Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

One dead rat or a doggie snack

Two weeks ago both sons came over to help me set the storage shed on a better foundation. I locked the dogs up in their pen just in case there were any rabbits still living under there. We emptied the shed and moved it about 15 feet. There were still two young rabbits there and they took off running as soon as we got near them. Maiko found a mummified rat. He was so proud of the complete skeleton. I put a pan on the ground and told him to put it there until we finished working on the shed. He called his girls over but neither one was very impressed or willing to get near the dead rat.

This brought back memories of why Elfida stopped checkingMaiko's and Carlos' pockets when she did laundry. As kids they would put dead lizards, dead birds and dead bugs in their pockets. She had too many scares while checking pockets.
This was an impressive specimen and even my sister Dora would have been proud of it. It had skull, legs, feet and even the tail.
I collected skeletons too and had never gotten a complete skeleton. Well we went back to working on the shed. We did a great job on it. Maiko and Carlos screwed the plywood floor to the 2x4s we had laid under the shed. Elfida went and got some foam sealer and Maiko did all the edges to keep the rats out.
While we were busy doing other things. I decided it was time to let the dogs out of their pen. I don't like to keep them in there too long. The like to run around the yard and their is plenty of yard to run in.
I was by the side of the house when I heard Elfida screaming at the dogs. She screamed at one and then at another one and she took off running after them. I ran to the back thinking they had bitten one of the girls. Well, it wasn't that bad. Sister found Maiko's rat and took off running with it. Elfida saw her and screamed at her. Sister dropped the rat.... but as soon as it hit the ground Izma came running and snatched it up! She took of with it. Elfida gave up on saving the rat. So all we have are pictures and memories of this magnificent rat skeleton.....

Were did I go....

I have been here all along. Working, laughing, traveling, learning a little, living a little, etc. I was looking at two of our dogs as they slept. What a life. Sleep, eat, walk around outside, get hot, bark until they get back in the air conditioned house.

This one is to big for her bed, but her life is almost the same as the other dog's.

Una mascara...

Many years ago Carlos bought some wrestler masks in Mexico. For years they were stored away with his knife collection, soccer socks, toys, and other items his mom couldn't part with.Last Sunday he went through the boxes looking for a backpack and rediscovered some of those masks. You can't just bring stuff like this out and not try it on again.

Maiko came over and put one of the masks on and left it on. He went to cook dinner for himself with the mask on. I knew that was the moment for a photo. Then we, Carlos and I also put on masks. We had fun.


Now I realized how much fun we could have with just a piece of clothe and vinyl to cover you identity! Yeah, we knew it was us, but it was different. No, it was like when we were kids. My Tia Lile made Batman masks for us out of some vinyl she had. They were baby blue mask, but that was okay.

They were still Batman masks. There were about six of us with the same mask but were wore them while we fought bad guys, monsters, Germans, and imaginary wrestlers.


You know, a mask hides your identity so well that grown men will wear there underwear outside their stretchy pants and go out in public. They feel no shame or embarrassment as long as the mask is on.

We had so much fun putting on the masks last Sunday that Maiko kept one on. Carlos understood and left it with him. The grand daughters stayed with us and Lily put on the mask. I took pictures, then Isabelle put it on and I took more pictures.


I crush your head!


Oh yeah, we wrestled.


And we posed for the customary pre-match photo.

And the traditional magazine cover photo.

Ah yes, special moments. Maybe one of this days Elfida will put one on too.

Hello there, its been a while....

I got on Facebook and kind of neglected this blog. I've picked some photos to post here but then something always came up and I never got around to doing it. My change of schedule really has hurt my active life. Today I woke up late and then I heard the rain. I melted back into the covers and zoned out watching TV. It took great effort to get out of that bed. Cold weather is perfect for sleeping. My writing ability has also decreased lately, okay, maybe in the last two years. I just haven't been able to sit and concentrate long enough to expand on any one idea. My picture taking is still doing okay, but I really wish I could write a few poems, maybe a short story.We saw the movie "The day the earth stood still" and I remembered this beautiful place we went hiking. It was still green in some areas but the trees were already changing colors. Now I realize that we are doing so much damage to this world, yet technology is so much a part of our lives that we wouldn't be able to change enough to save the world. At least not fast enough to do it in my life time. Even now I am at home running the central heater, watching TV, typing on my laptop and tomorrow I will drive to work in my truck.

Could I give up the comforts and luxuries I enjoy now? Could I walk to work? Yes, I could, but will I? I would be a liar if I said I would. Not because I don't want to save the world, but because through our acclimation we have become weak and dependent on technology to survive. Such beauty, clear water, bright sunlight, trees, fish and we wouldn't survive very long out there with out a gun, matches, clothing, etc.

Wouldn't this make great shelter? It would protect us from the rain, snow, wind, but we would have competition from the animals. Not so much the big one, but the little ones, snakes, spiders, scorpions, rabid skunks. Yeah, not the big ones.

Eventually nature will kill us or we will kill nature and that means we will kill ourselves. We probably are already doing it, killing ourselves slowly, poisoning our own water, food, and air.

Ah, but we are not content with doing it slowly. No, we are killing each other for money, glory, power, and as that is not enough we are also killing each other in the name of god. Not just one god, but every god we can think of. And if a person is too much like us, then we use skin color to justify hating them and making it okay to kill them.
In the end, when we are almost through killing everyone there will be two survivors. Those of us who aspire to be tolerant will probably be killed first. Yeah the last two survivors will be same sex, same skin color, from the same group, same religion, probably brothers or sisters and they will both be willing to kill to be the lone human alive. To be the winner. And in the end they will die too.
And this world will be a better place... maybe... maybe not. Without humans this planet will not be Earth.
Tonight I hear the rain outside my window... cool, wet, washing away the dirt from the trees, grass, bushes, giving them new life... and us too. I close my eyes, say my nightly prayer. My faith in the goodness of my God, allows me to sleep knowing that tomorrow the sun will rise above the hazy horizon behind the gray clouds, another beautiful day.
Good night Europa.... Earth's cry, heaven's smile.