Repair Scams, Cool Weather

I pulled the afghan up over my knees this morning, and when I opened the patio door to let the kits prowl, I saw why...  The thermometer read 35 degrees.  Yikes!  We've been cool most of this week, and haven't had high temperatures above 65 degrees; the weather folks say, however, that we'll have highs in the 70s during the weekend and back into the 80s next week - Indian Summer is coming.  It will be interesting to see what effect these changes will have on our fall foliage.
  If I heard the news correctly this morning, the nephew of the ebola patient in Dallas called the CDC, himself, because of his doubts regarding the ER treatment his uncle had received.  Thank goodness this young man has a good head on his shoulders, and plenty of common sense!  The last reports I saw stated that 80 people were "under watch" for possible contamination.  I am so grateful that this disease is not air-borne!
  After the huge hail storm in the metropolitan Denver area this week, the scam artists are out in full force.  If you need to have repairs done to your home or vehicle, beware of anyone who comes to your door, offering to do the repairs.  If you don't personally know the person you hire for repairs, check them out through the Better Business Bureau; don't accept a few phone calls from people who supposedly had work done by the individual, or company.  Make sure the people you hire are licensed and legitimate!
   The following photos are of Pearlie Girl, one of the squirrels I feed, and what the squirrels do to deer antlers - if you need a "shiv," give the squirrels an antler, and let them have fun!

Interesting Eye News

Since purchasing new glasses is expensive these days, I've been putting off getting my eyes examined.  I finally broke down because the lenses in my almost 8-year-old spectacles have become very scratched, and I started having trouble reading signs I thought should be easily visible.  It turns out that I have the beginning of cataracts, and both lens of my own eyes are turning yellow.  I also have a few scratches on the cornea of my right eye, and the astigmatism in my right eye has changed dramatically.  The optometrist also dilated my eyes and "whooped" to see that my left eye is connected in an unusual fashion to the optic nerve...  we had a great time just talking...  I need corrective lenses both for reading and for distance viewing, and since I spend about 4 hours each day (sometimes 18 to 20) in front of my PC monitor, I also got the lenses treated for reflecting the light.  So - I had to pay $30 out of pocket for my eye exam; but the new glasses cost $659. Ouch.  At least they are guaranteed for 2 years against any kind of breakage or damage.
   It's been cooler than normal, and once again, I left the house the morning in shorts and a T-shirt, but encountered folks wearing windbreakers, light jackets, sweaters and sweatshirts.  Since it was 60 degrees, and the humidity was 78%, it felt a little cool - but not enough to put layers on.  After walking Rosie for ten minutes this morning, I had sweat running down the sides of my face and the back of my neck... and I was hot, not chilled.  I walked home from my eye exam, and covered the 6 blocks at a snail's pace, but, due to the humidity (it was 73 degrees by then) the back half of my head and hair was soaked in sweat, and I had sweat dripping off my hair and onto my back.  It felt weird.
  Yesterday morning, and again this morning, I stopped and looked at what I can only believe is the scene of some animal's death.  Along one of the roads that I walk daily, the city maintenance changes over to county, and the edges of the asphalt road become cracked and broken.  Along the south side, there is an outgrowth of juniper bushes from behind a wrought iron yard fence - the Waldorf preschoolers call it the "Hobgoblin Bush" and it's one of their favorite areas to visit.  Yesterday morning, I spotted a dinner plate sized puddle of blood about a yard away from the asphalt.  About two feet further away, towards the bush and fence, there was a large smear of blood on the grass.  One could see splashes and drips of blood crossing the road in a very wavering trail, and about four feet from the edge of the other side of the road, was another large smear of blood (again, about the size of a dinner plate).  Besides the spatters and drops on the road, one could make out the paw impressions, in blood, of what (I believe) was a coyote or a medium size dog.  I am still puzzling over what happened.  Was a dog, or coyote, hit by a car?  Was a raccoon or fawn killed by a coyote, or dog?  There was such an amount of blood that I believe the victim was larger than a rabbit - could have been a fox, a large cat, or a small dog.  There was no sign of any fur or pelt, and no feathers, either.  What killed what?  Is a puzzlement.