I Like Pigeons Because Nobody Else Does

Hans is turning out to be quite the killer! We found a dead mouse with the crown of its head torn off on my office floor!  Actually, Little Buddy found it and was preparing to eat it before Gene stopped him.  I am certain it was Hans since he’s quick as a whip and has an overwhelming hunting urge and prey drive.

Violet has what we think is a herniated disk in her back and is in a considerable amount of pain even while on several different painkilers, NSAIDS and muscle relaxers. She should be ok after a few weeks of strict rest and medication.

We adopted this large-ish miniature pinscher from the Humane League last week and named him Hans.  I keep wondering what’s going to go wrong since he’s housebroken, friendly and has no separation anxiety or other weird mental problems. Someone dropped him off at the Humane League because they said they were moving to a smaller apartment. Really? He’s 16 pounds, and you know how much room little dogs need. He’d never been to the vet, so it’s just as well he is in a good home now. None of the other dogs really care. We have the most indifferent group of mutts I’ve ever seen.

Here is he when I met him at the shelter:

I announced a few weeks ago that I am starting classes in January at Millersville University to get a bachelor’s in computer science. I’ve been struggling for years trying to build websites and I still don’t have any idea what I’m doing. It’s a great artistic outlet, but a nightmare of frustration and hair-pulling if you don’t have the background and know-how.  I am starting with pre-calculus and beginning programming and I can’t wait.

Here’s my first project, the new A Tail to Tell website. I bought a WordPress template and customized it with all original photos and material. They were in desperate need of a new website that reflected their mission and organization appropriately. I wish I could claim I designed the theme, but I’m years away from being able to do anything like that. Ideally, I’d like to have some kind of website service in which I also provide photographs. I have no idea how that will pan out exactly, but that’s the goal. For now, at least.

One of the most common fish we saw were stoplight parrotfish. They tended to congregate around coral mounds but once in awhile we’d see them swimming in between corals. I kept hearing a weird grating sound, almost like background white noise. It wasn’t until I stopped and watched 8 -10 of that I realized it was the sound of their teeth scraping the coral and eating it. They are actually feeding on the coral polyps and the crushed hard skeletons are then pooped out as sand. Parrotfish may produce as much as one ton of coral sand per acre of reef each year.

These fish are hermaphroditic, meaning they change sex as they age and in response to environmental conditions. During the initial phase, males and females look like this (photo from Wikipedia):

Primary males are born male, and remain so throughout their lives while secondary males are born female, changing both sex and color to become male. These secondary males are also referred to as supermales or terminal males. Females and primary males, similar in appearance, are red, gray, brown, and black. Secondary males are bright green, blue, red, and yellow. Seeing something like this in sunlight was breathtaking and photos just don’t capture the colors properly:

If that’s not cool enough, these fish spin protective mucous cocoons at night in which to sleep. I took photos of these fish with the disposable camera.

First, an update on my mom: she is back at her house and doing decently. She could stand to exercise more, but she has no rejection, her medications are working out and she is gaining weight. Gaining at a glacial pace, but at least it’s in the right direction.

We had a blast in St John. Gene’s conference was informative and worthwhile and I was absolutely smitten with snorkeling. I’m not much of a water person so I have to admit I had a slight amount of trepidation at the thought of snorkeling, but once I got the mask and tube fitted and figured out how to use it, I was hooked. I almost choked at what I saw underwater. I still can’t believe it’s possible to see that many colorful fish just a few dozen feet from the shoreline in water that is only 24 inches deep.

St John is nice without being snotty and the beaches are sparsely populated. One day we drove to the most northern tip of the island to visit Vie’s Snack Shack

and spent some time on her private beach. Her family has owned the property for generations and she lives on a beautiful little bay that we had to ourselves. It was Shangri-La.

We also snorkeled and swam in Trunk Bay which is probably the busiest beach area on the island:

as well as a few other places, some offshore on a catamaran trip.

I didn’t take too many photos. I don’t like to get my camera near sand and I just wasn’t really in the mood, probably because all the truly interesting things we saw were underwater. With the exception of 5 species of bats, all terrestrial mammals on the island are invasives brought by the Danish settlers who came here to run sugar plantations using slave labor.

These feral donkeys hang out in picnic areas looking for handouts and they are quite tame.

Chickens are ubiquitous:

Iguanas were all over the resort:

Anoles are as common as flies in Lancaster County:

If we ever go back we’ll rent a house instead of staying at a hotel. That’s a big if because our travel wish-list is extensive and I can hardly stand to revisit a place when there are so many others to discover.If shared with another couple of two, rental villas are very reasonable. The sunsets were spectacular:

We bought a cheap underwater disposable camera but I haven’t had those photos developed yet. I’ll post them when they’re finished.

We’re prepared for round #2 with my mom, starting tomorrow. I’m going to pick her up and bring her home, again. I am confident that things will be much better this time, primarily because of her attitude. She had some kind of breakthrough and is now enthusiastic and looking forward to moving on. It may simply be from not being nauseous anymore.  We were on a whale watching trip in the Pacific and I was so sick I was ready to throw myself overboard, so I can imagine how she must have felt feeling like that for weeks on end.

In other big news, we’re going to St John on December 3rd for a week and I am starting classes at Millersville University in January. I’m returning to college to get a bachelor’s degree in computer science. I can’t wait. I am considering getting involved in website design or some type of biological application.

this took 30 seconds to find on the internet:

From Zimbabwe to Daytona Beach: Tragic life of Nosey the elephant

(Daytona Beach) – A 29-year-old female African elephant named “Nosey” will appear with the Piccadilly Circus, March 5, at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach.

It would be hard to find an elephant in Florida with a story quite like Nosey’s.

In 1984 an eccentric millionaire named Arthur Jones, who made his fortune from the Nautilus exercise machine company, flew 63 baby elephants on his 707 jet from Zimbabwe to his private airfield in Ocala, Florida. The round-up and harrowing 22-hour flight was the subject of a story on ABC’s 20/20 called “The Flying Elephants” (available on YouTube).

At the time, Mr. Jones said he was saving the elephants from being culled, although that is debatable. But regardless of his intentions, things did not turn out well for the elephants.

In 1986, the group of young elephants began to be split up. Many were sold to an animal dealer, who in turn sold elephants to circuses. Two of the elephants were sold to circus owner Hugo Liebel. One died after only a few months at Liebel’s property in Davenport, Florida. The other elephant was Nosey.

Today, approximately 20 elephants from the original group who were imported from Zimbabwe are still alive. They can be found at zoos and sanctuaries across North America.

Nosey is the only surviving elephant currently with a circus. To add to the tragedy, Nosey is forced to live alone, traveling the country with disreputable circuses.

In recent years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has repeatedly cited Hugo Liebel for deficiencies regarding his care of animals. For example, during inspections in April and June 2009, the USDA found Nosey tethered by chains so tightly that she was unable to stand normally or make any movements forward or backward. ARFF has urged the USDA to take immediate steps to protect Nosey (USDA has the authority to suspend Liebel’s license and/or confiscate animals).

“Nosey is suffering in the circus. It is long past time for Nosey to be retired to a sanctuary,” said ARFF Communications Director Don Anthony. “Nosey deserves freedom from constant travel and mistreatment, and an opportunity to socialize and build relationships with other elephants.”

The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida is planning protests at several performances of the Piccadilly Circus in Florida during February and March.

It just blows me away that people continue to patronize circuses and other animals acts. It’s sick and it’s torture for the animals. The Lancaster Convention Center is hosting a circus called The Picadilly Circus. From their website:

November 9, 2011
Picadilly Circus
Shows at 4:30 pm and 7:30 pm
Picadilly Circushas everything you’d expect to see at a Circus. Celebrating 25 years entertaining families throughout North America “we’ve pulled out all the stops!” You’ll see the ‘Elephant Extravaganza’, an elephant stands on one foot; ‘Motorcycle Madness’ has motorcycle daredevils somersaulting and spinning in a big Globe of Doom; ‘Katunga’ the giant jungle monster; the fabulous ‘Mongolian Angels’ outstanding contortionists; the ‘White Tiger Spectacular’; crazy comedy with circus clowns, even a 1923 Model T with a mind of its own; daring aerialists; cirque artists and our special attraction ‘The Boxing Kangaroo’, Rocky a 250 pound kangaroo, will have you falling off your seat laughing as audience members are invited to participate. Its 1½ hours of excitement and fun at Picadilly Circus.

Seriously?! Who the hell needs this for entertainment?? They just got this letter from me:

Hi Mr Moosic

I recently learned of your plans to host the Picadilly Circus. I am disgusted, but not surprised, by the fact that a Lancaster business would promote such an event. Animals used in circuses live a dismal life of domination, confinement, and violent training and I don’t think that’s something with which our city should be associated or foster in any way.It’s not even a point of contention anymore that dragging animals around from city to city for public exhibition and entertainment is cruel and inhumane. In fact, there are 26 US cities that have prohibited wild animal circuses, and hundreds in Europe that have prohibited or severely restricted performing animal acts. 

In a state with a deserved reputation for feeble and antiquated animal laws and things as morally contemptible as pigeons shoots and puppy mills, one would think that the organizers of this event would not want to further solidify Pennsylvania’s repute as a benighted and backwards commonwealth. I am disappointed and saddened by your decision to host this cruel and inhumane event and I can tell you with absolute certainty that it’s going to hurt your business. Both my sister and I were frequent patrons of your restaurant and we will never eat there again. 

Please write to the general manager, even if it’s just a sentence or two to express your disgust. I will NEVER set foot in that building again.

Mark Moosic

General Manager
25 South Queen Street
Lancaster, PA 17603
P: 717.239.1600
E: mark.moosic@ihrco.com

I spoke to my mom a few hours ago and she’s doing really well. She sounded so good that I wondered if she was under the influence of some drug but she claims she wasn’t. She is eating well and gaining weight.
Fortunately the nausea is completely gone which is doing wonders for her outlook and mood. Not much else notable happening, just waiting for her to get stronger and return joke again.

My mom is doing better now that she’s back at Johns Hopkins. They found that her potassium was extremely high which was a result of one of her antibiotics. Apparently it takes quite a bit of time to get her 20 different medications balanced. The nausea is gone due to cessation of one of her antibiotics and reducing her tube feeding rate but she has a compression fracture from a fall she’d taken here at the house.

She is now eating and says she feels much better. The plan is to get some weight back on her and try round #2 in a week or two.

My mom can no longer walk and weighs 82.7 pounds. I am taking her to JH as soon as I hear from them that everything is ready and she is being readmitted.

We have had mom here at home for ten days now and instead of improving she has declined. Her weight has been reduced to 85 pounds. She has an appointment on Tuesday and I can’t imagine that she will come home from that visit. In fact, I am wondering if they will readmit her tomorrow.

Things around here have been pretty rough lately, but we had a wonderful evening last night seeing Willie Nelson at the American Music Theater. I took my camera in the hopes that I’d be able to get decent shots from my seat. They were ok, but not stellar. I hoped to be able to run to the stage, snap a few shots and run back but our seats were in the middle of the aisle and I couldn’t bring myself to ruin everyone else’s show by squeezing out. But when he started the last song and everyone stood, I saw an escape route and ran to the front.

This man provided the music that serves as the background of my life. I’ve known and listened to him since I was an infant and he has been a constant presence the entire time. I always envisioned him as a kind and calming person, exactly like his music sounded and he turned out to be exactly that in real life. He tours most of the year even though he’s 78 years old and his warmth is almost palpable. He is so genuine, unassuming and real, I felt that he could have been my neighbor for the last 40 years.  I couldn’t believe that he took the time to come to the front of the stage, shake hands and sign autographs. The incredible thing was that he sincerely enjoyed it even though he’s sung the same songs, met the same faceless strangers and signed the same autographs for 60 years in thousands and thousands of different cities. Clearly, the novelty has never worn off and that’s obvious in these photos.

I feel so lucky to have gotten these photos. I still can’t believe it.  I am also lucky to have had the opportunity to see Frank Sinatra twice too. As far as I’m concerned, he and Willie are the two greatest American musical gems in history.

Sorry for the distracting watermark, but these are my favorite shots of all-time and I don’t want them ripped off. I also posted them at poor quality which doesn’t really do them justice, sorry. They look incredible on my computer monitor and are some of the best photos I’ve taken.

This one is my favorite:

Imagine how many hours these hands have spent on a guitar:

Note the guitar on the back of his sneakers:

My mom has been here since Friday and visiting hours are 10am – 4pm, Monday through Friday. Let me know if you want to stop by.

My mom is coming home tomorrow. The hospital is not doing much for her medically at this point but she is not ready for the third floor rehab unit either so they are out of options and decided to send her home. Her weight is still very low, but stable, so they are hoping that a change of scenery will move things along with her recovery.