Our local station has TWO stories in the state about hikers finding human bones yesterday, one on the shore at Point Defiance, in a sleeping bag, one deep in the Gorge…sheesh. What a morning. Spring has sprung, and hikers are out—but it’s snowing right now.
And, be it noted, two of the koi came out to have a look this morning—so they were NOT done in by the malfunctioning heater. Hurrah!
i did get my new keyboard. I’m going to look into replacing it today. That will be a relief.
Still wild, you say? Those bears and cougars and such aren’t all fluffy bunnies? They might not be too picky about inviting me out to eat…as the main course? Golly!
Heh. City folk, me included, tend to forget the world is not neatly prepackaged for their convenience. At least I have the benefit of growing up a little exposed to the real outdoors, but I’m not fool enough (I’d like to think) to discount the risk in going it alone, or without more experienced outdoor survival and orienteering companions. Likewise some basic first aid and marksmanship.
I recall at least one scifi book wherein the authors thought one way to test new recruits, including teen ship-folk, was to toss ’em out planetside, nekkid and unarmed. Not saying I’d prefer or condone that, since (hah) not sure how I’d do either, but it would sure cut down on the whiners! …Just seems a bit drastic. Then again, it solves overcrowding, somewhat….
For that matter, I got a lesson this morning in how even those nice, tame house-critters are not really so tame. The year-old cat, who was a rescue from the streets, the previous winter, decided to get too big for his britches this morning, while briefly outside. Over-excited, lots of new smells and stimuli, little rotter *hissed* at me more than once and *bang*, was either trying to play or fight, out of too much excitement. Seemed to have his wires crossed. After a bit, he calmed down, got him back in, and he had one more fit of temper before settling down. He got soundly scolded (I used “the voice”) and got the cold shoulder. This seems to have had the desired effect, for now. But I’ll discuss it with my vet. — I don’t think this is any more than bad/inappropriate behavior, maybe some holdover from being a feral kitten out on the streets. Know he didn’t have contact with another cat while out there, other than my other cat, whom he’s with all the time. But I’ll be watching and won’t let him get away with things so easily. Little guy’s got to learn he’s not “all that,” and can’t act like that toward me or the other cat, but (key) that he is still loved and still expected to be his usual bouncy self. — Uh, he’s also scheduled to go in this week to get fixed. I’m male, so I can sympathize, but I don’t want to risk him getting out and getting hurt or sick, spraying, or other things. — And yes, I’ll be on the lookout for mood swings. This was uncharacteristic. He’s only had one other incident, which was when the neighbor’s dog barked while he (the young cat) was already over-excited. That, I scolded him, but felt it was understandable; he was startled. — Methinks I am dealing with a young and excitable cat, more than, say, a bad-tempered or ingrate/uncouth lad such as ker Py’s son and daughter. Huh, whereas the older cat (at 4) is much more…hmm, he’s even milder than na Hallan, na Khym, or na Kohan.
Cats have kind of a ‘situational’ memory. Take them back someplace they visited, oh, 3 years ago, and they’ll check out a bunch of spots they remember. Probably your poor guy thought he was being returned to the cold cruel world and all the fear and loathing of that place came back to him—for a second, you probably weren’t even IN his memory, then were, and the poor baby got confused and had no place to put that adrenaline rush. I don’t think I’d ever let him go back to that life.
BlueCatShip, would that be Alexi Pandin? (Probably misspelled. One of the books my dad gave me to read as a teen.)
Yep, Alexei Panshin, Rite of Passage. I read it in HS as part of an paper I wrote about Heinlein for my AP English class. Whereas other people were writing about Dickens or Ovid, I had to be different 😛
As one wag put it, the best Heinlein-juvenile not by Heinlein. 🙂
Kind of reminds me when Banichi scolded Bren for drinking the Dowager’s tea in Foreigner. Banichi said something along the lines of not all food comes in plastic packages.
Too many people have lost their respect for Mother Nature. We live in homes with furnaces, air conditioners, clean water from the faucet, flush toilets and screened windows that keep the bugs out. We go to the zoo, and we watch animals who are separated from us by mostly hidden barriers. So when they travel to truly wild places, some people have no idea of what they’re really up against. They forget that Mother Nature always wins.
I so treasure my summers (and couple of winter-sessions) at camp, sleeping in tents, learning to id plants, what you can eat in the ‘bush’, how to boil water [for safety], how to build an emergency shelter, splint a limb, send an sos and find civilization if you are really sincerely lost [hint: streams flow downhill, and often lead to people including fishermen, for starters]—I mean, our camp was right by an Army base, and our counselors including a person with a background in survival training. We didn’t have ‘programs’ beyond a craft session, woodcraft hikes [which I often as not led, as a senior camper], and archery: the rest of the time you either did chores maintaining the grounds and premises, did kp, or just sat on the streamside contemplating the water and glad you had an hour to sit.
I love camping, but don’t get to go as often as my daughter wants s’mores – so we have campfires in the back yard. While I still like toasted marshmallows, I’m just not as fond of sweets as I once was. I have discovered a delightful toasting substitute: chunks of stew meat. They are absolutely delicious just plain and fire-toasted (provided you like rare, that is). Call it ultra-basic shishkebab.
Yes, Rites of Passage by Alexi (-ei?) Panshin, neat book. I may have to read it a third time. :). I’m probably also thinking of Heinlein’s Tunnel in the Sky, where the young hero and other young people are dropped as first-ins on a planet and make do amid strange creatures and their own fears.
My cat, Smokey: not sure how much is old fear-memories and how much is excitement (“Oh boy, I’m in the back yard, so much to be curious about!”) — It could be many things, all mixed together. I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt. He’s young, a sweet but very alpha cat, and heck, I could never dump him like someone dumped his mama. He was a rescue-gift from a friend, arrived tiny, half-starved, half-frozen, terrified of the giant monsters. He can learn. 🙂 I just might need to learn too.
I miss getting to go to the country each summer, along back country roads, hiking, seeing pioneer villages, wildflowers, whatever suited us. Mother Nature is a tough woman, but you can learn to live *with* instead of against her.
Which koi have you seen out & about so far? Ari?
I have seen Ari, Ishida, Renji (you’d know he’d be nosing about), and I think maybe Amy. They aren’t having anything to do with any approach to the pond, so they’re hard to id: the water is pea soup, despite our attempts to keep the chemistry going.
When the water gets to 50 degrees I’ll set up a pot filter (bucket with pillow stuffing and a pump) to get the worst of the algae out. I think Jane wants to drain the pond low to do a pretty thorough water change, and that might not be a bad idea. We have to wait, though, until we have a fine balance between what temperature water the hose can put in versus what the pond is. If we miss that window it’ll be another year before we can clean out.