A Grey Morning

It's grey and overcast outside at the moment - and we have a better than 50% chance of rain this afternoon.  I hope the rain happens, but without any lightning.  My kits are out playing in the back yard; and I'm getting ready to go to the Erie Farmer's Market.  My friend Nancy is the percissionist in a folk/rock band and they are on stage from 10 until noon today - I can't wait to hear them.  I've already fed and walked Rosie and Remy, and Barndi; I've fed and watered and cleaned potty boxes for Patches and Phoenix, and Sasquatch and Tugger.  This afternoon I have to check on Twister and Tinkerbell and gather the hens' eggs... 
   With the dampness in the air, I don't smell smoke for the first time in a week.  The High Park fire has spread to 54,230 acres, and is now about 20% contained.  It has cost over $9.1 million to fight this fire and protecet homes so far.  And the homes lost count has now been revised - back to above 100 homes; 112 to be exact.

The homes lost include: one each in Solider Canyon, Cloudy Pass and Picnic Rock; five in Pine Acres; 21 in Stratton Park; 17 in Poudre Canyon; three in Spring Valley; one on Old Flowers Road; 40 in Whale Rock, 12 in Paradise Park, two in Tip Top; and seven in Rist Canyon. I really feel for those folks and their families and pets...  It is such a beautiful area.  And it's sad that nature decided to clear out the understory with a wildfire ...
    Since Native Americans didn't really pay that much attention to the dates that white settlers used, I'm really not sure how historians can say this, but (supposedly) in 1829 today, the well-known Apache warrior Geronimo was born near the Gila River in New Mexico.  Of course, that area is also having terrible wildfire difficulties at this time.
    I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Odds and Ends on My Mind

My neighbor who caused me to remove my bird feeders received a fright from me yesterday evening... It was just after 6 and NBC was wrapping up their coverage of the Masters, when a smoke alarm started going off in a nearby apartment. (The last time one went off in the middle of the night, I called the fire department and ended up being laughed at by the apartment manager...) I had turned off the TV volume to try to locate the source of the sound, when I heard the next-door neighbor's patio door open. My curtains were drawn, but I had about a 2-inch viewing crack of my patio. The neighbor walked out and appeared at the wall between our places, where she took several swallows of iced tea; after looking around , she suddenly took 6 giant steps and pressed her nose up against my window screen, and I could hear her sniffing. I suddenly said, "We're not on fire." She dropped her glass of tea, which shattered on my patio. "And I hope that you will be good enough to clean up your mess on my patio, " I said. She disappeared like a startled rabbit - and at 8 p.m. I finally went out and cleaned up the broken glass she had left behind. Nosy neighbors! Grrrrrrr!!

I have enjoyed luxuriating in the kits love and company these past 36 hours - they have been super companions. ... The Bloodhorse has an excellent write-up on Forego on their site (see: http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/horse-racing-steve-haskin/archive/2009/06/21/the-mighty-forego.aspx ) - and I love reading about him because he was our stallion's Uncle down at Sleepy Hollow in Micanopy. ... Sailor's Cap necropsy has come in: probable cardiac arrest from colitis-X, which can be caused by a number of things, including salmonella and plain old stress. ... And, for the first time since 1919, Colorado has a documented wolverine living in-state. It's a young male, who has ambled down to the western slope from Yellowstone... he's one of a group of 15 radio-collared wolverines in a study there. In his travels he has successfully crossed several interstate highways. I'd love to be able to get a glimpse of him!

And finally, the United States of America is trying to get a lawsuit against them dropped. The case has been brought by 20 descendants of Geronimo, the famous Apache chief. He died in 1909 and was buried in Fort Sill, Oklahoma; family members wish to re-bury him in Arizona. According to lore and legend, and now supported by a letter written in 1918, a member (or members) of Yale University's Skull and Bones Society took parts of Geronimo's skeleton from the grave and they are reported to be in the Society's headquarters in Connecticut. The Skull and Bones Society was established in 1832 as an anti-Masonic group and usually initiates 15 freshmen from Yale each year - these people being the rich and powerful creme de la creme of society. Members have included President Taft, President George H. W. Bush, President George W. Bush, and Senator John Kerry... New initiates have to kiss a skull, reputed to be Geronimo's... Personally, I hope the Apache are able to proceed with the trial, and that they win it. Geronimo's bones - all of them - should be re-interred together in a final, peaceful resting place.