A JACK RABBIT WHO THINKS HE'S A HORSE

         I tell many jack rabbit stories. Jack rabbits inhabit my back yard for months at a time. So I see a lot of their behavior.

         The jack rabbit is a night critter. In the day time they find a quiet safe place. The safe place is where nothing can approach them from the back. In other words they put their butt against a fence. They can see if a predator is coming from the side or front. The spend the daytime quietly sleeping , grooming, stretching, nibbling on near by plants or wander around the yard a bit. Grooming takes most of the time.

         I've had two jack rabbits inhabit my yard separately from August to December. They are there 90% of the time. They do not share. I happened  to look  out my window in mid Oct. and two animals were having a little tiff. One animal left and it was the one who'd been there a couple of months. The second one stayed until about 2 weeks ago.

     So the horse antics. I happened to see the animal arrive one morning. First , it would run quickly for 4 or five meters and then put on the brakes and sit for about 5 seconds. Then it would run back and twist and curve. Then it would jump up and down on the spot.. What amazed me most is when it rolled on it's back with feet flailing in the air. Horses do this but I've never seen any other animal roll onto it's back. 

    So I was privileged to see some interesting behavior.

MY SHED RISES AGAIN

     Well, I looked at my old garden shed lying on the ground and wondered what to do about it. I honestly didn't think it could be rescued. I thought about it and then said maybe I should ask my neighbor T what might be done. I just wanted to upright it to put things back in and keep them out of the snow. In the spring I would build a new shed.

     When I got back T was looking over the wreckage and said, "I think we can fix this."

      I said ,"You can't lift this by yourself."

     "Sure ," he said ."My wife and I can lift it. She lifts weights."

     So he went to his shop and got a few tools and supplies. He stabilized the shed. He rigged up a safety device that their daughter controlled and T and D grabbed the shed and up it went. 

     Well I was pleased the shed was  standing.

      But T didn't stop there. He moved it back into the original slots. He put in a few more screws and added  some braces to strengthen the shed. D looked at it and said' "The doors even fit."

     So I was more than pleased as my garden shed was in better condition than before. Now I won't have to  build a shed in the spring.

      These neighbors have been unbelievable helpful. I wondered why? I finally thought that they are both paramedics. Their whole world is helping people. So I am most thankful to benefit from their kindness.

I TRIED TO DRIVE OVER MY GARDEN SHED

       Now I've been driving since I was eight years old. Yes, you could drive in the way back years on the farm. So I've had a few scrapes over the 78 years I've been driving. The other day I had an incident that was more frightening than serious. 

      My place has a driveway leading to the side of the house where there is a carport. At the end of the carport is a garden shed that nicely puts a division between the back yard and drive way, So you go up the drive way and stop before you hit the garden tool shed.

      Well, the other day something happened and I didn't quite get stopped  before I hit the shed. I knocked the shed over with a thunderous crash. Days later neighbors told me that they heard a loud bang but didn't know what it was.

     So this shook me up quite a bit. I have  been driving up to the wall for this shed for 56 years. It was easy to stop.

     After I calmed down I tried to find out what caused my error. I discovered that I had my foot at an angle on the brake and accelerator. I was putting my foot on both of them at the same time. The engine was roaring but not going very far as the brake kept the car in almost one place. 

    No damage to the car but the rotten old shed was a mess.

ELEVATOR PANIC

       Several weeks ago the Micro manager was scheduled for an ultrasound at the local lab. Neither one of us were in great condition. I had just had my surgery. Her mobility is not good. It was icy.

      I tried to find a parking spot that was close to the entrance and the least ice. 

    When her appointment ended she was in another part of the building.  We walked back but were  on the wrong floor. Oh there's an elevator! Great!

    What the Micro Manager wants to do at times does not fit with the plan. So instead of going out the door to where the car was closest, she got it in her head to go down a floor and out another door. For some reason she thought this was the best route.

    Well we got on the elevator and the fun started. It must have been an elevator from pioneer days. The controls were two egg size buttons. One for up and one for down. So right away we started experimenting. There was nothing to tell you where you were. We went up and down for a while. Then the debate started and it got louder and louder. Finally, we got to the floor we were looking for but couldn't see how to open the door. Staff were outside yelling and trying to tell us what to do. Finally, we  clicked on something and the door opened. When we stepped out, I said, "I'm not with her!"

    Staff could hardly stop themselves from laughing but kept it together. I'm sure they had a big laugh when we left.. 

    I've never been on an elevator with so  few instructions. I'm sure many people have the same experience we did.

SUN CHANGES

     I'm a  bit of a nerd when it comes to sunrise and sunset at this time of year. I like to know what's happening. What are the changes?

     Well since the winter solstice not much has happened but we're slowly starting to move in the right direction.

     Sunrise on the winter solstice was 8:42 and Jan 1 is 8:44 . So two minutes of daylight have been gained. Sunset  on the winter solstice was 4:24 and on Jan. 1 was 4:33 so the daylight has increased by nine minutes .

     Okay I  promise not to make such a nerdy post until March.

    

HOSPITAL GOWNS

           Is it only me, or do other people have an issue with hospital gowns? 

           Since I have recently been in the hospital, the problems with the hospital gown is fresh in my mind.

            What's wrong with hospital gowns you say? Well, they always want the opening at the back. So then they have eleven different strings to so call close  it. Well, I can't reach the strings! And if I get the strings it's only one and I tie a knot and everything falls open. If I do get the strings , I can't tie a knot backwards. If I do get the knot tied up it's so loose, it might as well not be tied. Anyway, if you do get strings tied you walk around with your butt hanging out and I don't like that . Who does?

         I've tried being rebellious and tying at the front but exposure at the front is worse than the back and anyway they just tell you to go back and tie the gown at the back. Yes, I tried it.

       I've thought of just not putting the gown on and walk out in all my glory, but I think there's a law against nudity in public. Besides that, I think the people at the hospital may decide not to treat me.

    So I will have to hope that I don't have to go anywhere where I have to put on the dreaded gown.

           So this last time the micro manager was with me and she tied the string properly.

CRITTERS

        I quite often talk about critters going through my yard or hanging out in my yard. Usually they frequent my front yard.  the back yard is fenced but is not gated. Many critters crawl under my fence for entrance or exit.

      My usual visitors are jack rabbits. And then there are many birds. Right now its very cold so birds are hunkering down to keep warm.

     At times the white tailed deer and mule deer go through the front yard every night. One night we looked out to see three of them laying down in the front yard. I was  looking for the beggars as they had been eating my petunias. 

    So I was very surprised to see deer tracks in my back yard. In fact, they walked right under my bedroom window. With their senses , they probably knew I was sound asleep. So they nibble off a few shrubs and probably found a little grass.