they were revealed for all the world to see.

If that's not enough, while I was in the forest yesterday morning, all of the animals seemed to have disappeared completely. I heard a few birds in the trees, but they seemed to be completely invisible. I'm really glad they were out there trying to fix things, but it just wasn't happening yet.

But after I was at the very back of the park, and making my way back out, I began to notice something. There was one lone squirrel running through the forest. It seems that they were making progress on the computer glitch. The weather has also been warming up a little bit, so they obviously have been getting that taken care of too. But all isn't fixed yet!

As I got to the front part of the forest I noticed something very strange going on. It seems that in their effort to restore the squirrel program they made a huge mistake. While they did get some of the squirrels back, it was almost all black squirrels! And not just a few!

It seems that they must have had to rebuild the squirrel program, and in the middle of their work they must have hit 300 instead of 30, because there were way too many black squirrels. And I have to tell you, when that many squirrels are created in one spot, they tend to go very crazy. When I saw all of those squirrels causing such a ruckus I had no idea what to do! I just stupidly stood there with my mouth hanging open!

That's my story. It may be strange, but it all happened... well, all of it except maybe the part with the computer. How would I know what they're working on up there? In fact, I don't really even care, so I just decided to make something up. My theory is better than reality anyway.



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Through Squirrel Eyes 

The Magical Doorway

You can find all sorts of fantastic things while you're hiking through nature. The first thing that comes to mind are the cool wild animals that are out there roaming around. Then there are all of the beautiful trees, flowers, and other plants. Not only are there the real features of nature, but also the imaginary.

Look at this top photo for instance. What do you see there? First there is the path covered in old leaves. Then there is a covering of bare branches. But what I see is a doorway. In my mind this doorway could lead to so many wonderful places. All I have to do is let my imagination go free and this doorway will take me there.

The doorway is always there, but it never takes me to the same place twice. I see this doorway every time I go to this place. It could lead to a colorful meadow, or a fantasy world full of magic and fun. I guess the doorway would lead to a different place for each person. Where would it lead to for you?

I specifically took this picture of this magical doorway the last time I was on this path. This whole section of the path just seems special to me. The strange thin is that the doorway wasn't always there. It was formed about a year ago. The conditions were about the same as they are in the picture.

That was a time when the trees were falling in this forest so much that they had to close the park at one point. I guess there is a reason for everything that happens, even the seeming natural destruction of a forest. It seemed like half the forest had fallen down, but then, as if by magic, things like this doorway were formed.

As I mentioned before, this doorway is always there now. here's the same doorway from all the way back in June. It looked a lot more inviting then, didn't it? Now maybe you can see a little bit of the magical realm beyond. In the first pictures maybe it lead to a witches house in an evil forest. Now in this picture it leads to a magical land of castles and fairies.

I guess only I know where it really leads, and it really is a fantastic place. There are a few dragons there, as well as the fairies, but I don't let them bother me. There is also a meadow full of birds and butterflies there. There is also a mysterious tree full of golden apples there that almost calls out to me, but I never touch it. Do you wonder what you would see?

I can hear the wind blowing outside my window as I write this. I wonder if it will blow trees down in this forest again. Will the doorway be there the next time I go back? Or will it disappear seemingly forever, only to reappear in another hundred years to lead another traveler to a fantastic meadow full of dragons and butterflies.

Strange Trees For You

I thought today I would bring you a few interesting pictures of trees. It's not my usual kind of post. It's actually kind of backwards. Usually I use pictures to illustrate a story I have in mind. This time I thought of the pictures first. I guess you could say this is all about the pictures. Maybe.

I found this first tree in a brand new place. I was looking for interesting things in this forest, and I think I found some. This tree was one f many huge and interesting trees in this place. I think if there ever was a tree that had a tree spirit in it, this one does.

The other tree I have for you is one I think I've shown you before. This one seems to be downright haunted! It seems to be trying to reach out and grab whatever gets too close. Let me tell you, this can be a very startling thing when you're in this forest when it's dark. I know! I've been there then.

About a week ago for the poll results we had a bit of a talk about tree spirits. That actually gave me an idea. I'll reveal part of that idea today, and the next part of it will be told Saturday. The idea of tree spirits lead me to think about odd things in general. Being that Halloween is at the end of the week I think what I have in mind is very appropriate.

I began to think of spirits in general. From there I began to think of ghosts. I do that very frequently, because I see dead people! ...Just kidding! But I do wonder something. Do you see them? I mean, have you ever seen a spirit or a ghost? That's my new poll this week. It's a short one that will end Friday at midnight, my time. The results will be up Saturday, and I have a bit of a Halloween surprise for any of you who are brave enough to look.

I'm going to need your votes as quickly as possible, hopefully there's time for more than a few, and then I'll need a little bit of cooperation from you on Halloween. So, beware! Beware... Beware!!! And remember to never trust a rat. Is this the strangest post from me yet? Maybe not.

Number threeeee is a bonus treeeee. This one's for freeeee. No storyyyyy. Heeeee, heeeee. That's all from meeeee.