Category: Pets

The adventures, mis-adventures and comments about Ginny, Mergetroid, Midnight, Nino, et al

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Dancing in the darkness

So, I’m reading the Economist, a high-brow magazine based in London and available online.  Middle East wars, macro-economic Snowballtheory, election politics and … Snowball. Yep.  The world’s most famous dancing bird (or so they say) who lives in an animal shelter in … Schererville, Indiana??  Anyway, the article is about high-powered research into whether & why animals dance, to music or otherwise.  You can read the article, which is interesting, but that’s not what this post is about.  It’s about the even bigger “elephant in the room” (read the article for the 1st one).  That is, the plausible explanation for why humans dance that actually fits very well with the data, and which also would explain why (apparently) animals don’t, unless they mimic humans.

Could it be that we dance because Continue reading “Dancing in the darkness”

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Unusual sightings at Chenoweth

February 15 was a banner day for odd things around here.  The first occurred as a result of Neil. You family members know Neil — Sarah’s old friend that we have been helping.  He asked to use our dining room for a romantic Valentine meal for his wife, seeing as how he couldn’t afford to take her out to a nice restaurant.  I said o.k., and he made all the arrangements through Serena.  I didn’t think I would need to be involved at all.  (But you know me). Continue reading “Unusual sightings at Chenoweth”

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Help this puppy!

Huckleberry with WillPlease?

Our daughter Sarah sent this heartfelt note the other day.  If you know of someone who could help her, please log in and make a comment, or write to her at Sarah (at) 10thGen.org.  [Replace the ” (a) “with “@” to get the correct e-mail.]

I am moving from Lookout Mountain on 6/12 to an apartment complex, and CANNOT take my dog with me.

Huckleberry is half Chocolate Lab, and half Sneaky Neighbor Dog. He is 16 months old (1 year, 4 months). He is not fixed or had any shots. He has never met a person or other dog that he didn’t like – he is VERY friendly and has lots of energy. He may not be a good fit for a family with small children. He is semi trained (come, sit, lie down, No, etc…).

He comes with a full bag of dogfood, a brush, some shampoo, a repaired leash, a choke collar, 10 feet of chain, and even a doghouse if you are willing to transport it.

I just posted an add on craigslist in the pet section, but I have already been looking for someone for two weeks now and have not been able to find anyone willing to take him.  I REALLY don’t want to have to take him to an animal shelter, he’s a great dog and I really wish I didn’t have to get rid of him.  Can anyone help me?

More pictures below the fold… Continue reading “Help this puppy!”

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The surprise that almost wasn’t

In the midst of Iceland, we had been making surreptitious plans with Rainey (Sarah’s husband), to come down and surprise her for her birthday.  The ice threw a kink into those plans.  Serena volunteered to stay home to look after things, since she had to work Friday, anyway.  But we weren’t comfortable leaving her when it involved kerosene heaters and generators.  Enter our wonderful cousin, John Graham, who lives in Shelbyville.  He agreed to come out and be with Serena during the nights, and help her oversee the mechanical devices that were powering and heating the house.  His wife, Ann, took Serena to work Friday, after Serena hiked down to the end of the avenue.  (By then, we’d had a few more inches of snow over the ice to make the driveway even more treacherous.)  More on that in a minute. Continue reading “The surprise that almost wasn’t”

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The End of the World….. I mean Quarter Has Come

The End of the Quarter Has Come…….oh yeah…..dear family and friends too,

Mostly, the last week is here and then finals, which I won’t call a week because it is not. However, this is a first for me, since last quarter I only had one final and that was pretty easy, and this quarter I have four finals. Therefore, today you get an abbreviated version of my activities for the past week, and next week you probably won’t be hearing from me at all, as I doubt I’ll be able to unstick my face from my textbooks long enough to write an e-mail longer than “ask me after finals.” There is definitely nothing in the world quite like college ;)>

Tuesday- I took my second math midterm. If you want to know Continue reading “The End of the World….. I mean Quarter Has Come”

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Cute picture

I just thought everyone would like this, since we are pretty much all Narnia fans. A girl on my hall printed this out real big and put it on her door, that’s how I found out about it. Enjoy!narnia.jpg

Lydia

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DEATH comes to OSU campus (see Terry Pratchett’s “mort”)

Dear Friends and Family,

It was 2 pm, Friday afternoon when terror and death struck south campus. In one flash of movement, the beloved south campus celebrity, Whitey, so loved and cherished by OSU students, was cruelly murdered. Several students walking through the South Oval witnessed the aftermath of the attack. I personally was not there and did not see it happen, but when I read about it later in the newspapers, I thought it was rather funny. I was never a fan of Whitey’s, and on campus it really is survival of the fittest. I guess he got lulled into a false sense of security because of the attention he got from the students. Then one day, wham! That Hawk got an easy meal since the squirrel was albino and easy to spot from above. I’m surprised it lasted this long.

So now that the long reign of Whitey the celebrity squirrel has ended, perhaps life can go back to Continue reading “DEATH comes to OSU campus (see Terry Pratchett’s “mort”)”

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Now a member

Well, I have been forced and conscripted onto the blog by my wise and sometimes annoying father. I have been requested several times to take time out of my busy schedule to write a post, so here it goes. Life for the past several months has been an unending stream of school (now in my second year of high school) work, (at the kennel where Sarah, Lydia, and Andrew worked) and trying to clean the house and get some enjoyment out of life. Also Continue reading “Now a member”

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My dear humans…

Due to some longstanding misconceptions about my position in the household, and in anticipation of the upcoming holiday festivities, I have decidedQueen Midnight to modify my normal policy of non-verbal communication and instruct my “owner”, Dad, to post a few comments for me. Of course, I don’t want to impose (beyond the normal requirements of royalty), but merely to clarify what everyone around me knows quite well already. If you, my humans, will be so kind as to read and carefully observe the few rules I have posted below, our occasional and unfortunate misunderstandings may be kept to a minimum:

  1. Some of you are confused about my weight; I have even heard the word “fat” used in my vicinity. My responsibilities include night patrols, in case you haven’t noticed, and it gets cold in the dead of winter. Keeping warm requires extra fur and a little extra “me”, shall we say. Comprende?
  2. I’m a carnivore… you know- meat. Icky green stuff from your plate, fruit, other such… please, let’s not be insulting. The catfood is OK, though boring. Milk is better; cheese is interesting; what we need more of around here is m.e.a.t.
  3. About those insufferable, wiggly goofballs with collars– must we have them? Yes, I know, one of them was homeless and … (the origin of the other escapes me). Mergle (God rest him) did do us all a great service by beating that one- the short one– up and chasing it around the yard. I haven’t gotten around to doing it myself; the teeth are a problem; but I have a mind to. Must they act like infants all the time?? Serena, I understand you are in charge of the feeding; could you train some sense into them as well? If you don’t mind, teach them to bow in my presence. Once we get that done, I will consider keeping them around … for entertainment, I suppose.
  4. Cats (that’s me) rule. Humans (that’s you guys) obey. Not to be blunt, but… occasionally, a little reality is a good thing.

That’s all for now. You may post your replies and (adoring) comments below. Above all, be of good cheer– I accept you.

Fondly,

H.M. Midnight