Thursday, July 24th, 2008
We had to wake up extra early today because of a few chores that needed doing. The first thing was to drive Holly to the vet. She has been there a few times since we arrived in this part of the world. Apparently, she got some wound on her tail that needed tending to. She went in this morning to get a little operation, but when the vet looked at the tail, she decided not to go ahead with it. She thought it would heal by itself. That’s good for Holly and good for the wallet.
After that, we ran up to Super Stop and Shop in Glastonbury for some food shopping. Laura’s family is stopping by for a visit in a few weeks and that is going to require an entire Costco ordeal. In the meantime, the local food store is good enough to hold us over.
I stepped on the scale yesterday and noticed that I weigh 190lbs. I am not sure what the ideal weight for a strapping 6′3″ genious is, but I feel like I am five pounds overweight. I am really going to have to hit that indoor tennis center in East Hartford soon. After all, that is about 90% of the reason I wanted to move over here. It’s the little things with me. I am serious about the tennis though.
Since I am waiting for the cooler weather to come to join the tennis club, and possibly because Laura thinks I am getting fat, we decided to go for a nice long walk down the road today.
In general, I usually have no complaints about walking down the road, except for the hill. The hill is where I usually begin to sweat and I hate that. The reason I hate sweating on the walk up the hill is because I cool off on the way down the hill and that usually means another shower for the day. If you are anything like me, you understand multiple showers per day during the Summer.
I thought we could beat the sweating today because it is cooler than it has been lately. Unfortunately, with all the rain, it is also very humid. I didn’t beat the sweating. Either way, I did take some nice nature pictures along the way.
Road approaching the hill.
Larger river down the road.
Same river at the other side of the street.
Related posts
Posted in Environment | No Comments »
Monday, June 23rd, 2008
Top Scientist: Put Oil Firm Chiefs on Trial for High Crimes
James Hansen, one of the world’s leading climate scientists, will today call for the chief executives of large fossil fuel companies to be put on trial for high crimes against humanity and nature, accusing them of actively spreading doubt about global warming in the same way that tobacco companies blurred the links between smoking and cancer.
Are Artificial Reefs Good for the Environment?
It sounds like a great idea. Sink an old fleet of subway cars in the ocean. Plants & invertebrates will colonize the hulking structure. Fish will migrate there & reproduce. And before long, the replenished ecosystem thats great for recreational fishing & diving. But some scientists aren’t so sure they replenish the ecosystem.
NASA Climatologist: “Almost Too Late to Stop Global Warming”
On Monday, NASA climatologist Dr.James Hansen will testify at a House committee hearing that it is almost, but not quite, too late to start defusing what he calls the “global warming time bomb.” He will offer a plan for cuts in emissions and also a warning about the risks of further inaction.
Is the ‘Oil Drilling Debate’ Masking the Real Issue?
Should we be focusing on making oil cheap or should we focus on making it obsolete? Of course in an ideal world, gas would be cheap and increasingly obsolete. We don’t live in an ideal world. By focusing on unrealistic “quick fix” solutions, are we just scraping ourselves up a little more time to keep avoiding the real issue?
Germany ‘is world’s greenest country’
Germany has been labelled the world’s greenest country after it cut its energy use by more than any other state in 2007.
Related posts
Posted in Current Events, Environment | No Comments »
Sunday, May 25th, 2008
There are actually two different bird nests under the back porch. I look at them almost every time I walk by. The parent birds like to whiz by my head to scare the heck out of me. Actually, I am just writing that for entertainment, I really don’t get scared by birds, even if they are whizzing by my head. Now, Crows on the other hand are scary. When there are hundreds of them all screaming at the same time, it’s a little freaky.
I took a nice picture of the birds living under the porch this morning. Tell me if you like it.
That’s an up-close nature shot. I kept thinking the momma bird was going to dive bomb me from behind, but it never happened. I wouldn’t have been scared if it had.
Just a few weeks ago, these little birds were much smaller. I could hardly even see their heads. One time I saw all of the beaks wide open, sticking straight up in the air. I said to them, “No little birdies, I don’t have any worms for you” and I walked away.
That’s a “Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey” line if I ever saw one.
Related posts
Posted in Animals, General | No Comments »
Monday, January 7th, 2008
Today was an awesome day. It was one of those days that makes it worth it to live in the Northeast. It was 60 degrees today. Weather.com said it was only 57 outside, but my thermometer said it was 60, and that was in the shade.
I had a bunch of things to do today. One of them was to pick up the rest of the sheetrock that was laying at the end of the driveway under some black plastic. I had about two garbage cans worth.
When I first went outside, I was in a short sleeve shirt. I was working away, breaking up the sheetrock, putting it into the garbage cans. I was working so hard, I started to sweat. Because of this, I had to take my short off. Some cars drove by and were probably wondering what the weird guy was doing in the driveway with no shirt on. Whatever. I think I am the only guy in the neighborhood who takes his shirt off when working outside. I think we moved into a conservative area.
It was so nice outside, I thought it would be a nice idea to share a short walk in the woods with my faithful viewers. Now, this is not an exciting walk, but you do get to see what the woods in back of our house look like and you get to hear my voice. So here goes…
Related posts
Posted in Hiking, Winter | No Comments »
Sunday, October 7th, 2007
Although I have been noticing a lot more color in the trees around here, I would have to say that for October 7, it’s still pretty green.
I ran down to Home Depot this morning to return a dying Boxwood and White Pine. Just in case you were curious, I traded them for three nice China Girl Hollys. Since I am planting them late in the season, I hope they don’t have the same fate as last year’s Hollys. Anyway, during the trip to the store, I noticed a lot of leaves falling on this back road that I like to take. I pulled over and took a picture. Then the camera went dead. Good thing I got a pic.
Oh, and just in case you were curious, the winter damaged Holly from last year did grow new leaves this year. Here is a photo…
There isn’t much new growth, but there are leaves. Maybe next season there will be new growth.
Below is a photo of a new China Girl Holly that I just got today. See the new sprouts up on top? That’s what I like to see. Even my Boxwoods are sprouting with new growth. I guess they do that late in the season.
Related posts
Posted in Autumn, Gardening, Landscaping, Trees & Shrubs | 1 Comment »
Saturday, October 6th, 2007
It has been a very dry Autumn. It has rained only once in as long as I can remember. My memory isn’t that great though. The one time it did rain was a heavy downpour for a few minutes. You know, the kind of rain that rolls right off the hard dirt?
I have been out watering each night, trying to keep my young trees from drooping. I like them fresh looking. Now, if I can just keep those annoying hungry deer away from the bottom branches, I will be set.
Anyway, I wanted to show you a nice Red Maple in the front yard. It’s strange…usually, the leaves just change color and drop. This year, because it’s so dry, some leaves actually are getting crunchy right on the branches and then dropping. Weird. It better rain soon. Here is the photo…
The leaves around here are very pretty right now. I would say they are in the first half. I have seen very few trees with all their leaves down.
Related posts
Posted in Autumn, Trees & Shrubs | No Comments »
