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We pay an astronomical amount to have our garbage collected. So when our old, collector supplied, garbage can began to senesce, it was with little sadness that Barbara called and requested an upgrade. Little did we know the adventures that were in store... The new model had a geometry different from the old, and no longer fit our containment system.
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Most of the year this area is infested by peccary (javalina for those who prefer the Spanish name), a small wild pig (for those of you who spent your life confined to metropolitan areas). Look closely behind and under the table. (Not bad for a night shot, eh?) These pests disappear during hunting season (Would you believe people pay to shoot these varmints?), but the remainder of the year they wander around in herds and (they're actually protected by law), terrorizing dogs and other small pets, scavenging for food (acorns, garbage, gardens produce, etc.), and scaring unwary small children and occasionally even Grandmothers who venture outside after dark.
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Now, I don't claim to be a fast learner, but by the third time I was late for work because I had taken the time to reassemble the contents of a topsy-turvy trash can. (Failure to do so would have resulted in wind carried trash [possibly imprinted with my name and address] being deposited in the next state--and possibly further.) I knew something had to be done. The fine specimens in this image were foraging in my driveway in mid-afternoon. Nathen walked completely around them and elicited no more response than the raising of their hackles.
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I finally encountered an unencumbered Saturday which lacked wind/snow/sleet/hail or freezing rain, and after a small amount of effort, a couple of fence posts, some scrap wire fencing, and a bit of welding later, the garbage can problem was solved. Now, if I could just discover a way to post javalina hunters (who were both responsible and competent--assuming such a thing exists) in my backyard for the next six months, perhaps we could preempt this prolonged promenade of pesky peccaries. (Imagine--all this complaining from a person who occasionally laments the fact that he forsook a career in research just to live in a rural environment...)
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Barbara invited our ward missionaries to dinner on a Saturday, and then forgot to remind me about it until the last moment. So... I brewed up a batch of home-made chicken noodle soup--with three foot long noodles. If I ever get the opportunity, I will serve that dish at a formal banquet. I admit to being a bit eccentric, but I think the ensuing scenes would definitely be fodder for the World's Funniest Home Videos. It took persistence and about 40 wraps to get one noodle wound on a fork. Okay, okay--the truth is that Barbara wouldn't actually let me serve that concoction to the missionaries, but it could have happened, and it definitely would have been an experience they would not have soon forgotten...
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With the lack of mobility resulting from her recent surgery, Barbara has been reading a lot lately. Occasionally, She encounters an eyebrow raising passage... Either that, or She has trouble staying awake..
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Braxton offered to host grandmasweb.com on his website. I stopped off and delivered a zip drive onto which I had downloaded the entire website (a feat that took almost 4 hours).
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The result were these images. Brie is growing quickly, and appears to be able to count to one...
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I am definitely ready for Spring! Any questions? By the way, thank you again Symantha, for that ice scraper. I can't offer a ready explanation, but the other morning some unusual combination of temperature, dew point, and relative humidity forced me to stop and scrape the ice off my windshield three times during the first mile of my trip to work. I could have walked faster than that...
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Occasionally there is a bit of excitement at my work. I am rarely involved (that's a good thing...) and was lucky enough to capture a "lift off." I realize the position is essentially that of a glorified bus driver, but sometimes I think I would like to fly one of these...
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Barbara continues to have problems with her teeth. This one began as a cavity being filled at 11:00 which escalated by 4:00 (of the same day) into a root canal with a crown. Shortly after retiring to bed the other night this same tooth broke in half. (She was munching on some Skittles while reading). The part of the tooth on the left had actually broken off below the gum line. The picture on the right shows what little bit of tooth that was left (Just a little bit was above the gum was left to work with). This resulted in having an extraction on Monday, (today) a little more than a week later. Dr. Bunch sure likes us a bunch...
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And, Ameilia, just for you, I'll end with a nature shot... Actually, Barbara took many photos while company was here last weekend but, unfortunately, I had left the camera set on manual focus, and all her shots were blurs. My bad...
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