My petting zoo!

My whole family is an animal family. All of us enjoy animals around. Some of us more than others. Some folks just don't care for pets. I know people who don't believe that animals have any personality. I know animals with more personality than those people! I have sympathy for those people who are allergic to animal dander/fur. They will never be able to understand the pleasure, of sharing your world with a pet.

I have always been more of a cat person than a dog person. I do enjoy dogs, but I seem to connect better with cats. I guess that is why I have allowed my family to accumulate 6 cats. 6 is the limit, and there will be no more than 2 after a few of these 6 pass on. Although that will be several more years, because the oldest of our cats is only about 7 or 8 years. The youngest are still less than a year.

My house is alot like a petting zoo. A small one at least. We currently have two dogs, lab mixes, 3 parrots, all African Grey's, and 6 cats. The birds will likely outlive me and my wife. The oldest, Oscar, is about 28 years old or so. He should live to be about 80 years old. The other two are siblings, of the same hatching. They are about 17 years old. They too should live to see 80 or better. The cats however, are what I wanted to chat about.

Dogs have masters, cats have staff!

That couldn't be more true. I love my cats. All 6 of them. The statement is true, though. When a cat wants something they make it very clear. They will continue to make it clear, until you do something about it. They also, don't come to you when you want them too, the way a dog will obey a command. The cat gets love, when the cat wants love.

All of our pets are rescues of some type or other. Some were picked up from the Pound. Others, were brought to us by people we know looking for a good home, while their circumstances prevented them from having pets any longer. All of the quadraped variety are just your common cats and dogs, with one calico cat, and one Siamese cat for exceptions.

Personality! That's what a cat has. Of the six, we of course have the ring leader. He is the oldest and the wisest of the bunch. He knows how to get them all fed, he knows how to get treats, he alerts the rest to a flock of birds outside. We call that "Kitty Vision." They all sit for hours just watching birds at the feeders outside. And he is the one you will have to move for the best seat in the house.

The next oldest, is Max. He really is Max - size that is. He is about an 18 pounder! That's cool, cause he has the biggest heart too. He is my cat, and I know it! He will cry until I come home from work, always has to be in my lap. Doesn't really like anyone else. He is also the guard kitty. He will growl at the door, if someone comes to the house. Don't beware of dogs, just beware of Max!

Then there is Morgan. All of our cats have names that start with the letter M. Makes it easy to get them confused. Like when your parents were mad a one kid, they would call out everyone elses name before they finally got to yours! My brother and sister know exactly what I mean there!

Morgan is the Siamese cat. Not your typical though. He is all white, with beautiful blue eyes. He is soooo cross eyed it is amazing he can see anything at all. I imagine that is why he is such a mean cat. Morgan loves the laser pointer, and is a cat nip fiend. Give him both and have hours of fun! His white fur is so soft, it is like an angora sweater. Morgan loves to be where his mommy is! He is her baby.

There is Mowgli. She is a loner kitty. Mommy's little "princess." Princess my ass! She is always getting picked on from two of the other cats. Morgan and Misty, like to be mean to her. She likes to be touched only when she wants it. If you try to pet her, she will slink around and avoid it, then run and hide. She is also the climber! She loves to be in the highest place she can find.

Misty, is the calico. She is still less than a year old. She is probably one of the cutest cats I have ever seen. There is just something about her. She loves to play with the other cats. She is also the cat that doesn't mind being picked up, and petted for extended periods. That of course makes her great for the kids. The neatest thing about Misty is the way she walks. Picture a gorilla walking towards you, on its front knuckles. That's the way she walks.

Last but not least is Minnie! Just like Max was max size, Minnie is a wee lass. This is the water cat. She loves to be in the bathroom. The sound of water draws her attention, like a fire siren draws killer bees, (see the movie "Swarm"). If she gets in the bathroom while you're taking a shower, she will stand on the toilet and stick her head in the tub, and watch you shower. When she isn't at the food dish, you can find her on the toilet, or at the sink. Something fascinating about water!

Once you get to know my cats on a first name basis you will fall in love. They can keep you amused for days. The best part of that is that they rarely ask for your interaction to do so. Just find a comfy spot to sit, (you may have to move a cat) and sit back and watch. They are great companions!

Allergy Season Baby!

Pardon me, while I wipe the sneeze spittle off my keyboard! Allergy Season baby! Gotta love it. Really, I do. I seem to only be allergic to a few strains of pollen. This year is particularly bad however. There are a few groves of Globe Willows nearby, I am allergic to their pollens. Here in western Colorado, the Globe Willows, and the "rabbit brush" are the first things to turn green. We have had a nice string of beautiful weather lately. The day time highs are in the 60's or better. Today, I got a touch of sunburn while repairing my dogs chain link kennel. The first, and only burn of the year! It's good to be native!
Allergies are an interesting ailment. I know, and have known people with them all of my life. I was probably about 15 or 16 before my first case of Poison Ivy. I had been taught what it was, what it does, and to avoid it by my grandfather at his retirement home on the reservation. I was about 8 or so then. I didn't listen! I had to learn for myself. I remember secretly touching the plants, in an attempt to catch the dreaded rash. Don't ask me why, I was only 8 and can only speculate what oddity had invaded my thought process. To my dismay, at the time, I failed to react to the oils in the plant. From then on, I thought I was immune. I later learned that the rash associated with poison ivy, was caused by an allergic reaction to the plants oils. I had not yet developed the allergy.
Throughout the remainder of my pre-teens and into young adulthood, I often made bets with friends, to touch the plants. Knowing that I was immune to their oils, as a kid however, I rarely got to collect when I didn't get the rash. It wasn't until I was about 15 or 16, when it finally caught up with me.
My friends and I were at a local swimming hole, Hulberton Quarry, when everyone stepped around a small batch of the plant. Believing that I would never get the dreaded rash, I waltzed right on through it. After a period of a day or two, my calves began to itch tremendously. Upon inspection, I noticed some small red splotches. It wasn't enough, however, to triage what was coming. I had written it off to some mosquito bites or something, (another poison I am relatively immune to.) After another day had passed and the itching and redness hadn't, I asked mom! I showed her the growing rash on my legs. "You have Poison Ivy, Sonny!" she said.
To date, that was the only case of Poison Ivy I have ever had. I learned my lesson quickly. Living in an arid climate, that is something that I don't have to worry about. Poison Ivy, Oak, and Sumac, can't seem to tolerate the dry conditions, therefore, I am safe! I still watch where I am walking, when in the woods. Instead of those irritating plants, we have rattlesnakes, wild hogs, wolves, bears, coyotes, and mountain lions. Although rarely a problem, be aware of their existence!
When I was about 23, I developed my first case of seasonal allergies. At first I thought I had a spring case of the flu. My eyes burned as though I had been up all night at a gentleman's club. My throat was soar, as if I had smoked a whole pack of cigarettes the night before, and my nose ran like Carl Lewis! This went on for about a week. I lived with my cousin at the time, and he was dating the daughter of a doctor. I asked her about it, and she laughed and then gave me some allergy pills. It seems that she had the same problem.
For the past nine years, I have fought a losing battle with pollen. Some seasons are worse than others. This Spring is the worst yet. I have never really encountered the sneezing that is generally associated with allergies. This year however, it seems that I have been inflicted with those symptoms also. I have been sneezing almost non-stop for a few days. My only relief is at work, in Telluride, where there is still enough snow on the ground to keep the trees from blooming, and the snow bunnies on the slopes! I suppose it would help if I took some medicine for that. I just always forget.
Don't let the beautiful weather, and nature pass you by just because you too suffer from seasonal allergies. Take a moment to stop and sneeze on the roses!

Spring time in the Rockies!

Anyone who lives in the Rocky Mountains, or particularly, the areas referred to as "High Desert" are familiar with the spring time weed burning ritual. Well, as it may be, it is time for the Rockies to burn!
I have an interesting situation where I live. I have a small drainage arroyo on the east side of my driveway, that floods with spring thaw runoff. Therefore, I prefer to either burn my weeds in January, before the thaw, or in the late fall. In either case, I have already done my burning. So that there will be no driveway floods.
On the other hand there are folks who like to wait until it gets a little warmer out. I can understand this too, cause I don't like the cold much myself. Although, spring time in the Rockies, does present it's own problems. Anyone who knows about life in the mountains, any mountains, they seem to create their own wind patterns, generally these patterns are predictable. Locally, we watch a peak known as Horsefly Mesa. You can expect daily afternoon winds, with gusts in the gale range, until all the snow has melted from Horsefly Mesa. This is well known here. You can set your watch by it!
Now lets do some basic math problems. I know, it was my favorite subject in school too! NOT! So here we have farmers and a weed burner setting ditches on fire, and known high afternoon winds. You do the math! And they wonder why the Western US is always burning!
Today at work I got an interesting phone call from my wife, who was heading home after work. She called to tell me that the road I usually drive home on was closed. Closed due to a wildfire. No further than a mile from my own home, one of the farmers I had previously mentioned, let his fire get out of hand. As of 5pm Mountain Time, it had already burned over 40 acres. This fire is within a mile of my home. Now, we are not currently in any eminent danger. We have not gotten the reverse 911 call to evacuate yet.
I'm going to use the term now, because my daughter just told me that the fire is growing, and growing closer. I had to check for myself, and she is correct. I still hold to the fact that we are relatively safe. Like I mentioned beforehand, I have already done my burning. Therefore, there isn't much fuel for a fire to feed on close to my house. There is however, fuel close to my garage. This is because my garage is set very close to the property line, and the neighbor hasn't burned yet. There are huge tracts of dead cat tails really close to my garage. That is also where I do my reloading. There could be a problem. I'll wait till the Sheriff tells us to move!

Cutbacks

It seems that everywhere you look, people are making cutbacks. My family is no exception. The cutbacks that we have had to make are a response to those that the companies that my wife and I work for have made.
The company that we work for has posted more than half a million in losses in just the first two months of this year. In response to that, they have to cut costs to prevent further devastation. This is not the only business to report huge first quarter losses already. It seems as though the cutbacks always seem to follow the same general sequence. Most businesses and even families seem to follow the same guidelines. Here, is my vision, of how the sequence goes.

1st - Cut spending. Most people see this as a no brainer. When you don't have coming in, what you have going out, you need to fix the balance. You begin by buying smarter, and stretching your dollar. My family has begun to clip coupons again, finding ways to reuse things one more time, and selling things on ebay, that have been in the closet, attic, or garage for years.

2nd - Cut more spending. This one can also be referred to as reduction. In a business, it generally means "lay-offs" in a home, it is the real cutbacks. Let's look at what we can live without. Reduce the satellite package, reduce cell phone minutes, car pool more often. In some businesses and homes, managers or members look for what they need to spend now, in order to save money later. I have an expensive hobby. Guns! I love going out and shooting anything I can, anytime I can. I have increased the time I need to spend in my hobby, by casting my own bullets. Spend a little money, save a lot, without leaving my hobby behind. We all need those hobbies or this time of cutbacks will leave you living on the funny farm. Find ways to make it cheaper, or take more time. Cause with your hours getting cut, you'll have more time to work in your hobby.

3rd - Cut even more spending. For a business this usually means another wave of lay-offs. Generally followed by a combination of others measures. Some of these being, reduction of or loss of benefits. If you weren't effected by layoffs, then your hours will get cut, or your pay may get cut. Companies will place a "freeze" on payrolls. No new spending! That raise will have to wait. At home, since you can't really reduce your payroll there, you look for other ways to cut spending. Credit cards will now get removed from the wallet or purse, and they get minimum payments, so you have the most cash to use, and don't need to use credit. That retirement plans contribution, gonna happen, but just the bare minimum to keep the account open. This is where grocery shopping gets fun. My wife likes us to eat healthy. We have always bought whole wheat bread. You know $3 a loaf. Last week, we bought 6 loaves of whole wheat bread dough, for the cost of 2 loaves of bread. Time to bake our own. in the past few months, spending on the goodies has been reduced alot. My wife spends more time at the oven though. We gotta have the little extras for lunches, that we pack for work. Can't afford to eat out. Leftovers rule!

4th - Liquidation of anything! Sell everything you can, and get out from under any credit debt that you have. Live on cash! Mostly a household thing there, but businesses will do that just before declaring bankruptcy. Which, I'm not going to list as the last step, but it is. Not much else to explain about it. When you have nothing left to cut, and nothing left to sell. That is what the people do. Some people will do this before anything else, some people will hold out as long as they can.

I see this happening all over. My wife and I have been trying to be proactive about this economy. We started making our cut backs several months ago, before things at our home started getting tight. It does help that I'm "Jewish" anyway.

The thing to remember, the economy is not really effected by any one of us individually. Unless you are Warren Buffet or Bill Gates. There isn't much you can do to help, or hurt the economy. Go on living your life. Enjoy every minute you're alive.

The best advice I can give now, is to take advantage of that lake down the road, or the mountain you wanted to climb since you were 12. They are still there. And being outdoors enjoying what the mother nature has to offer, is generally some of the cheapest entertainment you can get. Not only is it inexpensive, but you can make it romantic, and a fun way to spend time with your kids, without letting them know that your broke! Not to mention. Healthy! Who can afford a doctor now?