These pretty birds paid us a visit after the rain:
Click on the above image to see a mildly amusing YouTube video of their encounter with the pool sweep.
Category: animal
Twister the Parakeet
Quite the singer, but not very social. After his clipped wings grew back, wants nothing to do with us. Likes to fly around the room in circles!
Odd that parakeet Twister’s only english spoken is “What’cha doing?” Similar to Twitter’s “What’s happening?” Are we in cosmic wormhole?
Lizards & an Amphibian
Reptiles on the wall in background.
What Lurks Below
It was seven or eight years ago when I started noticing a depression on the lawn in our back yard. Jumping up and down on it made me think there might be buried treasure.
I took a shovel and cut into the grass around the edge of the depression when suddenly whoosh! The circle of lawn disappeared. It was a sunny day and all I could see was a dark black hole. I must have turned completely white because all I could do for a while was stand there in shock.
That’s why they call it a “yardstick”, right?
Marleigh wants to know what I’m doing down there.
This deep, brick lined hole was the overflow for an ancient septic system. All the bricks were completely clean, with just one dry nasty pipe poking into it from the side.
One time I surprised some visitors by hiding in our “stink hole” and lighting my face with a flashlight when they peeked into it.
We eventually filled it completely with concrete slurry.
WASP ethic
With the rise of modern capitalism and industrial society, the WASP ethic is that we fulfill our duty to God by diligence and hard work.
On another note, this humble creature is living under our backyard sliding board:
Not to scale (except perhaps in one’s imagination).
More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasp
Ahhh … stretchhhhh …
We’re happy to see Thunder, our parakeet, waiting for us when we get home. On the other hand, The Machine also beckons!
This contraption, which I like to call Gravity Machine* (possibly a misnomer), is the best Christmas present ever.
Nothing like sloshing plasma from toes to head and back again. And, speaking of BACK! … feel those discs lift & separate. I’m taller just thinking about it!
*today I’m calling it our Inversion Machine.
Bad Karma for Night Raider
This poor possum was eating tomatoes from our garden moments before running out into the street.
Dead Possum Photo <- rated R (for roadkill)
It makes me sad, and I’ve got to wonder: Where is its spirit right now? Is it with me looking back at it?
Really Wild Pool Party
Those screechings you may have heard last night at 3 AM were coming from our backyard. I ran out there with a flashlight and found a couple of raccoons swimming in the pool. The bright light scared one of them into climbing out and up the fence. The other continued dog paddling in circles nonchalantly in the water. It had sounded like they were fighting with each other. Maybe just having a good time.
By the time I fetched my camera, this one was off into the neighbors yard.
Remember that 1968 Burt Lancaster movie “The Swimmer“?
Lincoln Ct. 
