Vehicles and Accidents

I arranged to have today off, so I could sleep in this morning.  Then I received a phone call at 9:30 yesterday evening, asking if I could take a client to the Denver International Airport, leaving at 5:30 this morning.  Since said client would let me use their car through 14 December, I said yes.  So I was up at 5 this morning, downstairs at 5:28, waiting for the 5:30 pick-up, which occurred at 5:52.  The client then drove like mad to DIA  on the tolled Parkway.  I was back home by 7:30 and back in bed.  But my cell phone rang at 9, and it was the client who just wanted me to know that they had left a suitcase at their house....  Hunh?  They didn't want it sent to them, they would get another suitcase where they were - but they just wanted me to know....  I'm still not certain why they called and told me this.
     The same client lost a car Sunday night.  The "children" (male and female in their mid- to late-20s) were home for Thanksgiving, and had left the house together, with both dogs, to go visit friends.  A huge mule deer doe bounded onto the road in front of them, while they were driving at 50 mph - this was at 6 p.m. and it was completely dark; no street lights.  The doe was killed; the car, a Toyota Prius, made a full double roll-over, and luckily came to rest on it's wheels.  The Prius is a total loss - all the windows shattered, and the roof crushed.  The worst thing was that beside the two people and two dogs in the car, they were transporting 24 quart Mason jars fir canning (which, of course, are glass).  The kids were bumped and bruised, and the young man had a small glass cut in the middle of his forehead.  The dog who had been in the rear compartment with the Mason jars, was bounced into the back seat, and bruised.  The younger puppy was in the daughter's arms - and she had  a cut and three very sore legs.  The daughter, while receiving no cuts, was stiff and bracing to protect the puppy, and she has a lot of pain and stiffness, but no broken bones.  What seems crazy is that most of the broken glass ended in the daughter's seat, under her bottom, but she wasn't cut at all....

Fawn Rescue, Dog Days, Missing Hiker & Gettysburg

Today is the first of the "Dog Days" of summer, with the star Sirius being seen with the sunrise each day.  Today is also the 150th anniversary of the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg; in those three days, there were a combined 57,225 men declared dead, wounded, or missing in action.  General Lee lost fully one-third of his officers during the battle in this tiny town.  On July 4, 150 years ago, there was a heavy rain in Pennsylvania, and both armies finally began to retreat.
   The search for the 61-year-old brother of Senator Mark Udall is intensifying in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming.  Randy Udall, who has hiked in the area for over 30 years, was due back a week ago; but has not been heard from.  Search teams are looking for him from the air, on foot, and on horse-back.
   The wildfires are still burning here and throughout the southwest.  Seeing a hazy sky is beginning to seem normal, due to all of the smoke and particulates in the air.
   I got off the bus at Riverside Avenue this morning, and neither saw nor heard anything amiss.  I walked past the construction site at Tara High School, walked on down to Redwood, and went inside a house to care for Tugger and Sasquatch.  After spending an hour feeding, medicating, grooming, and playing with the boys, I walked back to Riverside to grab Rosie for our daily walk.  As I was preparing to cross 19th Street, a doe with a pair of fawns nearly knocked me down, trying to evade traffic.  I crossed, and as I was approaching the corner (where Tara HS sits), I kept hearing a repeated high-pitched cry.  It sounded as if something were in pain, or was terribly scared, or both.  I walked quietly on, and saw a doe on the outside of the 7-foot-tall chain link construction site fence, and a fawn inside the fence.  The fawn kept running into the fence to get back with its' mother.  Both gates to the fence were wired shut - I have absolutely no idea how the fawn got inside the fence, but I knew it hadn't been there when I had arrived earlier.  I used my hands and untwisted the wires holding both gates closed; then I opened both gates to their fullest extent.  I walked around the building and approached the fawn - it started to run away, toward the open gates.  Then my brother-in-law ran by, with Boo the Samoyed; mother deer was not happy and charged at them, and as that happened, the fawn ran into the fence again, rebounded against me, and went back around the building.  I waved Jim on, then went across the street and asked a woman who had just parked her car to help me - she, in turn, recruited a runner in a red, white and blue shorts and tank top outfit.  Between us, we finally got the fawn out of the fence, and back with the doe.  I want to thank Melina, a teacher at the Waldorf PreSchool, and the runner, for their help.  I closed the gates back, walked Rosie and did the rest of my usual morning work routine.  - Even though it all occurred a little later than normal.

Warm, Warm, Warm!

Lovey is laying between my chest and the keyboard, so I'm having to reach over and/or around her to type.  I could make her move, but I'd rather be close and uncomfortable than chase her away.  Besides my kits, and Rosie, Courtney the goldfish, and the bunnies Chocolate and Blackberry, I add Sasquatch and Tugger to the mix today.  Luckily, Rosie's people and Paulina will both be back tomorrow evening, so I'll be back at home, with twice a day runs to the Redwood brothers (Tugger and Sasquatch).   Next Saturday and Sunday morning, I'm free and clear - then I add Tugger and Sasquatch (again), Maggie May and then Tinkerbell, while watering flowers for another client from now until July 4...
   I wouldn't say that we are having a problem with mother deer here in Boulder, but some folks would.  A young mother, who has an injured hind leg has a new set of twins, whom she usually leaves in a yard on Agate Road.  It's a high traffic area for people who walk, jog, run, and ride bicycles.  It's also a high traffic area for people who walk dogs.  This young mother is very protective of her babies - she will make a stand to keep them safe.  The other day, she attacked a dog (on a leash) who got too close - the lady, who had been talking on her cell phone and not looking around for wildlife, dropped the leash, and the dog ran for the doe.  The doe knocked it over and walked on it, which terrified the owner.  The owner of the house went out and frightened the deer away.  The dog and the woman were unhurt.  But this has caused an uproar in the neighborhood...  and I am not happy with the folks who ignore the law and allow their dogs to roam loose, either.  I am firmly on the side of the deer.  I believe that the woman was at fault for not really taking in/seeing her surroundings...
   Wildfires in Colorado continue to pop up, thanks to lightning, sparks from train wheels on tracks, and idiotic people.Yes, we had snow in April and May, and ran in May.  However, we are still in an extreme drought condition.  The Black Forest wildfire, while contained, has now had the homes destroyed count upped to 511.  The West Fork Complex fire (which has three fires - West Fork, Papoose, and Windy Pass) has now burned over 40,000 acres (or 62.5 square miles) and is still not contained in any way.  The East Peak fire has burned 10,000 acres and 9 homes, and has no containment. The Wild Rose fire, near Rangely, is at 850 acres and is 10% contained. The Lime Gulch fire is up to 600 acres and is 15% contained.  The Rife Gap fire has 0 containment and is estimated at 300 acres. The Bull Gulch fire, northeast of Cotopaxi, is 30% contained.  The Disappointment wildfire has been extinguished.  The Wild-Hacking Complex fire is 15% contained.  The Collins fire, 17 miles southwest of Meeker is uncontained, as are the two fires in northern Eagle County, The Derby Creek and the Brush Creek fires....  With high temperatures, no rain, and winds expected for the next week, I'll just cross my fingers, as usual.

Critters

This momma duck has at least one nest of babies each year at the Canberra Memorial for War Dead

Two buddies in a China zoo - a doe and a ram

Snowy owls at a zoo in Gemany - the one on the right looks the way I feel this morning, slightly goofy