Irene in Vermont

Today my friend "Harvey" from Rutland, Vermont, has been posting pictures of the devastation in his area.  Vital roads are washed out, towns inundated, his university partly underwater.  He is safe, with only some flooding in the basement, which he anticipated and so nothing of significance was damaged.  But it will be months before his life will return to any semblance of normal.  No, Godzilla did not stomp NYC flat, but yes, Irene was a hell of a storm, and millions of people are hurting right now.  Crops are lost, livestock drowned, infrastructure obliterated.  Try living without power for a week or more in August in eastern NC, VA, etc., and THEN judge whether or not Irene was a non-event!  As for the idiots who say this is God's judgment, Jesus' admonition is simple: if you love me, feed my sheep...or maybe rescue them from the deluge :-)

‎"Casey Tane and Chelsea Gay from Jericho Settlers Farm kayak a sheep to dry land in Richmond [VT] on Monday, August 29, 2011."

Images from burlingtonfreepress.com

For more on the devastation: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=BT&Dato=20110828&Kategori=NEWS02&Lopenr=108280801&Ref=PH&odyssey=mod|galleriespic|umbrella

Full Moon Fever

So I brought my sweetie Bug home from the hospital on Wednesday after her very successful hip resurfacing.  Read all about it here.  She's doing great! We were greeted by a full moon, and I slipped out to take some pics.  Please enjoy, and know that things are going well.

Gone to Seed

I give you an even dozen from the back yard:

A Common Buckeye!

You remember The Occasional Squirrel

 Shy Cardinal in flight!

Remember the Red-Bellied Woodpecker?

It was gathering seed for a young one

The juvenile can feed itself, now!

 Our precious little Black-cap Chickadee!

 And its friend

The White-Breasted Nuthatch!

We have Goldfinches

House Finches and Sparrows

And sweet Mourning Doves, living together.
It is a peaceful place, so long as the squirrels stay out of my tomatoes...