WILD WILDERNESS DRIVE-THROUGH SAFARI

So Jenn, Michael and I went all the way up north to Gentry yesterday to see this drive through zoo they have up there. All in all, it was a good trip I think. Here are just a few good highlights, as bandwidth on this site is limited. Peacocks, emus and deer are a very common and predominant sight there as they are wandering all over the place. Jenn found a fairly good sized peacock feather which were being sold at the front office for $1 a piece. Though we really bought nothing except a bottle of water from them, Jenn commented that the prices were not the usual gouging you would expect in attending a theme park or a theater (who could forget something like a $4 Coke?).

Watching all these animals and observing their various plumage, I got to thinking about natural camouflage and how it came about in the natural world. Naturalists are quick to say that the tiger's stripes are to help the beasts to be more stealthy and undetectable in the bush and so forth, but what I wish to understand is the origin of how such a selection is made from the genetic level. The tiger certainly doesn't just say in his head "I think I'll turn a little lighter because the scrub isn't as thick..." etc. Similarly, over time, prey species develop eyes which are more on the sides of their heads (allowing them to have an almost 360 degree sweep of vision), while predator species (like us humans) have stereoscopic vision which allows them to track and home in on prey. Interesting thought anyway. Enjoy!

OBSERVE MY HANDIWORK...

A week or two ago, our mailbox was demolished. This is a common occurrence in our neighborhood for years, and the source has varied from crazy-assed mailmen (who have only served to demonstrate the veracity of the term "going postal" by their actions which Jennifer has witnessed) to assholes who just want to tear shit up. The culprits of this last attack, we figure, fall into the latter category, though we can't be for certain. Anyhow, we stopped getting mail for a while because the box was just left lying in the yard for many days. Finally, just today, my father and I took to the task of repairing this thing for hopefully the last time (we went through this a little bit in times past, but it wasn't so bad as to knock the whole thing over before). We got 40 pounds of Quikcrete and half buried a little mold for the base before we filled it with the stuff. Here's a before and after for you, my gentle readers. Please observe Crybaby the kitty taking special note of our finished product:

The duct tape you see was to hold part of the crappy aluminum frame together as the rest of the thing dried. I buried part of the column itself in the concrete this time. The blue jeans you see were added because my dad said we needed cloth soaked in water to help the stuff to not dry too fast.



Our neighbor Debbie said that (a week or two ago) she heard something that sounded "almost like a loud motorcycle" and the sound of breaks squealing. When she looked outside a few minutes later, our mailbox was lying on the ground. Anyway, there's a piece of rebar driven down quite a ways in the ground now with the 40 lbs. of concrete anchoring it. I'll be curious to see if such an auto will be able to speed away after hitting that! Hah!