Hogzilla!

Our horses have a pretty easy and stress free existence. The mares have the largest pasture, but about a quarter mile of it runs along the county road. I have seen all kinds of things go up and down that road from noisy teenage vehicles to Jake-braking trucks, moose, wolves, bears, coyotes, foxes, dogs,  deer, children, etc. The mares have had most of those things in the pasture as well (except for the vehicles) so they are pretty used to most of them. They are desensitized to most everyday sights, sounds, and smells.

When I got home after work on Thursday I was met at the door by the Cooker who said K from across the street called and thought their pig was heading toward our pasture. I said, "Okay," and walked over to the window to see what I could see. Casually coming down one of the hills toward the horse's lean-to was a large 400 pound pink low-to-the-ground pig. So I went back out and headed toward the barn to see if I could help capture this hogzilla. As I rounded the corner by the lean-to I saw the fence wires were broken and the horses tracks leading away from their hangout toward the "old boy" pasture to be near the geldings for some moral support and any comfort food (hay) that may be within their reach. 

I lead the girls into the barn and put them in their stalls while I went to help capture this wily and dangerous killer that had scared the mares half to death. What I found was an easy going, curious creature about the size of a short legged pony. The Cooker was there with a bucket of grain as K came along with a bucket of some more pig food. The ladies coaxed the pig out of the pasture and she (the pig) walked side by side with K down the driveway like they were old friends. K's husband J joined in and the three of them walked back down the county road to their little farm across the street. It was pretty cute the three of them out for a stroll down the road.

J is a big strong guy, about 6'3" and about 265 lbs. ( he helps me when the hay loads come), but if he wants to move hogzilla and she doesn't want to move, she wins. Hogzilla (her real name is Bacon something-or-other) is also somebody's mother. She gave birth at 18 below zero and here is one of her offspring.

I think maybe I should take the mares across the street and let them meet the pigs close up and personal in order to alleviate their fears. The younger mares were the most distressed by this pink interloper so I should probably take them for a visit first. I really have to stretch my imagination to understand the fear caused by the big, pink, horse-eating hogzilla, but I have to take it seriously without laughing out loud. I really want to hear the mares explanation for their reaction.

We just had two more inches of snow this morning, but winter is losing its grip. On the way to work yesterday I stopped to see if there was an water flowing in an erosion problem we call "New Falls". It was dripping, but mostly frozen.

And in a nearby tree was someone taking a break from cleaning up the winter's roadkill.

 Click on the pic and you might see the eagle didn't wipe its beak before leaving the table.

Women and Spring

Their are those who think women should stay at home, make babies, keep a nice house, and serve their husbands because that is their "traditional" role. If it actually had been, our species would have died out long ago. That tradition only existed for a short time during the middle of the last century and idealized by the likes of Ozzie and Harriet or Leave it to Beaver. There is nothing wrong with that way of living if all parties are agreed and the breadwinner can win enough bread to support a whole family above the poverty level. These days it's not so easy.


        

  

  It has been called to my attention recently that the Heritage Foundation, that bastion of Right Thinking, had a little get together of conservative women celebrating the last day of Women's History Month  by stating, "If we truly want women to thrive," (Mona)Charen concurred, "we have to revive the marriage norm."

 What interests Charen and the other women on the stage is their belief, as Charen put it, that "feminism has done so much damage to happiness." And the solution to this damage, it turns out, is matrimony — the same thing that will solve problems such as income inequality and the Republican Party's standing among women."

  I am not sure how many conservative women were at this conference, but I would think that it was most of them.

Following this line of thought would lead one to believe that women not following this idea might turn out to be be progressives or worse, even Democrats! The Heritage Foundation wants more women to vote Republican. If all of them did they might get a big enough majority to repeal the 19th Amendment and then women wouldn't have to bother their pretty little heads at all about voting!



Helping in this agenda would be the Mormon Church. They are all frightened (well at least the Mormon men are) because women want to wear pants in church! Jesus didn't wear pants in church so these women shouldn't either. Some of these Mormon women want to enter the priesthood! Joseph Smith would turn on the wrong axis of the planet he is God on if this would happen and his girlfriends wives would be looking to him for guidance.



Yes, it would seem the Mormon Cult Church has drawn a lot of attention to itself by making the national news on these issues as well. It seems they want to keep these protesting women and pesky media people as far away from the proceedings as they can.




Want to know more about the Mormons? Donna Banta can fill you in on her blog Ward Gossip. She is one of those uppity women (I mean that in the best way) that used to be a Mormon. Now she is simply awesome.



Spring is finally starting to, you know, spring. My coworker has a boyfriend that brings her lots of flowers on a regular basis. It certainly brightens up the atmosphere.





On a bright, sunny day the glare from the continuing snow is nearly blinding, but it does brighten attitudes and reminds us of what is to come. Here is our frozen harbor showing hints that here is something not white underneath.











Then there are the cloudy, but above freezing days and the wind that help to break up the frozen ice sheet that has covered Lake Superior for the last two months. Who knows, there may be icebergs all summer.





 

Just Fooling!

Today, the first of April, is April Fool's Day. It is usually a day of pranking. I have seen relatively benign pranks such as Iceland Review's lead story of Google relocating to Iceland because of its cheap electricity, cool climate (for all those servers), always Greenwich Mean Time, its location between Europe and North America, and Iceland's strict laws on information sharing (raspberries to the NSA). I have also seen or heard of pranks that caused great embarrassment, having an eye nearly put out, or having someone in the ER with inexplicable injuries. I think April fool jokes are fine as long as no one is physically hurt or is caused untreatable mental anguish.

We are currently well below freezing and experiencing a blizzard (no foolin') so mother nature is ROFLOL at us. We appreciate the humor, but you can stop now. In the spirit of jocularity, here are a few things to ponder. Hopefully there aren't too many repeats as I find I sometimes repeat myself as I age, repeat myself as I age. Starting and ending with the most interesting man in the world.

  Have a happy April first and don't get fooled!