Even More Snow

Took the little dog out this evening. Was greated by the sight of a stranded car in the middle of the road. The snow drifts were so deep that Kelly had to leap to move forward. I'll try to get pictures tomorrow.

Lots of Snow Today!!!!

We'll we're getting a blizzard today. You know it is bad when the snow is traveling horizontally. The little black dog is quite perturbed that she doesn't have any sunshine to lounge in; unlike her Southern California friends. She just sits forlornly at the door waiting for the sun to return.

Scientific Republican

A new magazine brought to you from the makers of MAD!

Which says basically the same thing as this 2005 cartoon from Tom Tomorrow.

After all, human reproduction is just a theory!

Our new chair

We recently replaced our old futon with a a small sofa and chair. Kelly immediately claimed the sofa as one of her sleeping spots, but ignored the chair until tonight. Out of the blue she jumped up on the chair after being out in the back yard and tracked mud over it.

Online Etiquette

On December 14 David Pogue has a thoughtful blog entry (may require NYT registration) which ponders the lack of civility in cyberspace discussions. What struck him hardest is the level of hostility directed to complete strangers.

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

We visited the Audubon's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary near Naples Florida. Its contains the largest stand of ancient bald cypress left in North America.

Many of the trees hosted epiphytes. I learned that they aren't parasites, but take nutrients from falling organic debris.

This guy is a southeastern Lubber grasshopper. I'm told they don't fly but instead smell bad to ward off predators.

We also saw lots of Kelly's nemesis, the Gray Squirrel.

Florida Everglades

Bald Cypress knees.

American Alligator. These guys were all over the place. The longest we saw was around 10 feet. This guy let me get pretty close - I was still in a car, thankfully I have an adequate zoom on my camera.

Unidentified bird mucking about the swamp.

These guys can move fast when they want to.

Rabbit Mountain

Today we went for a hike at Rabbit Mountain. Didn't see any rabbits, but saw a Red Fox and heard Coyotes calling. Most of the snow had melted, turning the trail into a soup of sticky mud. We had a very dirty dog by the time we got back to the car.

A very tired little black doggie back at home with a full tummy.

Squirrels are the enemy

It has warmed up considerably the last few days and the squirrels have come out to forage. The little black dog was beside herself on our walk, trying to climb trees and fences to get at the enemy.

Snowshoeing w/ Kelly

A couple weekends ago we all went up to the Indian Peaks Wilderness for an afternoon of snowshoeing. Kelly immediately took to the snow. The cold didn't phase her a bit.

When we got back to the car she slept all the way home.


It was great how her feet spread out like four mini snowshoes.

When the snow got crusty, she'd dig in with her claws - making natural crampons.