Occupations

There are a lot of interesting people that come to the campground. Some have campers here, some just come to visit.

• The designer of the house in Minot built for a deserving family and shown on "Extreme Makeover Home Edition"
• Two martial arts instructors who have previously competed in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship)
• A pediatrician, who runs TV ads on the local channels
• A couple of nurses (including a school nurse), a couple of hair dressers, and a daycare owner
• A dog groomer, formerly an IT professional
  
• A guy who used to maintain and fix crematoriums
• Owner of a deck building company
• Seller of farm equipment, and seller of insulation
• The owner of a motel
  
• Employee of the mapping company that does Google Maps (only the coolest thing ever)
• A fashion buyer
• A lawyer (my brother, who visits occasionally)
• The CEO of a hospital (my niece's husband), who is a paramedic on Life Flight as a hobby

Some people I wish I could meet:

• A professional chef
• A park ranger, or somebody that knows a lot about the wildlife around here
• An organic farmer
• A professional photographer
• The owner of a tree service company so I could get good firewood
• Someone with a house actually on the lake (preferably single, straight, and good-looking)

Riddle Me This

The bird is the mascot of a major league baseball team. The mammal is the University of Minnesota's mascot, even though they refuse to call it by its correct name.

What are they? Bonus points if you can tell me the true name of the mammal. Hint: this mammal is related to the chipmunk, and hibernates up to 250 days a year.

Funny Bunnies

I've been watching the cottontails this week. While others worry about them eating their garden, they don't seem to like mine. Last night I watched a bunny hop into the garden, sniff at the parsley and hop away. He found some bird food I had on the deck instead. I've also seen them eating dandelion stems, which is just fine with me, although now I question my intent to start spraying them with weed killer.

They make me laugh out loud with their antics. They chase each other around my backyard like crazy. Yesterday one turned to face the other on hind legs, and they had a jump-off. One would jump, then the other would jump. They looked a bit like fighting kangaroos. Here's what I found on this behavior:

Prior to mating, the male and female cottontails display courtship behaviors that are collectively called "cavorting". The patterns observed in cavorting can include a great deal of running, racing, hopping, and even actual fighting. Fragments of hide and hair are sometimes scattered over several acres as a result of this pre-mating behavior. It is thought that the selective advantage of this behavior is to weed out sick, less agile or less aggressive individuals from the reproductive pool. Mating can occur at any time during the warmer months of the year. Cavorting typically occurs at night.

I'm witness to the fact that cavorting at my house takes place during the day too.

Things I Know June 6, 2009

1. Anything will burn if enough gasoline is poured on it.

2. The Baltimore Oriole is one of the prettiest birds ever, and the Goldfinch is a close second.

3. Even the biggest, hottest campfire doesn't keep me warm when it's 40 degrees and windy.

4. Bacon makes almost anything taste better.

5. If you add a little water to browning hamburger, the chunks break up better.

6. There are more Canadian Geese in Minnesota then in Canada (okay, I don't really know this for sure, but it seems like it).

What's Gray and Black and White and Red All Over?

A Red-Bellied Woodpecker and a Gray Catbird!

The woodpecker has a chunk of orange in his mouth.

The catbird is supposedly secretive, but "Minnesota Nice" affects them up here, 'cuz they're all over the place this Spring.

The catbird mimics other bird calls, and sometime mews like a cat (hence its name).

Woody Woodpecker

This big guy was visiting me all morning. His real name is Pileated Woodpecker, but I like the name Woody better. He is the size of a large crow, and as a colleague says, "could scare the neighborhood cats".

Garbage Burning

I live in a campground during the summer, and I'm used to the smell of campfires on the weekends. But my neighbor continues to use his firepit as a way to dispose of whatever garbage he has around. Right now, he's burning TV trays - the kind with the metal legs and the formica fake wood style top. He's also burned plastic chairs and god knows what else in that firepit. To add insult to injury, he always starts his fire by pouring gasoline on it.

So I just reported him to the owner of the campground. He went over to look, and apparently approved some of it, because now my neighbor is pulling the metal legs out of the fire and only burning the fake wood tops. And the stand that the TV trays were stored in. Sigh.