Anecdotes, Antidotes, and Anodes

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner ?

Actually, the title should read, "Guess Who's Coming to Breakfast?"

Or better, "Guess Who Came to Breakfast and Scared the BeeJeeBus out of My Birds."

 

 

 

These were all snapped in less than forty-five seconds.

Mr. Wiley Coyote and the Roadrunner . . .

Well, maybe Mr. Wiley Coyote and the Raven is a better description:

When I went out to feed the critters this morning, I wasn't expecting to see this one.

There was much sqawking and carrying on at the rocks behind the house which perked my ears up and got me to thinking something wasn't just quite right with the Ravens.

Evidently, Mr. Wiley Coyote was much too close to the nest.

He also wasn't much concerned that this Raven and about five others were more than just agitated at his presence.

This particular coyote has frequented the neighborhood for about three years. 

He has a distinguished coat that looks more like a calico cat . . . mottled orange, white, gray, and black.  (Makes me wonder if the neighbor's calico cat rendezvoused with a coyote at some time or another. Probably not.)

Mr. Wiley has been known to parade up and down the middle of the street in the evening hours, not disturbed by anyone, anything, or any car.  He seems to think it's his road.

He does antagonize the dogs.  ALL of them because every dog within a 5-mile radius starts barking at the same time when he's in the vicinity.

The freaky thing is, I noticed him looking in my window one time, standing only about 8 feet from the house.

Just not that thrilled  he feels so comfortable . . . so close !

 

 

Rhododendron

While visiting friends in Atlanta, I made my way to their lush backyard and enjoyed many, many beautiful flowers including the rhododendrons . . .

Wylie Coyote

There have been any number of critters visit our place in the past few years.  The most common ones are chipmunks, ground squirrels, rabbits, skunks . . .yes, skunks who have left their mark under our deck and on our dogs.  There have been reports of bobcats. Actually, our neighbors up the hill have videos of several playing on their deck. Then, there's the illusive mountain lion.  We've never seen him, but the neighbors one house away have.  Footrprints have been seen everywhere.  That really gives me the willy-nilly-eeby-jeebie-creeps.

And then, there's the coyotes.  Lots and lots of coyotes.  Their yip-yip-yip early in the morning, late at night, and in the wee hours of the morning send our dogs into a frenzy. It's not unusual to see several during the week, but they are usually quite a distance away.

Last week, the dogs didn't go into a frenzy.  They went Ape-$hi+ crazy !  I knew exactly why they almost tore the door down trying to get outside, but I never did see the coyote.

This happened several times before I finally spotted the little critter. . .

. . . and he spotted me.  
Wylie stood on that rock for quite sometime before he . . .

. . . turned to go. 

He may be wondering if the box from Acme was delivered by FedEx today . . .

Most of you who read here are too young to know what I'm talking about.

Meep ! Meep !  Va-R-o-o-o-o-o-m !

Question:  Do you say "ky-o-tee" or "ky-oat?"

*******************************************

I can NOT believe she was voted off American Idol. 
She was my favorite !

Here's an interview with Pia after the show.

Just Foolin' (around with) Mother Nature

While in Seattle the other day, I spotted this in my daughter and her husband's backyard...

All this to ask, anyone know what kind of flower this is ?

Good Morning...Grand Junction, Colorado

Grab a cup of coffee...or tea...or maybe stir up a Bloody Mary and join me on my balcony for today's sunrise.  The first photo was taken at 6:06 a.m. and the last one was taken at 6:37 a.m. (Swampwitch Time.)

Sunrise over Mt. Garfield...

 

That's not a spot on your monitor. That's a bird, so stop trying to scratch it off.

"We can only appreciate the miracle of a sunrise if we have waited in the darkness."

"With each sunrise, we start anew."

"What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives ?"   --E.M. Forster

If you have a favorite sunrise quote, please share it with us.

What the Duck ?

MESSAGE from the EMERGENCY SWAMPDUCKCAST SYSTEM !

No, the ducks didn't fly the coop. They are still pooping regularly. But, there were so many questions about them, I felt the need to provide an explanation of WHY AnodeMan brought them home. The only problem is, I have no explanation of what possessed AnodeMan to bring home the ducks. He brought them home from the feed store.  Because there is no water within three miles of our house, as in a pond, lake, or river, they will NOT be living here, unless they morph into Desert Ducks. And because they are Mallards, I don't think they would be too tasty prepared as Peking Ducks, Mr. Blackheart. And no, they aren't following me around.  It is a must that the ducks and the dogs do not mingle or they will be Dead Ducks.  I did ask him for an explanation and the conversation went something like this:

ME:  Why on Earth did you bring home these baby ducks?  (Those weren't my e.x.a.c.t. words.)

HIM: Because the kids had so much fun with them when they were little.

ME:  Er-Um-Have you looked around the house lately?  There are NO little kids living here.

End of Conversation.

**************************************

For those of you who have been reading here for awhile, it will probably come as no surprise to YOU that AnodeMan came home Sunday with a surprise for ME.

 

Bubba was quite interested in the gift that was in the box.

 

He quickly summoned June Bug to come take a look.

 

Bubba the Boxer, appears more like Bubba the Bird Dog in the above photo.

 

He's just trying to "get all his ducks in a row."

 

They may be cute and cuddly looking, but believe me, all they do is eat, drink, poop, eat, drink, poop, and on and on.  They also stand in their water and walk through their food. Then they poop in their water and poop in their food, and then they eat and drink and poop some more.

 

Oh, and did I mention that AnodeMan left town about six hours after he presented me with this gift?

While "dealing" with these eight new guests living here at The Asylum, several quotations and sayings have come to mind:

"You can lead a duck to water, but you can't make him drink."

"I'll be organized when ducks fly...or not."

"A duck cannot change its spots or stripes."

"Git 'er duck," says Larry the Cable Guy.

"He-e-e-e-re's your duck," replies Bill Engvall.

RMDucks?
SMRDucks.
CMWangs.
LIB...MRDucks.

"You can ask until the ducks come home..."

"Sly as a duck."

"Hungry as a duck."

"Hey, it's Yogi duck and his friend Boo-Boo."

"The Duck Days of Summer"

"It's a duck's life."

"I hope I don't catch the Duck Flew."

OK, I'll stop, but I'm sure you can add a few of your own.

Dear Wild Birds Unlimited...

...Er..Um...

Would someone please identify this "BIRD" for me ?

 

A Rose Is A Rose Is A Rose

The sentence "Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose" was written by Gertrude Stein as part of the 1913 poem Sacred Emily, which appeared in the 1922 book Geography and Plays. In that poem, the first "Rose" is the name of a woman. Stein later used variations on the phrase in other writings, and "A rose is a rose is rose" is probably her most famous quote, often interpreted as "things are what they are." In Stein's view, the sentence expresses the fact that simply using the name of a thing already invokes the imagery and emotions associated with it.

......

QUOTE: "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

MEANING: What matters is what something is, not what it is called.

ORIGIN:  From Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, 1594:

JULIET:
      'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
      Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
      What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
      Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
      Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
      What's in a name? that which we call a rose
      By any other name would smell as sweet;
      So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
      Retain that dear perfection which he owes
      Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
      And for that name which is no part of thee
      Take all myself...

 

Which leads me to this scrawny, scraggly rosebush.  I have nurtured this plant all summer, and here in the High Desert, that means lots of water.  There were many mornings when I thought about digging it up because the leaves were dying and falling off.  But I didn't.  For the last several days I've not taken the time to go look at the last few roses of the season which have been frost bitten and look worse than sad.

So, you can imagine my surprise this morning when I saw this...

 

Oh, I know you're thinking, "THAT rose is NOT growing on THAT rosebush."

 

Oh, but it is.

There has to be a moral to this story. Anyone have any ideas?

 

Caption This Photo

OK, it's busy here. So busy that I've not had the time to even take photos of what we're doing.

So, here's a flower for you.

Give it a caption, if you wish...