Back From the North

Sorry I haven't been out and about in the Blog World this past weekend. We spent the weekend up in the Adirondacks visiting our cabin and dropping off a bunch of appliances we bought so the contractor can have them installed for us: a propane-run instant hot water heater, a propane wall heater, propane lights (they're like gaslights, and will likely be a good way to get light without needing electricity), and a shower apparatus to install in the bathroom.

When we first made our way up the gravel road to the cabin, we were surprised to find that a fairly large tree had fallen across the road - directly before the driveway to our property. So we had to cart all the heavy boxes up the side of the hill to reach the cabin instead of parking directly next to it! It wasn't until we'd gotten everything up there that we realized the obvious solution: We should have driven the Jeep up the hill. Sure enough, it went right up with no problem, even though it was a steep hill and had no gravel or anything to make it easier. We are still not thinking like Jeep owners, I guess!

Giggles over at Wits and Wiggles was talking about getting back in touch with her inner "nature girl" and I must say that I am feeling the same way whenever we go up to the Adirondacks. When I was young I was very into birdwatching and my mother was always showing me wildflowers in the woods. Living in semi-urban New Jersey for my whole adult life, it was harder and harder to find anything worth looking at. Now that I'm able to go to a location that is rich with wildlife, I'm getting back into what I enjoyed so much when I was younger.

This was another good visit in terms of seeing and hearing interesting wildlife. On our way up the main road, we saw an actual porcupine waddling along the side of the road! He looked up at us and started to head into the woods before I could get out my camera. He must have been somewhat alarmed by our presence because his quills started to rise on his back. Neither of us had ever seen a real porcupine before!

Then while we were sitting out on our deck having lunch we heard a strange call in the woods. It went on for quite awhile. We couldn't tell if it was an animal or a bird. After Googling "coyote calls" and "wolf howls" on the Blackberry I decided it was neither of those. When we got home I was able to do a more thorough search and found that the spooky sound was a Barred Owl. Go here to listen to what we heard. (Go to the Barred Owl and click on the link called "typical"). I was surprised because it was still daylight and I didn't realize owls were out during the day.

I also came across some great wildflowers - I saw a Jack in the Pulpit and also a whole bunch of Trillium. I even managed to take some pictures of it without them turning out all blurry. Here is one of them:

Here is another attempt at nature photography - the new ferns popping up among the leaves around the pond:

While I was walking along the roadway, I saw an Ovenbird, but didn't get a picture of that. I am amazed that anyone can manage to get great pictures of birds. It is a real skill. Of course, they probably have better cameras with very close-up lenses, unlike my point and shoot variety.

Speaking of Nature, we discovered that Something has been destroying trees around our cabin. Check this out:
This was a perfectly good tree. Now it has three huge holes in it. There are also several farther up in the tree on the other side. After seeing this, we noticed a bunch of other trees in the woods with similar damage, some done recently and some that was obviously from previous years. We can only conclude that it is caused by our friends, the impressive, beautiful, Pileated Woodpeckers, which I decided after Googling "Pileated Woodpecker Damage." (See below - note pile of wood chips like ours).

I was so thrilled to see them when we were up there last fall. Now I'm starting to think of them as a menace to the forest!

So much for Nature! Now I'll move on to our other adventures.

During this visit we also put the Jeep to another test. First we took it around to the other end of the Jeep trail that runs past our cabin again. Since we'd done it last time, I was feeling very brave. I even got out and took a picture of one of the somewhat challenging parts of the road. Here is the stretch of road, followed by the Jeep making its way up:

We then decided to do something even more daring. We turned down a side trail off of that road, and headed toward Lake George. We didn't even know whether it went all the way through. As we went along, it got less and less like a road and more and more like a bunch of rocks strewn along a narrow ledge; the hill sloped steeply away from the edge of the trail. At any moment I expected the trail to end abruptly with a bunch of trees and couldn't even imagine trying to back up! I also envisioned tumbling over the side of the cliff to my right if the Jeep tipped too much going over a rock.

I didn't get any pictures of this road. I was too busy holding on for dear life, closing my eyes and calling on the Diety to protect us. Even Diva was nervous - she was panting the whole time!

We did finally make it through to the road that goes along Lake George - and lived to tell the tale. And, the Jeep made it through with no problem! I guess that's what they're made for! I even made up a new motto for Jeep, based on the fact that the GPS map was showing no road where we were driving. "Just because the road ends doesn't mean you have to stop!"

I'll end with a few more pictures of the cabin and the surroundings. It was wonderful to be away from it all. We didn't even watch television while we were up there this time. However, we still got our newspapers and learned that Souter plans to retire from the Supreme Court. In the next post, it is Baxter's turn to do a news roundup so we'll get back into current events then.

Here is the cabin with its new green metal roof:

The new slate underneath the woodstove, and the new pine flooring that was installed. Now it just needs to be stained.

Birches reflecting in the pond.

Scenery along the Jeep trail.Views of Lake George.The little public beach on Lake George that is nearest to our cabin.

Cognitive Dissonance

Yes, I know there are lots of important issues to blog about, but since I've been busy at work everyone else has already blogged about them. Corrupt Illinois governor. Joe the Plumber dissing McCain. Etc.

So instead, I'll talk about my feelings about our new vehicle.

As Baxter told you, DH and I went out and bought a new Jeep Wrangler Rubicon on Saturday, which we picked up from the dealer on Monday evening.

As you know, we had decided to buy a Jeep in order to be able to get up the hill to our property in the Adirondacks. While our cars are able to get up there with no problem in nice weather, even a little snow makes it impossible, since the road is not paved and the gravel isn't even maintained by the town. And I imagine the Mud Season (April, when the snows start melting) would be equally difficult.

So we have every reason to own this Jeep. But I have a certain amount of mixed emotions about owning it.

First of all, it is not subtle. It is red. Very red. We are not Red Car People. We are both attracted to light metallic blues and silvers, navy, or black when it comes to car colors. But the only standard shift Jeep that the dealership had was Flame Red. And it had everything we wanted and more, for going off road in the Adirondacks. Plus they offered us $6000 off the price. (By the way, part of that was an AARP discount. If you're 50 or above and are holding out on joining AARP, put aside your false pride and take advantage of everything they offer!).

Secondly, it is BIG. It bears a certain resemblance to a Hummer. We are not Hummer/SUV Type People either. We have been Saab people for 23 years and would be Prius people too if we didn't insist on driving a standard shift. I am feeling liberal-environmental guilt about the gas mileage. It only gets 19 mpg on the highway, according to the EPA estimate. I'll have to see what it gets in reality.

I feel as if I should have a bumper sticker on the back saying, "Yes, I really DO use this to drive off road!" and/or "My Other Car gets 32 miles per gallon."

Third, it is very high off the ground. In order for me to clamber into it, I have to hold on to the steering wheel and pull myself up with all my strength. (I assume if we buy the running board, which is an add-on, it might help).

Fourth, it rides like, well, a Jeep. Or a truck. I'm not used to that either. It's not that it's that bumpy, particularly, but I feel as if I'm so high up that it will tip over any minute so I tend to drive it very cautiously. It definitely doesn't handle like our other cars. I'm sure that feeling of instability will change as I get used to it.

On the plus side, it will DEFINITELY get up that hill, and we can't wait to go try it out. We'll probably go up on the weekend after New Year's and test it out. I think it will be a lot of fun to drive around up there in general, as there are jeep trails all around the area. We'll be able to see parts of the Adirondacks that aren't accessible to regular cars - including the rest of the road that our cabin is on.

And of course the satellite radio is great; I had it on the 70's station today. We're going to take turns driving the Jeep to work, so I'm going to get spoiled with the satellite radio and not want to go back to the regular stations when I don't have the Jeep. And the navigation system is a lot of fun to play with too.

Best of all, there is NO WAY I can lose it in our new parking lot. I came out of work tonight and there it was, blazing like a beacon from a distance. I couldn't miss it if I tried!

A Cat's Eye View

Baxter here. It's about Time I finally get to Blog! My Female Human hogged the Blog all through November practically. Now she's Too Busy and is happy to let Me do the Work!

Well, it's been an Interesting Month, and it continues to be Interesting. The Obama Human who is now, thankfully, the President-Elect, has made a lot of announcements about the appointments to his Cabinet. It finally feels as if there is a Grown-Up taking charge of this Mess.

However, there is still a lot of Idiocy out there. Would you Believe that some Human Nutjob who, I'm ashamed to say, is from my own State of New Jersey, has filed a Lawsuit to try to get the Obama Human declared Ineligible to be President? And Justice Clarence Thomas agreed to have the SCOTUS decide whether or not to take the Case? (This after Justice Souter turned it down previously). According to Salon, it is just one of many Lawsuits that may come up to try to prevent President-Elect Obama from becoming President.

"The people hoping this is a sign the court will agree with them and stop Obama from becoming president are almost certain to be let down. The fact that the case has gone to conference doesn't mean anything about its merits -- the court will also be deciding whether to take up a number of other cases, and the chances that the suit will actually be heard is exceedingly small. Eugene Volokh, a law professor at UCLA, has calculated that over the past eight years the court has considered in conference 842 cases that sought a stay. Only 60 of them were actually heard. Seven hundred and eighty-two were denied.

But that doesn't matter. The faux controversy isn't going to go away soon. Yes, Obama was born in Hawaii, and yes, he is eligible to be president. But according to several experts in conspiracy theories, and in the psychology of people who believe in conspiracy theories, there's little chance those people who think Obama is barred from the presidency will ever be convinced otherwise."

Worse yet, Salon goes on to say that even if this case is not heard by the Court, that won't be the end of it - even after January 20th.

"We could be dealing with the repercussions of the tangled web these people have woven for years after Obama is inaugurated. We already have some hints of what's to come. Gary Kreep, who heads the United States Justice Foundation and is representing Alan Keyes in one of the lawsuits over the president-elect's eligibility, has said his group will file suit to challenge each and every one of Obama's actions as president.

He may well inspire others. There are a surprising number of people out there -- tax protesters, for instance -- who rely on similarly creative legal thinking based on conspiracy theories for their defense. So don't be too surprised if, sometime after Jan. 20, defendants in federal trials suddenly claim they can't be prosecuted. If Obama isn't really president, then laws he signs have no effect, Department of Justice prosecutors have no authority and judges he appoints aren't legally judges. Anyone who tells you otherwise is just part of the conspiracy."

I'm only a Cat, so what do I know, but doesn't it seem like Cutting Off Your Nose to Spite Your Face, if you are an American and you try to sabotage the Presidency and prevent your Government from functioning during the Worst Recession in the past 50 Years? Wouldn't it be better to hope that this President can actually Fix Things? This is how Crazy these Humans are, and how Full of Hate. They don't care about their Country - not one bit!

Moving on. My Tail starts to Puff Up when I get too Annoyed with these Nutjobs. I have to Compose Myself now and wash my Tail to get it back to normal. I'll be right Back.

****
OK, I feel Better now. Let's see, where was I? Oh, now I remember. I came across this story on CNN.com about President-Elect Obama's 27-year-old Speechwriter Jon Favreau. Apparently he had a Good Time one night and posted some pictures on Facebook of him and a friend trying to feed a cardboard cutout of the Hillary Clinton Human (now nominated as Obama's Secretary of State) a Beer, and worse yet, had his hand where her, well, Chest is. Check it Out:

He has since taken down the Incriminating Picture and apologized to the Clinton Human.

My Female Human is always Careful of what she puts on her Blog. In fact, she felt Very Daring when she posted the Picture of herself and That Dog in the snow by their Cabin last week. That was the closest anyone had seen her Face yet!

In Other Exciting News, my Humans have purchased a New Vehicle. Yes, it is a Jeep. The Male Human had hoped to continue driving his Old Saab (1985 Saab 900 with 249,000 miles on it) to Work. However, it seems to be leaking Water and he's worried it will be something Expensive to Fix. Plus they realized when they were up at that Cabin they go to, that they just can't get up the Hill with their Car if it snows. Not even if it's only a couple of Inches.

So today they went to a Dealership and scored a 2008 brand new Jeep Wrangler Rubicon - the highest-end, fanciest version of the Wrangler, complete with every Add-On for Off Roading that there is, for a price well below what it was Listed For. It is Red and very Snazzy, with a 6-speed Manual Transmission, 4-wheel Drive, and a lot of Fancy Stuff that Cats don't understand, but apparently the Male Human is quite sure it will make it up the Hill to the Cabin even if there are four feet of Snow on the ground. He and my Female Human both test-drove it and liked it. And it has Satellite Radio and a Navigation System. I don't quite know what That is all about but they are Happy. And they even said because it's the 4-door version that there is plenty of Room for Me if they decide to Bring me up There. We'll see.

It looks like this, but the Red isn't quite as Orange:

That's it for Now. I'm going to go have some Catnip and Relax. I hope you all enjoy the Remainder of your Weekends.