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Posts Tagged ‘nature’

The Mother Ship

Puttering around the rv I kept hearing a bird chirping close by. When I bent over to get something out of the storage compartment the chirping got louder. Could the bird be in the storage compartment? I shuffled things around but no bird.

We have an insect trap which plugs into the rv next to the storage compartment. I needed the extension cord so I bent down to unplug the trap and the chirping got even louder! Maybe it wasn’t a bird, perhaps it was an insect? I know there is a frog that sounds like a cat so why not an insect that sounds like a bird? I put my ear near the trap. The chirp would be strong then fade. I unhooked the trap and dumped the insects. Hooked the trap back up and still heard the chirping. I was stumped.

Insect trap that really works

Could it be under the rv? I bent lower to look underneath, the chirping got louder but still no bird. I opened up the rest of the storage compartments. Still no bird. I went on about my business of cleaning out the black and grey tanks. Sometimes the bird noise would get softer, sometimes louder, sometimes it seemed to be coming from the tree above us, other times from the woods behind us but most of the time it seemed to be coming from the rv itself. Maybe the sound was coming from the tv inside the rv? I went inside, the television was off. I still heard the bird but a little more muffled. The cats were just laying around nonplussed so definitely not inside. I went back to finish up the outside chores.

Time to fill up the tires. I plugged in the air pump and the chirping got louder. I stood up the chirping faded. I started to hook the inflator to the tire and the chirping got really loud. Could the bird be on the tires? Nope no sign of a bird anywhere. It was then I heard a hissing sound along with the bird sound. The hissing got louder! Now what? These were brand new tires! Could it be the inflator? Nope everything was kosher. I bent down again to check the stems on the tires and the noise got louder. Panic over the tires was creeping over me. We had to leave in two days and not only did we have a bird issue but something was spewing air like there was no tomorrow. Now what?

We have a tire pressure monitoring system that works off our phone. After I filled the tires I reached into my pocket to check the tire app to make sure the tires were not losing air. As I removed the phone from my pocket both the hissing noise and the bird chirp got much louder and much clearer.

Our ring app was open on the phone, the ring video camera is on our front deck at home 608 miles away along with a chirping bird and a huge hissing rain storm.

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Taken at Glacier National Park

I am tired, tired of everyone being offended by everything. We have become so politically correct, so sensitive to each and every comment that we are seriously stunting our own growth. Frankly I’ve given up, If you are offended by something I’ve said, I apologize I don’t mean to be offensive I can’t keep up. Besides I’m beginning to realize if you are offended by something I’ve said, chances are its a ‘you’ problem and not necessarily a ‘me’ problem.

Political correctness is not what this blog is about. So we can all take a collective breath and I’ll keep writing while you keep reading. So what is my point? We should be correcting the things in society that is actually wrong, not perceived to be wrong, not to try to erase or rewrite history. But change the wrongs that we can actually change. Who is with me?

Taken just outside of Yellowstone National Park 2022

In 1870’s Brewster M. Higley wrote, ‘Home on the Range’ to celebrate the beauty of the Great Plains of Smith County, Kansas. Home on the Range was actually a poem which Daniel Kelly set to music.

I’m sure you can all sing along as I type;

“Oh give me a home where the Buffalo roam Where the deer and the antelope play Where seldom is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day”

These lyrics are simply wrong, and nobody seems to care and frankly that offends me. So lets get the record straight. Buffalo are not found naturally anywhere in the USA. Buffalo’s never, ever roamed the plains in Kansas. If you are seeing Buffalo you are either in South Asia watching water buffalo or Africa watching the Cape buffalo. What one finds in the Western states are Bison! But it doesn’t end there my friends, oh no! Antelope don’t live on the Western plains either. Like the Buffalo, Antelope live in Africa. There are people who call the pronghorn an American Antelope but those people are wrong. Pronghorns are the one and only living member of their family. Their closest relatives are goats and antelope but alas the pronghorns are on their own.

Pronghorns in Custer State Park 2021
Custer State Park 2021

So where does that leave us? In keeping with current trend we must eradicate the old song, burn every copy wipe out any existence of poem or song in all its many renditions and rewrite.

Everybody now!

“Oh give me a home where the bison roam and the deer and the pronghorns play. Where seldom is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day”.

Doesn’t take much does it?

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For those paying attention it has now been nine days since the Robins eggs on our front deck have hatched. The eyes have opened, they have found their voices, pin feathers are turning to full fledged feathers. I imagine it won’t be long till we come home to an empty nest. When I first saw the nest I didn’t think they had a chance being where it is. look where we are now.

Day 1

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Day 9

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Five days have passed since the Robin eggs have hatched on our balcony. I honestly did not expect them to make it this long as the nest is very exposed to predators and the elements. But here they are in all their glory.

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We purchased a new living room sofa, and this badboy is huge, plus with the touch of a button each section reclines. There is a battery backup in the case of a black out but we have yet to put a battery in.  Why?  Because it takes two 9 volt batteries, they are 7.99 and we are cheap.  Besides we live in the woods in the middle of almost nowhere what are the chances of a power failure?

So the other day we did not have a power failure and we still don’t have batteries in the recliner because we are still cheap, but I did learn how we would get our lazy butts out of the chair if there was an outage.

My wife was sitting beside me on her side playing a video game on the computer, half asleep with three of the cats piled on top of her.  I’m on my side, playing a computer game on the ole’ Xbox, half asleep with two cats zoned out on my lap.   The dog is outside on her lunge line.  Suddenly I hear the sound of dogs growling.  Sequoia is more than ready to take on any dog that crosses her path.  I didn’t even think.  Pressing the button on the chair would take too much time.  I tossed the Xbox controller and just leaped off the end of the recliner which remained in its reclined position, my wife was hot on my heels. So yes it is possible to leave the electric recliners without power or a battery backup.

As for the dogs?

When I stepped outside Sequoia was nose to nose with a German shepherd and no, not a guy with a heavy accent herding sheep but the four legged dog type.  I’ve got to give the shepherd credit, he stayed just out of reach of Sequoia they could touch noses but that was it.  The dog took one look at me and headed for home. No blood, no wounds, no fuss no muss.  Just like that it was over.

What is the moral of the story?  We don’t need no stinkin’ batteries.

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