Apropos of Nothing v.20

My goodness there is a lot to catch up with! I have been way too busy lately and have missed reading about everyone's adventures. Julie your trip east sounds like it was so wonderful! Sofer, I like the pic of the man cave with the snow in the distance. Pony, have you recovered? Kylaluaz I hope you are enjoying the PNW! Lynn, how are you doing? Willow I like your crafts room - what a treat to have space you can devote to crafts and not have to clean up all the time. Sharon & Julie, your dogs are so cute. :)

Work at the prison is certainly interesting, but I wish I had Pix or Laurie sitting on my shoulder to give advice to the patients with many mental health issues. Life can be so difficult for them.

It is cold and rainy!!! I want new skis this year!

Sofer, Our coffers are also low on red meat, and although my brother did his best opening archery to remedy that situation, he wasn't successful. Hope you have better luck! Phoenix and I are going to try our luck again next weekend, and are crossing our fingers that we avoid the porcupines that seem to be running amok over there this year! Looks like you are enjoying your man cave to it's fullest!

Judi, We cross posted. Glad that your work at the prison is is going well. I can imagine that you run into a lot of people with mental health issues there, and that has to be wear on your spirit. My BIL is mentally handicapped, and sometimes it is only our diligence and pure luck that keeps him out of serious trouble... Good for you for trying to make a difference!

Apropos of nothing, this just cracks me up!

Cracked DH and me up too! We're real softies for dogs. Here's ours, staking out our suitcase a couple of weeks ago after we'd just gotten back from a visit to France - without her! You can see she's planning on packing her yellow toy dog and her ball for the next trip.

Great photo but the poor dogs that had to stand still for the fort and clothing. LOL

Cute doggies! I've been taking Koka to the dog park in the rain and it takes longer to clean her up before she comes into the house than it does for her to get lots of exercise. Her best friend is a Red Heeler and they have so much fun together.

Julie, it is sad and upsetting to hear about the childhoods and lives some of the inmates have had. Unbelievable abuse and neglect from parents. Your BIL is very fortunate to have such a supportive and loving family. Most inmates will return to society at some point, and taking care of their health, both physically and mentally, is important for all of us. Lots of people question why prisons make good healthcare available to inmates but I suppose it depends on whether you see the prison system as punishment or rehabilitation. Sure there are those that cannot be rehabilitated but the majority can, and Coffee Creek prison is doing a good job with that. Also, there are many who spend 25 years or more incarcerated and they develop all of the same diseases as those of us on the outside. More than a few of the women develop breast cancer and go through chemo and radiation. The most upsetting part is when there are gang fights, and the trauma room is full. The men can be pretty violent and they don't seem to accept that they deserve consequences for jumping another inmate at any chance they get. They have never known any other way of conflict resolution and many will never change. That's the pitiful part and dangerous for all of us. But in the medical department we treat all patients equally and rarely care what their crime was. The officers let us know and protect us when need be. Anyway, kudos to your family for watching over your BIL.

Winter is here! The mountain roads are full of snow and ice. I'm hoping it's not too bad when I drive down to Tahoe, since I want to take the road through Bend instead of the 5 freeway. I hate the 5 freeway! For the last 10 years we have all been thinking we need to be with my parents for holidays because there may not be many left for them.......and at 94 and 88 my parents are planning to make turkey. We tell them we will do the cooking but they love doing it, and my Mom has to make extra pie because Dad always sneaks some ahead of time. They are so funny.

Sofer, really, you're going to make your grandkids eat raw fish?

Portland, ALLOW THEM to eat raw fish, oysters, sea lettuce...... There is a world of healthy food that our fast food world does not even know about. I want my grandchildren to eat lots and lots of dirt and bacterias to make their immune systems healthy and their digestive systems functioning with the foods we were evolved/designed to thrive on.

>> ... dogs. Here's ours, staking out our suitcase ...

Mr. Toby, our cat, doesn't like anyone to go away on trips. When I load a suticase, he complains and stands in it to show me the error of my ways.

Then (and this plucks my heartstrings), he will stand between anyone with a suitcase, and the door, to prevent the unthinkable from happening.

Corey

Sofer, I commend you for teaching your grandkids about the real world. Our current society of helicopter parents (always hovering) are giving us way too many overprotected clueless kids. Last summer my husband and I took our granddaughter and her girlfriend camping. The GF had never slept in a tent, cooked a hotdog over a fire, or ate a s'more. It was very rewarding to watch her enjoy such simple things, and to also watch our granddaughter 'teach' her friend these important skills. As my grandparents used to often tell us, 'You have to eat a pound of dirt before you die.'

A friend from NJ called it "Nerf World", where most people seem to expect to be prtected from EVERYTHING, including the consequences of their own appalling stupidity.

I think that's impossible, no matter how many laws are written to turn back the tide.

Also, it contributes to reversing evolution. For a few million years, we evolved bigger brains and more smarts so we were more likely to survive - smarts help you survive in the real world.

But to the extent that "Nerf World" is possible, you would be protected even if you jumped out of a moving car or watched down the barrel of a gun while pulling the tirgger "to see the bullet come out",

A big brain is like a giraffe's neck or a super-fancy zinnia hybrid's traits: if there is no need for it and no selective pressure for it, nature will let it drift out of the gene pool surprisingly quickly.

I wish we could bring back some Cro-Magnons, teach them English, and give them IQ tests. My bet is "over 200". We have probably been drifting downhill at least since we invented agriculture.

Corey

Our brains work differently than CroMag but our systems internally are still very similar. That is why so many things are affected when we live in a protected world. Cold weather, bacterial challenge, sunlight, wet feet, hunting/gathering our food all have been delegated to the past. Where our bodies are delegated to Cro Mag lifestyles in order to thrive. Our brains are starved of the chemicals of seasonal change and sunlight exposure. Our immune systems are depleted of soil (mineral/bacterial/fungal) exposure.

not mine though.

:)

Catching up here maybe or maybe not , I agree, that red lobster dog fort picture, my first thought was, the poor dogs especially red lobster, but honestly I have seen so much worse in terms of dag nabbit dog costumes, this did not seem all that bad and was truly hilarious.

Sofadog (heh, new nickname for ya) I agree with you about the food and all that but good luck causing an appetite change in younguns, I remember being very very good at digging in my heels whenever anyone would at all obviously try to influence me!

Judi in Portland, my goodness, you are doing such a service to us all and bless you for it! It must be quite challenging to maintain grace and composure and a peaceful heart, in those environs and with those challenges......

I'm not sure whether auto-immune diseases are caused by lack of exposure to "natural" diseases and antigens in soil and scratches, or because we no longer lose half of all childen and "only the strong survive".

Or cummulative exposure to threshold-toxic levels of environemental chemicals.

Or work stress. Or crowding stress. Or lesiure (lack of exercise). Or anxiety about things we have no influence over.

Or all of the above.

Or none of the above.

But it sure isn't the same world I evolved in!

i was impressed to learn that, in just the last 10-15 thousand years, the nature of human diseases has changed hugely. First, heridng and living with animals that run in packs and herds let diseases cross over form them to us. Then, starting to live in much bigger herds ourselves, we selected for "crowd diseases" that die out in small isolated grouos, but thrive in twons and cities on trade routes.

That said, I still wouldn't trade the Internet, cars and planes for a cave, personally.

Corey

No I agree Corey. But I am making a statement only and not trying to convince anyone but my daughter. She though agrees and enjoys the dirt and fun we have when we walk the beach. I remember my GD putting all of the stones, dirty clam shells, and seaweed in her mouth this summer while my daughter let it happen as we picnicked together.
I truely believe that allergies/autoimmune processes are a situation that the baby being sterile most of its early life causes the immune system to become erratic.

Yup, when I said "Or all of the above", my belief includes near-sterile-babies and wrapped-in-cotton children.

When I visited San Diego, there was a LIGHT MIST which Seattle would consider a sunny day.

Mothers literally put their chiuldren in PLASTIC GARBAGE BAGs with holes for arms (and, foruntely heads) as if the kids would melt like the Evil Witch of the West.

And one clerk in a store btavely called out to his fellow clerks "I'm going ACCROSS THE STREET! Does anyone need anything?" as if he were going to swim the Atlantic and bring back something that might help them survive such a climactic catastrophe as a light mist of almost-rain.

Don't they have ANY rainy season? Or common sense?

Oh well. Friends in New jersey probably think the same of me when ask if they don't have any REAL beer.

Corey

I'm afraid the dirt in my garden is full of many kinds of pooh - dog, cat, raccoon, squirrel, chicken. Yuk.

42 deg is not great weather to plant tulips and daffodils. My fingers are frozen. Inside for a few minutes to defrost them and add some hand warmers to my gloves!! It's not raining which is a good thing. The ground is already saturated from the rain. Yuck!

This message was edited Nov 12, 2010 12:36 AM

That is why I don't plant bulbs. Too much work in cold weather. Especially here in Montana.

Judi, just throw some straw over that and water it and you have good compost! :) IMO the only ones to worry about are the cat and dog poop and that's because of what humans feed them, the rest of it is part of the life of the soil.......

but probably not something you want to frolic barefoot on or let your kids put in their mouths.

I have such a clear memory of putting a handful of dirt in my mouth when I was tiny, I can even remember how good it tasted! interesting......

Kyla that's about what I do! But I don't recommend consuming it!

I hear ya. :P

When you have chickens they turn all that into soil. Look at this picture and see what they do with leaves that fall.
This photo is after they scratched the area that was full of leaves!

I caught two big fat trout today! One is 17" long and the other is 18". Yay! :) Fish dinner tomorrow!

Beauteous indeed! I can hear the sizzle already.

Nice fish! Too bad I am not a trout fan. I like any other fish but trout. Looks like you have the system. Red or Orange eggs?

No eggs- just a wedding ring spinner. I use eggs when I fish off the dock, but in the canoe I use either dry flies or spinners.

Funny- I like most fish except salmon. I really love trout. :)

I like all fish. Maybe not so much halibut.

I adore halibut. And cod. Yummm.

Halibut and salmon are my favorites, but that trout looks mighty fine!

I don't have chickens but my neighbor does, and they sometimes show up in my yard since they have found a little opening in the fence. They scratch around for a while and then go home. I can tell they are there when my dog starts to act funny. I hope the coyote in her does not consider them fair game. When she is in the yard the chickens stay home so I take a quick glance around before I let her out. I consider the chickens "wandering fertilizer" and I enjoy their visits.

My daughter and her husband are going to Astoria for 2 nights and I will be taking care of their dog. We are trying to figure out how it will work, since their Bleecker needs to be crated when home alone and at night. The catch is, I will be at the prison and away form home for 9 hours on Saturday. Bleecker is a large dog that needs lots of exercise and 9 hrs is a long time for her to be in her crate. She can be a barker so I don't want to leave her in the yard all day. I plan to exercise the dogs before I leave. She loves her crate and often crawls in there for a nap, but I hope 9 hours doesn't make her crazy. Any suggestions?

No help here, I'm not a fan of dogs in cages. Or any animal for that matter. I'm currently stewing over my granddaughter's caged rabbit, the poor thing looks miserable every time I go over there. We have an old 8' double cage in the weeds that I'm going to try to resurrect and connect to the rabbit's rather small cage so it has more room to move around in. Every time it escapes, I hope it just goes to live in the hedge (knowing it would not likely last long). Sad for me to see.

Portland, you must feel the same seeing humans in cages.

Dogs must sometimes be placed in cages and the best is when they have learned that the cage is their "den" from early in life. Dogs are denners and love the security of a familar den. To keep a dog in a den all the time for hours at work is wrong. But for a visit for a short time it is necessary. Just be sure you get up earlier and take the dog for a busy hike or play episode for an hour before you go to work and after you return. If the dog is not used to the cage I would look for a doggie day care so he/she can play while you are at work.

I would be more concerned with her needing to relieve herself than with the exercise. If she's used to being crated it probably won't bother her per se, but that does seem like a long time to be confined without a break. Leaving her in the yard wouldn't be a good idea because if she needs to be crated while they're gone it suggests that she could get into things, and possibly find her way out of the yard, too!

Bleecker is very used to her crate and loves it. I think a crate is great if the dog likes it, and is not left in there for too long. My Koka spent the first 2 years of her life on a ranch so I have never crated her, and she is fine left alone in the house for the day, if need be. However, I really don't want to put poor Bleecker in a crate for 9 hours, and then if there is some sort of emergency at the prison and there is a lock-down I may be there for much longer. So I traded my day for a different day so that I can be with the dogs while my daughter is away. That way none of us will be worrying. It's amazing what we do for our furries!

Bonehead, I am thankful that some of the people I have met are in their "crates" - like the woman who slit open another woman's uterus to get her baby, and both mother and baby died. Or the guy who hacked up his kids. It's a world I never had reason to ponder.

Judi,
So glad you were able to trade your day. My Nina was crated for days with only a short walk once a day (last owner). That is why I took her when my son's girl friend aked me if I wanted her. I was just going to find a new home for her to get her out of that home. But she fell in love with me and I her. So now we have 2 dogs.

I think the crate thing is a good idea but too many times abused.

Oh, such horrific actions.

My daughter will be home on Sunday afternoon and I will leave for the prison at 12:15 so Bleecker will be in her crate for a few hours, but she does not mind that at all. I'll take her to the dog park in the morning. Today I took both dogs to the dog park and they ran steadily for about 20 minutes, but then Koka decided it was way more fun to stalk squirrels. While I was taking a shower today Bleecker chewed up a library book, but her favorite treat is the mail. Silly dog.

Julie and I are having coffee and were talking about the photo contest. There are SO many pictures this year and narrowing it down to just 3 favorites in each category is very very difficult. We hope you will take a little time to vote as we have entered some pictures and see quite a few good ones from members of the PNW.

I thought I would try to vote , especially since I entered my frogs in the "wierd" category.

But I couldn't find where! I looked under "Extras".

Do you have a link to vote at? Thanks!

Corey

Maybe you can't vote if you've submitted something?

http://davesgarden.com/contest/2010-photography-contest/index.php

Try this link. Otherwise, look in the Daves Garden thread and you will find places where there are links to the photo contest. Let me know if that doesn't work.

You DEFINITELY want to (and can) vote for your picture.