Exciting News!

 

An excerpt of my novel is featured in the Penmen Review.

It's July

 Warm enough for Malcom to be outside.

The harvest is going strong: squash and peas and beans, tomatoes soon.  

We've had some nice wild mulberries and raspberries and blackberries this year.  Now the boysenberries are getting ripe!

Of course, there is still mowing to be done in summer.  

It's hot and hilly but the groundskeeper is unafraid.

GWEN

Ever hear of the G W E N system?  Those tower things that emit a low frequency sound?  They were purportedly set up in 1982 to communicate with those remaining after a nuclear attack or something else terrible.  You know, just in case.  Survivors would need to, you know, be informed.

But isn't it running all the time?  Wouldn't it HAVE to be?  You know, you never know when a big terrible will come.

Two attempts to post a picture of a GWEN Tower were thwarted....by whom....and why?

Anyway.  There is one of these things not far from the Bad Dog Ranch.  A scant forty miles away, it is constantly sending messages.

GWEN is perpetually beaming.  

And now it is violently present at my front window!  A local sparrow has been literally attacking the windows of my home for over a week.  He flies to the window, pecks at the glass, all while peering in with a wild light in his eyes.

Here's a picture of a sparrow taken a couple years ago.  

Of course, who's to say the crazed GWEN sparrow isn't a descendant of this seemingly innocent sane sparrow?  But I digress.

The bird should be focused on raising a brood, not bashing his beak against a living room window.  

Who's to say those mysterious ever-present frequencies haven't driven him mad?

Seems to me, you don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to find this whole thing unnerving.  

I don't know about this GWEN theory of hers.                  One thing's for sure, that bird is wacko.

Meanwhile in the Garden

 The two strawberry plants I put in last year are now about twenty.  Not wanting to share with the many birds and assorted omnivores around here, I encircled the strawberry patch with chicken wire.

Then I saw a baby bunny in the strawberry patch!

I let him off with a warning.

As for the potato bugs- 

no leniency.

A Spring in His Step

Early spring was, well, eventful.

The Handsome One had been having some troubling symptoms.  Eventually it was discovered that his aortic valve was not working properly.  Thus, they opened up his chest and put in a nice sturdy cow valve.

Some two months later, he is feeling better but is also feeling a bit antsy.  

Here he is doing some cardio rehab.

.

He wants to get back to pumping iron.  His pecs took quite a hit.

Spring is in the Air

Well, springish.  It is snowing right now.  March is what you might call a diverse month.

Still, birds are whooping it up out there.

  Soon there will be youngsters and green grass.  

'Tis a time to ponder...

The Perils of Updating

 Rant Alert!

I got a new email address.  Therefore, I have been updating it in various places.

  

You'd think this would not be a big deal.  It is though.

Some places just won't allow you to go to their site, find your personal information and edit your email.  So then, you must call.

Calling any business these days requires a major time commitment.  It starts with the heartless computer voice that answers the phone and asks you for information about who you are and what right you have to be calling at all.  Ten minutes later, you're done with that and find yourself on hold.  

Maybe five, maybe forty-five minutes later a human being answers.  They ask you the same questions the computer voice did.  You know, just to verify.  

You tell them you want to change your email.  They tell you they can't do that.  You ask why.  They say something vague, or their accent is so thick you are not quite sure what they said.  You are transferred to someone else.  You ask them if they can help you change your email.  They won't answer until you give them the same information you gave the computer voice and the first person you spoke to...  

Then there's updating your email for your blog.  Stupid technophobe that I am; I did it wrong.  Thinking I'm changing the email a "new improved format" appeared and the blog is gone.  It's a whole new account, a clean slate.  If I hadn't failed to erase my old email or account or whatever, I would not be typing this rant.

For crying out loud, I just thought it was a good idea to update my email.  

Meanwhile, at Bad Dog Ranch

Deer Season is Over

Don't get me wrong, I love the taste of venison but unless we slide into an apocalypse scenario, I am not likely to eat any of the deer that live in my nice big backyard.  

However, many of my neighbors hunt.  Therefore, during hunting season, I wear an orange vest when I walk my dogs.

                         She's wearing that vest again.                            She's so silly.                                

Those dogs have no idea how dangerous it is out here!

Michigan Deer Season:

July 15 – Aug. 15: Antlerless deer hunting access permit application period (mid-U.P. DMUs only)
July 15 – Aug. 15: Reserved deer hunt permit application period

• Liberty hunt: Sept. 14 – 15, 2024      
• Early antlerless firearm: Sept. 21 – 22, 2024
• Independence hunt: Oct. 19 – 22, 2023  
• Archery: Oct. 1 – Nov. 14 and Dec. 1 – Jan. 1, 2023
• Regular firearm: Nov. 15 – 30, 2023
• Muzzleloading (Zones 1, 2 and 3): Dec. 1 – 10, 2023
• Late antlerless firearm: Dec. 11, 2023 – Jan. 1, 2024
• 
  

It's a bit safer now, I think.

Yeah, but we ate all the apples off the apple tree...

It's not easy being a deer.