A Room With a View

Working from home has brought a difference I hadn’t really appreciated before I made the move: new co-workers. Meet Lexi, Rocki (above), and Lucy (below, who is usually being this ridiculous when she's not sleeping).

I have to say, they are not as industrious or helpful as my previous colleagues have been. However, they are entertaining and they don’t mind if I talk to myself. And they are completely supportive of any decisions I make. Especially if it involves food.

Once difference I was looking forward to was not staring at the wall of a cubicle all day. My office has two windows that look out onto greenery in every direction. The amount of wildlife continually parading before me is astonishing.

Coming from California and Arizona before my move to the Midwest, I’m used to a much more limited range of wildlife. I grew up surrounded by orange groves so we had gophers and lizards and some birds. We could hear coyotes wailing their hearts out at night.

In Arizona I had a roadrunner perch on my backyard wall.

Photo credit: Jennifer Vander Klipp

But with the heat of the day, most wildlife stayed out of sight.

So I was delighted to find that a momma robin was building her nest right outside my office window on a little stub of a branch. I watched her fly in and out with bits of twigs and plant matter. She’d tuck it in with her beak and then stomp around in a circle, treading it in place until the nest took shape. And then she was off for more.

Photo credit: Jennifer Vander Klipp

You can see how her coloring perfectly disguises her when she’s sitting in her nest. You can barely see the red breast and the only other color is in her beak.

My coworkers were utterly fascinated. They were perfectly still all day, only their heads swiveling as Momma flew in and out.

I know nothing about robins so I did what all good researchers do and Googled them. This was how I knew when Momma settled into the nest and didn’t move that she was laying her eggs. At this point, we had to be careful. If the light was right, she could see movement in my office and would fly off. I didn’t want her to be scared away so I started approaching my office with care, moving slowly.

But I had one frustration. (To be continued…)

But I had one frustration. (To Be Continued…)

I thought this was supposed to be a vacation!

The kids and I are taking a break from the cold Midwest and spending it in sunny California with my parents. And our dogs.

Apparently nobody told the raccoons and skunks that treat my parents' back yard as the wildlife superhighway to the neighbors' cat food and hot tub. While there wasn't much to snack on in our back yard, the neighbors had treats aplenty. And two dogs now hanging out back there was cramping the style of the neighborhood wildlife.

After a couple of close calls that smelled up the yard, our black lab Charlie finally got a faceful of skunk spray. It was bad enough to make him throw up. My eyes were watering inside the house with the doors shut. That stuff is awful!

So of course my first reaction was to go on Facebook and update my status to ask for help. My good friend Tammy (from high school!) gave me the following recipe:

http://dogs.about.com/od/caringfordogsandpuppies/ht/deskunking.htm

Let me tell you, it works. It was hard to tell at first because the whole yard smelled, but when we put him in the garage for the night, he was the best smelling thing around. So if your dog gets sprayed by a skunk, don't use tomato juice. Use the peroxide/baking soda recipe.

Since we haven't heard from (or smelled) the skunks since, I'm hoping that was the final battle of the back yard.

Wonder what the raccoons have planned.

Battle of the Species

Whenever I need a humor break, I Can Has Cheezeburger is the place to go. Especially if you think cats are the perfect evidence that God has a sense of humor.

So when I stumbled across this picture, I had to share.


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Especially since I had taken this one some time ago.



So you choose. Who really invented the dark side?