Post 400: May 8th is apple blossom time in Western Nebraska
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Post 264: Christmas Eve 2013
Andy demands equal time!!! Rawr!
Andy watching the backyard fir tree for birds.
This will be a shorty today because I just realized it’s 48 minutes past “feed-the-kitty-time”. Cats sleep on computer keyboards for a reason, you know: To keep us from forgetting important things like, well, “feed-the-kitty-time” and “play-with-the-kitty-time”, and “kitty-treat-time”. If my boys were outdoor cats, there’d be “let-the-cat-out-NOW-time” as well. You get the idea, I’m sure.
Gotta go. Andy’s standing there sucking in his fat little tummy to remind me of something….
Before long, he’ll be punching it out on my computer keyboard: f-e-e-d=t-h-e=k-i-t-t-y=t-i-m-e…
Umm. OK!
a bedtime story…
oops!
I’ve since received notice that the screw up is “unscrewed”. Ha! Oh well. I should be pleased I got a daily blog out of it, and that my boo-boo might help someone else avoid making the same mistake.
While I thank Maggie for being a good dog and urge her to have a peanut butter treat or two for her quick response to my boo-boo, let me recommend you visit her blog. There’s a link below to maggie0019, a well-written, entertaining blog about Maggie a rescued dog, a rehabilitated dog, and (ultimately) well-trained dog serving others.
It is both amusing and inspiring. She’s a pit bull, which means she has to overcome a strong bias against her breed. In many jurisdictions, she would have been euthanized at the shelter, but Maggie got a second chance at a happy life. With love, training, and patience…well, read the blog!
Go over to the far right, and scroll down the list of blogs I follow till you hit Nr. 7. That’s Maggie’s!
Dougy as of July 10th
You saw Andy with short hair in the last post. This is Dougy as he appears this very moment. Andy, too, has a lot longer hair.
How do they do that?
One thing about cats, they can come and go at the same time! Here’s Andy, in his favorite position. Sorry it isn’t a clearer photo, though you can see Andy’s handsome chest, which is that lovely shade of gray!
Highway 2 through Nebraska
Nebraska Highway 2 is my favorite highway. The best stretch crosses from Grand Island to Alliance, traversing the Nebraska Sandhills, a rich grassland of rolling stabilized sand dunes and huge vistas. This is Nebraska’s beef growing region, and the cow population more than exceeds the humans.
Highway 2 is “the road less travelled” through Nebraska, one that people who fly over the state or cross on I-80 miss. This isn’t a flat state! I-80 follows the path of least resistance, the Platte River flood plain. Of course it’s flattish!
Not Highway 2. It winds, twists, climbs, disappears in the distance, reappears magically and without warning.
Along this highway are hamlets, small towns, small cities. People here wear a cowboy hat because, well, they are cowboys and ranchers! They probably use an ATV or small plane to manage their chores these days instead of a horse, but there are many ranchers, still, who rely on this basic tool of the trade. Nothing like a good cow pony to sort and separate cows from calves for branding!
This is the eastern end of the West, if you will, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
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Please note that this is the section of Nebraska that includes the route of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline to transport Alberta tar sand oil to refineries in Texas for refining to sell to foreign markets. The Ogallala Aquifer is beneath the Sandhills, and is the source of water much of Nebraska for agriculture, industry, and people in this state, and the Great Plains. There are people in this state – running this state – who kiss Koch butt and want to risk contamination of this irreplaceable water resource. Oh, have you guessed I don’t support the pipeline?! If you want to see the other side of the story, it’s out there, just not here.
http://www.keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov/
http://watercenter.unl.edu/watermap/maps/HighPlainsAquifer.jpg
http://www.ask.com/wiki/Unconventional_oil?qsrc=3044
Andy’s first day with me
Look at me! I’m showing “grandma pictures” of my cats now. This is a forgotten photo taken the day I picked up Andy in September 2011 and brought him home with me.
somewhere east of Laramie
What I love about my home state, Nebraska, is how the clouds dominate all. There is a rule of thumb, though. The prettier the cloud, the more dangerous it is.
The first time I visited family in Colorado, I mistook the Rocky Mountains for clouds. I still do, though I know better. It’s clouds I expect to dominate the landscape, so my mind vaporizes mountains and hangs them in the sky.
It’s a special talent I have, this transforming mountains into clouds! Or, did I ever tell you how I can dissolve clouds by staring at them? Ha!