Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes

Evacuation of Cavalier, North Dakota

2013-05-21T18:52:00.002-05:00

Big news from North Dakota. Alycia's hometown of Cavalier, North Dakota is under a mandatory evacuation. The dam about 6 miles west of town is threatening to burst and flood the town.

Alycia's parents live there and already had about 4 inches of water in their basement from seepage due to the 6 to 7 inches of rain that fell over the last 3 days. Her parents are under mandatory evacuation and are going to be staying with us for little while. More information (and probably some humorous stories) to follow.

You can read the whole "dam" story on the Grand Forks Herald/WDAY News site.

More Bird Sightings - Scarlet Tanager, Indigo Bunting, Northern Baltimore Oriole

2013-05-19T20:06:00.000-05:00

It has been an amazing week of bird watching here at the homestead. After chronicling our sighting of a Rose Breasted Grosbeak and Goldfinches in the post Bird Sighting - Rose Breasted Grosbeak earlier this week, we had several additional cool bird sightings. Over the last few days we spent much of our time either out in the garden or on the front porch relaxing after working in the garden, so there was ample opportunity for spying birds.

It's truly a perfect time for bird watching since migratory birds are passing through and trees haven't fully leafed out yet, making it easier to see the birds. All the photos are from others much better than myself at capturing birds with a camera.

The first bird we saw was a Scarlet Tanager, a vibrant red bird that grabbed my eye immediately. I was hoping the red meant that it was a cardinal (I really want to see a cardinal), but the black shoulder and smaller size led us to an identification of the Scarlet Tanager.

Photo Credit

I also spotted an Indigo Bunting, a bird as brilliantly blue as the Scarlet Tanager was red. The Indigo Bunting is actually a fairly common bird in South Dakota and North Dakota, but this is the first time we've seen one here on the homestead. He (I know it was a dude since the ladies aren't nearly as colorful) was a very cool bird, so amazingly blue.

Photo Credit

After seeing these two cool birds in one day, we thought we had seen enough fantastic things for one season, but the next day we saw a Northern Baltimore Oriole. This bird caught my eye as a sudden flash of orange. He (again I know it was a male since the females aren't as colorful) stayed just for a few minutes, and wasn't interested in the sunflower seeds we had to offer. A bit of research indicated they prefer orange halves, so it might be time to build special feeder just to attract orioles.

Photo Credit

Spotting the Northern Baltimore Oriole actually led to some concurrent spirited Internet research between Alycia and myself. There's some debate as to whether the Northern is a different species than the Baltimore Oriole. From this website about Orioles:

When John James Audubon painted these birds in 1836 and 1825, he considered them to be two different species. For about three decades starting in the late 1960s, many ornithologists thought they were the same species and "lumped them" into the Northern Oriole. Now they've "split" them back the way Audubon thought they were all along.

In addition to the new birds, the Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks have been around all week as well, sometimes as many as a half-dozen at a time. They're entertaining birds to watch - tumbling, climbing, squabbling with one another, and just generally making for good bird watching.

Blue Scillia and Yellow Tulips

2013-05-17T09:07:00.002-05:00

After a very long winter here in North Dakota we're finally seeing some gardening glory, the first blooms of Spring. Due to an unusually late start to Spring in all the Upper Mid-West, but especially here Eastern North Dakota, everything seems to be at least a few weeks delayed.

The blue scillia are the first bulbs to pop every year. They're a small delicate blue flower, and the plant itself is only 2-3 inches high. They're supposed to naturalize here in Zone 4 and they're started to do so, spreading out in larger clumps in a few places.

Alycia really enjoys them and I like them as well. We've planted some around the apple trees and some in the lawn around the box elder we had removed last year. They're such a striking blue and their arrival sends a positive message that Winter is finally over and Spring is here.

The first of the tulips (the name escapes me) have started to bloom as well. We're looking forward to the next few weeks of tulips.

Late arriving Spring has left us with an unusually compressed and time crunched Spring. Winter clean up, Spring garden preparations, seed starting, and planting things in the yard has not only happened in a small span of time, but has also coincided with the end of the school semester. As such we're left feeling extra harried and rushed this year. This is probably the same feeling that all gardeners have in Spring but it seems more pronounced this year.

This post represents our first (of hopefully many) participation of the year in Tootsie Time: Fertilizer Friday/Flaunt Your Flowers posting. Tootsie Time is a fantastic garden blogger who has this "contest" every Friday, allowing people to flaunt what's blooming in their yard right now. I highly recommend checking it out and participating!

Bird Sighting - Rose Breasted Grosbeak

2013-05-14T13:35:00.002-05:00

We had a new bird sighting just this morning at the homestead - a rose breasted grosbeak. They're not exactly rare in North Dakota, but this is the first time we've seen one on the homestead. The mottled brown bird on the feeder may even be his lady-bird friend.

Admittedly, it's not the best photo, but considering it's with my 8 year old digital point-and-shoot camera through a window, it's pretty good. It's a great time of year for watching birds here. The summer birds are starting to return and migratory species that don't live here are passing through for a sunflower seed snack. We just started seeing one of my favorites, the goldfinches, a couple of days ago.

You can find more information and some better pictures at the Cornell Ornithology All About Birds entry for the Rose Breasted Grosbeak.

Washington DC Trip

2013-05-08T20:56:00.004-05:00

Alycia took a trip to Washington DC last month for a grant writing seminar. She's swamped with end-of-semester stuff, so I'm going to post her pictures for her. This might seem weird, but it's the only way these will ever get posted. I mean we still have many pictures from our trip to England (last Fall) that we haven't posted yet...sigh.

There were still a few cherry blossoms. And there were apparently more than a few locals who were sick of the cherry blossom related tourists.

Ford's Theater where Lincoln was shot. It was once a government office building and is now a museum.

I've only been to Washington DC once and found it an interesting mix of historical places, interesting things to learn, and solemn spots where words aren't necessary.

The Washington Monument was 75% covered in scaffolding due to an earthquake retrofit.

The World War II Memorial. Each state has marker and wreath. Alycia made sure to visit the marker for both North Dakota and California.

The Smithsonian Castle. This was Alycia's best photo, well done. Composition, framing, awesome.

The gardens outside the Smithsonian Castle.

Tulips in the flower library. I never knew that there was a living flower library in Washington DC.

Alycia couldn't remember what building this was. She thinks it's the Jefferson Memorial...

She made sure to visit the Internal Revenue Service Building just for me. That's how us accountants roll.

Alycia also felt compelled to stop by the Canadian Embassy for some reason. She does have many Canadian students, and there are always Canadian shoppers here in town on the weekend, so I had Alycia pick up a US-Canada dictionary so we could learn some useful phrases to help communicate with our neighbors to the North.

World Naked Gardening Day

2013-05-04T08:48:00.001-05:00

Did you know that today, Saturday May 4, 2013, is World Naked Gardening Day? I kind of doubt that you knew that, but just in case you were looking for a way to legitimize your urge to perform some gardening chores whilst naked, today's your chance.

Special thanks to the folks at Root Simple for making us aware of this holiday. And in case you think I'm kidding, you can check out World Naked Gardening Day's website, but be warned, it isn't as awesome as you think. There are a lot of pictures of naked folks doing everyday gardening chores like weed-whacking and pruning trees (two chores that while performing I would strongly prefer to be wearing more clothes, not less).

Will we be participating in World Naked Gardening Day here at the homestead? Well, you'll just have to stay tuned to find out. OK, I'll end the suspense now. We will NOT be gardening naked (at least not today...) and will NOT be posting pictures of us gardening naked, sorry. Did I ruin the suspense?

More Awesome Nephew Pics

2013-04-30T12:59:00.003-05:00

I thought posting pictures of my little nephew Jacob would be an occasional thing, but I wasn't aware how many cute photos I'd get from the family. So this may have to be a semi-regular series through the years. I guess I also underestimated how much of a proud Uncle I would be. Here's my awesome nephew with his baby brother. Pretty cool.

Around the homestead...well there have been drastic changes. Extensive snowbanks melted in mere days under near 70 degree temps over the weekend. Buds are swelling on trees, sporadic individual grass blades have turned green, tulips and other bulbs are poking up through the soil, and there are just general signs of life in the yard. I'll grab the camera, capture the late Spring and report back to you ASAP.

The River Also Rises

2013-04-26T11:02:00.002-05:00

We're wrapping up a doozie of a week here at the homestead, way too much work and work related stuff. How was your week?

The frigid winter temperatures finally appear to be somewhat subsiding and we're in for a major heat wave starting today (mid 50's) through the weekend where mid to upper 60's are forecast. This is fantastic for us so we can start to thaw out from winter and maybe even begin some long over due winter clean up chores, but it's bad for the flooding situation to get so warm so quickly.

We won't have any flooding problems here in Grand Forks, but they may in other parts of the state. The river is only expected to crest at 43 feet (we're protected up to 60+) here so we're not worried. If you're a weather geek like I am, or if you just like graphs and numbers and such, you should check out the National Weather Service/NOAA website. It has the projected river crest, flood predictions, and lots of other cool stuff related to weather here in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

National Weather Service - Grand Forks, North Dakota

Longest Winter Ever - Seriously It Might Be a Record

2013-04-18T14:36:00.003-05:00

From the Grand Forks Herald:

Grand Forks is forecast to break a 109-year-old local record: the latest 50-degree day. National Weather Service forecasts for the next seven days do not call for 50-degree temperatures in Grand Forks, and the current record is April 21, set in 1904. Fargo broke its record, set April 17, 1881, on Wednesday, and is still without a 50-degree day.

The city and its residents may not find relief from the cold for another week or longer, according to Vince Godon, weather service meteorologist.

“It’s always tough to tell this far out,” he said. “If we get clouds moving in, that throws it off. Every day, it gets a little bit warmer.”

This year’s late start to spring contrasts with last year’s early spring. Grand Forks set its earliest 50-degree day on March 11, 2012.

Crazy. We went from the earliest 50 degree day ever last year to almost-soon-to-be the latest 50 degree this year.

Spring Delayed Yet Again

2013-04-15T19:08:00.001-05:00

Our thoughts of Spring arriving here in North Dakota got a square kick in the teeth when another 4 to 5 inches of snow fell Sunday night and Monday. We didn't fare too badly compared with other parts of the state, the state capital Bismarck got 18 inches, yikes!

The snow was the heavy, wet snow of Spring and it stuck to everything.

The wind came from the North and East, so the half of the tree trunk facing that direction were covered with a layer of fluffy, sticky snow. It was interesting to see half a tree trunk completely white, while the other half was it's normal woody brown.

We're back to having a foot plus of snow bank in the yard. Just when we were seeing some bare ground (see Delayed Spring), we're back to snow covered mud yet again. Oh, and there's more snow on the way in a couple of days.

Our local weatherman noted the other day that our average high temperature at this time of year is in the 50's, but that we have yet to hit the 50 degree mark at all this year.

Maybe the best thing to do is just bury our face in our paws/hands until things take a turn for the better.

Delayed Spring

2013-04-10T20:42:00.002-05:00

Part of the lack of posting has been a result of the lack of Spring related news. Other lucky gardening folks may have crocuses and others blooms popping in their yard, but all we have is winter. Old Man Winter has one tight stranglehold on the homestead. The Grand Forks area has been 10 to 20 degrees below normal for the last several weeks, the snow has been slow to melt and there is talk of even more snow on the horizon.

Shaak Ti tours the snowy, muddy environs of the backyard. There's still a good foot plus of snowbank over much of the yard and with temperatures in the mid-30's (at best) for the next week and some additional snowpack possibly on the way, Spring may be a long way off.

Even the pups tottering through the yard have torn up the dormant turf, it looks like a herd of buffalo sauntered through the yard. Sure a month from now, it'll be nice green grass, but for now, it's ugly. And muddy.

There's still a lot of snow in the back yard. Thursday night and Sunday are supposed to yield additional snow, we'll see what the future brings. That future might just include a even further delayed Spring. Sigh.

More Easter Bunny Malfeasance

2013-04-02T08:38:00.004-05:00

The Easter Bunny that scared my awesome little nephew may have terrified a poor little kid, but he/she was just doing their job (see Easter Trips and Bunnies of Terror). At least they were an Easter Bunny in compliance with the law.

But in San Diego the other day (just a few miles from where I used to live), the Easter Bunny got pulled over by a California Highway Patrol Officer. Seriously, I'm not kidding. He was on a motorcycle (the Easter Bunny, not the officer) without a helmet, which is against the law in California.

Photo Courtesy of California Highway Patrol

Read the full story and see video.

Easter Trips and Bunnies of Terror

2013-04-01T12:59:00.001-05:00

Alycia and I traveled the Friday and Saturday before Easter down to Minneapolis/St. Paul with some errands and "big city" type tasks. We spent most of our time in St. Paul and enjoyed the almost-but-not-quite Spring weather. It was in the 50's both days, pleasant enough that yours truly wore himself some short pants, it was magical.

We made it home and promptly left Sunday morning for Easter in bustling Cavalier, North Dakota. There was much ham and fixings and deserts and the typical holiday meal deliciousness.

We didn't get visited by the Easter Bunny, but my awesome nephew back in San Diego did chat a bit with the big bunny himself.

As you can see it was less of a chat and more of a tear-filled encounter of pure terror. The report was that he cried the whole time, at least until he was a safe distance away, 25 or 30 feet, at which point he waved repeatedly at the Easter Bunny. Little brother James was as stoic and calm as you can get when confronted by a seven foot tall rabbit in a dinner jacket.

Jacob was a much happier camper when he realized the awesomeness that the Easter Bunny leaves. Each plastic egg had all of one M&M in it, but he still thought it was pretty cool.

2013 Garden Objectives

2013-03-24T12:46:00.000-05:00

Even though we're technically a week into Spring, it seems like actual Spring is a long way off. There's still 3 feet of snow (or more) on the ground and temperatures aren't forecast to get above the freezing mark for at least the next week. It makes it seem like planting-actual-living-things-in-the-ground time is eons away.

But we're going to start our seeds indoors this week and the itch for Spring will turn into an inevitable yearning that will soon enough enable me to work outside. In the meantime I thought it would be a good exercise to relay my objectives for the upcoming gardening season. Why? Well this IS sort of a blog about gardening. Plus it will be good thought exercise to consider my plans for the upcoming year and there's the bonus that if I know that my list is publicized, there's a better chance I will feel accountable to my reading public and not procrastinate the year away.

Objective Category 1 - Easy Stuff. These are things that are either easy to accomplish or that I really need to do anyways:

Add some pieces of re-purposed sidewalk concrete to the area underneath our gate. In Spring and during rainy weather this small space gets really muddy from the people/dog foot traffic (it's our main exit in/out of the yard). I'm going to dig in some broken pieces of an old sidewalk that we removed last year from the side of the house in order to make this space less muddy.
Plant more perennials. I love annuals, but they're a lot of work to plant every year and I'd rather have them as extra additions than the main attraction. We're going to plant some more coneflowers, clematis, monarda (bee balm), milkweed, and sedum. And whatever else strikes my fancy.
Plant at least one more honeyberry shrub. You need two to get berries and we only have one right now. I did the math on this one all by myself.

Divide hostas and use them for borders for perennial beds.
Lose more lawn space. Every year I want to take a little more lawn area and convert it to vegetable growing, flowers, or non-lawn space. Less lawn = less weekly mowing work. If I do this slowly (a few square yards every year), the neighbors are less likely to notice. I'm sneaky like that.
Plant milkweed. Monarch butterflies are disappearing at a rapid rate, I'm hoping that planting some of their favorite food will help a little. These are also perennials, so this also ties into one of the objectives above.

Objective Category 2 - Harder Stuff. These are things that require some thought or multiple days to finish:

Determine if my leaf mulching plan worked to improve soil quality. Last Fall we raked up and shredded all our leaves, then put them on top of our raised beds, with some chicken wire to hold the leaves in, and some big bricks to weigh it all down. This was a lot of work last Fall and I'm hoping that this has all broken down into some quality organic matter that we can work into the soil when we plant the raised beds.
Figure out if my blueberry relocation plan worked. I've been trying to grow blueberries here for three years, despite the warnings from multiple local folks and nursery professionals. The soil is just too alkaline here and simply amending the soil just doesn't work. My solution? I dug a big pit (see picture below), filled it with compost and a bunch of peat moss, then brought it up another foot above the ground. Then I transplanted the six bushes into their new acidic soil wonderland last Fall. This year we find out if it worked. If not? We may need to give up the dream of growing blueberries. That would make me sad.

Come up with some kind of definitive crop rotation system. Right now my haphazard system of "we planted tomatoes here last year so..." method has left something to be desired.
Get a quote and some firm plans on converting our spare garage into a greenhouse. I've been talking about this for a few years now and I'd really like to have a greenhouse up and running for this winter.

Objective Category 3 - Big Picture Stuff. These are things that I need to think about, plan, research, contemplate and probably won't get finished this year, but I at least want to think about them:

Stump decisions. We had a large, old box elder tree removed last Fall in the southwest corner of our yard. It was very old and rotted out in multiple places. Since it hung over our driveway and power lines we decided it was best that we take it down on our terms, not wait for a thunderstorm to do it for us. Now we're trying to decide what to do with that space (and the stump that's sitting there now). When the tree was there it shaded the garden from about 3:00 onward, preventing a full day of sun from reaching the garden, so I don't think we want to replace it with another large, full tree that will shade the garden. I like birch trees. They're a bit more sparsely leafed and not quite as tall as some other trees which would allow more dappled sunlight to reach the garden in the afternoon. More research and discussion and planning is needed.
Backyard landscaping. Inside the fenced in backyard on the west side of the yard, there's a distinct lack of landscaping, it's pretty much just the fence and lawn. This is the one place that we'll always have lawn (ask the dogs why), so we need to have some other landscaping to soften the fence and make the yard look a bit better. Last year we planted some sedum along one side of the fence and one clematis vine on a trellis. We need to plant a few more clematis vines on some cool trellises and maybe a few happy little shrubs. Again more research and thought and planning is needed.

That's all I can think of for now. What about you gentle reader? What's on your to-do list this year? Any ideas or solutions to my myriad garden issues?

Squirrel In the Office

2013-03-22T12:45:00.003-05:00

I was sitting home debating what to have for lunch when I got a picture and text message from Alycia. The picture was her desk at work (at the University of North Dakota). I couldn't really make much out of the picture, so it was difficult to tell what the deal was. The text message was more helpful. It said:

"I had a squirrel in my office this morning. He ate my candy and peed on my desk. This is the aftermath after the facilities guy caught him with his garbage picker-upper stick"

I'm no wildlife expert but I think is terrible behavior for a squirrel. I understand eating the candy, but peeing on someone's desk? That squirrels' Mama obviously didn't teach him (or her) right.

After I got done laughing and laughing I commiserated with Alycia at her bad squirrel fortune.

Hiding From the Cold

2013-03-16T09:55:00.001-05:00

We had another 3 or 4 inches of snow yesterday, and it's back to the mid-Winter level of chill in the air, near -5 with a wind. Ugh. The kids have been hibernating in their warm beds and are quite reluctant to go outside.

Shadowfax is staying curled up in the warming bed. Yes, that's a heated dog bed on top of another dog bed. She's a spoiled little deaf pittie all right.

No she's not growling, I just caught Shaak Ti mid-yawn. This is probably about what I look like first thing in the morning.

Shaak Ti isn't getting out of her cozy little bed/blanket fort either. In case you were wondering, yes our dogs are a tad bit overly pampered.

Our Awesome Neighbors

2013-03-15T12:16:00.000-05:00

We have a phenomenal little corner of the world here in Grand Forks, a historic old house, a fenced yard for the pups, a little more than a 1/4 acre of land to garden with, and some of the best neighbors around. One of our neighbors in particular live three houses down from us and are simply some of the best people in the whole friggin' world (I might be a bit biased).

Our neighbor Brad* has a John Deere tractor with a bunch of attachments, one of which is a pretty powerful snow-thrower. Every time it snows (and it snows a lot here in North Dakota), Brad is out in his little tractor clearing his driveway/sidewalks and most of the rest of the neighborhoods' too. Even if he's already been out for hours clearing his own driveway/sidewalks, he tirelessly cleans off our sidewalks and even our large driveway usually before we've had a chance to do it ourselves.

Last summer I was out in the garden and Brad and his wife Paula* walked by with their little granddaughter, enjoying the summer evening. We started chatting about the raspberry bushes and plum trees that we'd just planted and the conversation turned to canning and making jam. Brad and Paula have a huge garden and make various jams and preserves.

Our chat wrapped up and a half hour later I was inside washing up and there was a knock at the door. It was Brad and Paula. They had two grocery bags of jams, preserves, sauces, and relishes to share with us. All I could say was "Wow, thanks!!" This isn't even the extent of all the awesome things they've done, they really are fantastic neighbors.

Each Spring the last couple of years, after the snow has melted, we've given Brad and Paula a gift certificate to a local restaurant as a way of thanking him for all their help. But this has never seemed like quite enough of a "thank you".

So I ask you dear readers for some help, some ideas. What do you think would be a proper/adequate way to say thanks to awesome neighbors such as these? Months of help with snow removal is such a big deal, we want to make certain we express our appreciation.

*Names were changed to protect the identity of our awesome neighbors.

Thoughts of Spring and a TED Talk - Ron Finley

2013-03-12T10:42:00.000-05:00

As I sit, prone on the couch, recovering from my knee surgery, I'm doing just about everything I can to keep from climbing the walls. I've had some brief sporadic attacks of cabin fever and I'd give just about anything to go for a walk or a run, or just about any manner of physical activity. Heck even a spirited mosey or saunter would be fine. Unfortunately the optimal position for me is reclined, knee elevated, ~~frozen in carbonite~~ encased in ice packs.

Alycia has been a kind and helpful nurse, much more nurturing than I thought possible. But I feel that even her kindness has limits and there are days when I fear she is close to beating me about the torso (even in her rage I'm sure she'd avoid hitting my delicate knee) with my own crutches. Frankly I wouldn't blame her if she did.

It doesn't help the cabin fever urges within me that hints of Spring are tantalizingly in the air - seed catalogs, Daylight Savings, brochures for gardening events, snow melting, oh please just stop! Sure I know that this is only temporary. In a few more weeks I'll be back on my feet, walking around, starting seeds indoors and preparing for Spring.

That's why this TED Talk by Ron Finley was just what I needed. I highly suggest you watch if you have 10 minutes, very entertaining.

Thanks to the awesome blog Root Simple (you should read this blog) for tuning me on to this.

Awesome Nephew Pictures

2013-03-07T11:34:00.004-06:00

It's been a little while since I posted pictures of my awesome nephew Jacob. He's growing up pretty dang fast, and even though I'm not a kid person, I think he's pretty dang cute too.

His future is so bright that he has to wear (his Dad's) shades.

For Christmas he got a sandbox from Grandpa, which he apparently loves. My sister appreciates it since it's a fun place for him to play and burn off little kid energy, but as she told me the other day on the phone "there is sand EVERYWHERE". I had to laugh. And laugh.

Mr. Fish

2013-03-02T14:02:00.000-06:00

In honor of our beloved Grommie, who passed away recently, I figured I should discuss the other important fish in my life: Mr. Fish.

I had won/fished him out of a fish pond during one of Cavalier's summer Crazy Days when I was a kid. And unlike all other free goldfish that you get as a kid, he refused to die. He lived for 7 or 8 years before I headed off to school at Stanford. My sophomore year at school I decided that I was going to bring him with to school. Since my parents and I annually drove from North Dakota to Stanford, it wasn't that big of a deal, other than the 4-day road trip. We just emptied out half of his tank and let him slosh around in the car all the way out. I believe his favorite stop was a night at one of the stateline casinos in Nevada.

Once at school, Mr. Fish made lots of friends. My draw group (extended group of roommates) all doted on him. In fact, when I would go back to North Dakota, Mr. Fish went home to Fresno/Clovis, CA with my friend, Sue. Her family loves to fish and they treated Mr. Fish as a demi-god. Sue's dad refused to let her fill his tank with their tap water, instead insisting that she use their bottled water. Anyway, I digress. Mr. Fish lived with us through that sophomore year at Storey House, the following summer when we lived in moderate filth at the Sigma Chi frat house (it was the cheapest place to live), and then the following year when we lived in the Arroyo dorm.

Toward the end of his life, Mr. Fish stopped moving very much. He pretty much lurked on the bottom of his tank. He had been white for years, having lost all of his coloring sometime before heading out to California (and no, he didn't tan in the CA sun). Eventually he also developed some sort of cataract thing, where his eyes bulged, and then one day (one at a time) collapsed inward - very weird.

Anyway, Mr. Fish survived through finals week of Spring Quarter, and then he went quietly. Since I was quite attached to him, there was no way I was going to flush him down the toilet, and there was the issue that he was so big, he stood a chance of clogging the toilet. I briefly pondered taxidermy, but when I found out how much that cost, I instead opted for a frozen funeral. All summer he lived in my dorm fridge's mini freezer. In August when I flew home to North Dakota, I bought him a very nice little thermos and ice pack, put his frozen carcass in the thermos, and flew home with him so that he could be buried in the Cummings pet cemetery. Obviously, this was pre-9/11 when security wasn't quite so tight.

So the take-home point from my little ramble today. Of all my pets, my dogs are definitely the ones that I love best, but there is no reason why I cannot also have some attachment to my fish, too. There is no shame in wanting to provide a proper funeral for all of your pets.

Saying Goodbye

2013-02-24T07:38:00.001-06:00

We have some sad news to report from the Cummings-Chappell estate, one of our beloved fishies, Grommie, passed away on Valentine's Day, 2013.

Grommie, who got his name from me because he was a Gourami fish, actually pre-dated me in John's life. Thus, up to now, Grommie has been a constant in my life and relationship with John. He was a quiet, peaceful fellow always just hanging around in the aquarium. He watched many other fish come and go and was a nice, predictable constant in my life.

When we moved from San Diego to North Dakota, I convinced John that Grommie should come along. I don't quite know what John thought we would do with him if we didn't bring him along, but I didn't want to think about it. We bought a small 10 gallon "travel" aquarium and so Grommie sloshed around in the back of the Camry for 2000 miles. Every night on our roadtrip, John would have to carry the aquarium into our hotel room so that we could fill his tank with more water and then plug in his air filter/pump so that we could give him some more air.

Recently, Grommie hadn't been doing well. He had been resting a lot on the bottom of the tank, often not moving very well - some days it almost looked like he was paralyzed on one side. I am glad to say that I did not find him, John did. It's always a sad day to have to fish out your dead fish from the tank. Currently, Grommie is resting in a plastic baggie in a box in our freezer. When it is warm and the soil thaws, we're going to bury him next to some of our purple irises.

Photo credits: http://www.aquariumfish.net

Page View Milestone

2013-02-22T10:32:00.000-06:00

Your obedient blogging servant El Gaucho is greatly honored by the recent milestone of 50,000 page views that we reached at approximately 2:44 AM EST this morning. From humble beginnings and its even humbler current state, the Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes blog continues to exceed all expectations.

Unfortunately Shadowfax was less than impressed with this announcement, radiating sleepy indifference from her cozy slumberball/blanket cave. Fear not little deaf dog, there are more earth shattering happenings in your future. You see, Spring is just out of reach over the horizon...and the gnomes are stirring.

Snowdrifts and Icicles

2013-02-20T08:40:00.001-06:00

A decent snowstorm blew through on Sunday night and into Monday, not a lot of snow only 4 or 5 inches, but a whole lot of wind. Wind gusts reached into the 50+ mph range Sunday night and all day Monday causing blizzard conditions and the town of Grand Forks to effectively shut down. The drift below was in front of the garage door, facing West.

Even though there wasn't much snow, that much wind can leave some large drifts and strange formations carved out of snow.

This beautiful snow drift was along the south facing wall of the garage, was nearly two feet high, and had a near vertical face on one side. It was gorgeous and mysterious at the same time. The force of the wind and eddies created by the buildings worked in combination to sculpt this snow drift.

Enjoying the unusual snow formations went a long way to make up for the cold early morning snow shoveling and snow removal. As the front passed, bitterly cold air filled in behind it, leaving the area in wind chill warnings from Monday evening through the end of the day Wednesday. Chilly. Even though the calendar says it's coming soon, Spring seems a long way off.

Blind Dachshund Painter

2013-02-15T19:38:00.001-06:00

Via Facebook friends I came across this lovely little gem - a blind longhaired dashund who paints and sells her paintings with the proceeds going to help one of her local rescue groups. I'm trying to convince John that we should buy a painting. I'm not in to art, but I think this is in a class all by itself. Check it out, it's fun!

http://www.hallieart.com/index.php

Avian Amazonian Ecto and Endo Parasite Research

2013-02-09T20:17:00.000-06:00

What? You heard me. Avian Amazonian Ecto and Endo Parasitie Research. Essentially, researching the different kinds of external (ecto) and internal (endo) parasites in Amazonian birds. Why the heck would I be mentioning this? Do I have avian parasites myself? Well no, though I wouldn't blame you for making such an assumptions, but even if I did this probably wouldn't be the forum for such a revelation.

Alycia was accepted in a grant writing workshop at the University, it's essentially a writers workshop for 6 professors with 6 mentors. But instead of sharing their respective fiction writing with a group of fellow writers, each person is sharing their scientific grant proposal with a group of fellow scientists. The purpose of the group is to improve their grant writing skills and for the next several weeks each group member will read a grant proposal from another Professor in another field.

So this morning when Alycia asked me "Guess what I'm reading?", I was a little taken aback when she said "an Avian Amazonian Ecto and Endo Parasite Research Proposal". A biology professor who specializes in avian parasites had written a grant that the group was reviewing. It made for an interesting discussion and apparently interesting reading too. For this particular proposed study they intended to capture most specimens in a mist net, and the secondary method of specimen collection? Let's just say that shotguns were involved. Yes science and shotguns can go together.

"Excuse Mr. McCaw, I apologize for the nature of my inquiry, but uhhh, do you have worms? Ticks? Other parasites? Please just answer the question, I am armed."

Unbeknownst to many, Big Bird and Hilary Clinton were part of a Blue Ribbon Commission back in the 1990's to study avian parasites, but the Republican majority House buried the bill in committee. Scientific research in the field has never quite recovered. The photo credits (which are actually in the National Archive) didn't disclose who the third person is in the photo, but if I'm not mistaken it is the Speaker of the House at the time Mr. Newt Gingrich.