Friday, April 24, 2009

Carmi - You've Got Me Standing on the Tide Box!

Bambi, he was such a darling wasn't he? Big brown eyes, creamy white spots and not a destructive bone in his body! If it were only true. If the real Bambi's of the world were those sweet darling creatures that Walt created for us on the big screen, I wouldn't be pounding on my keyboard right now.

It seems that there are some issues in my friend Carmi's area with our lovely odocoileus virginianus becoming over populated and causing some problems. It is a familiar situation.

Years back, in a local park, the deer population was out of control. Bambi and his mom were starving. The two and their cohorts had managed to decimate close to 350 species of flora and fauna below the browse line in the park.

Bambi was breeding with his sister and she was giving birth to babies with 3 legs and two heads. Bambi was playing in traffic and frequently he wasn't the only one who lost. In otherwords, bad things were happening because there were too many Bambis!

The decision was made to cull the herd. What?! Cried the people. Kill the deer for their own good. We shall do no such thing. That is not humane! (Forget they are animals not people). So started a litany of 'experiments' to reduce the deer population. Here are just a few:

Birth control injections: In a three year period the drug was administered 279 times. The deer herd grew from 190 to 347 deer. Uh....I got nothing here.

February 1993: one deer shot by sharpshooter. Media attacked the event with major errors in reporting and the public went MAD (as in crazy). Shooting was suspended.

1993-1994: 526 deer were relocated from 4 parks. Mortality rates were 19% to 79% for those deer. Dear me...not very humane.

In 1995 the decision was made to quietly reduce the population (at that time 450 head per square mile) with the help of sharp shooters. This plan was highly successful and very cost effective. The population was reduced to a much more humane 20 -40 deer per square mile. The venison was donated to a local food pantry (very humane) and the flora and fauna have been allowed to regenerate. Car/deer collisions in the area have been reduced significantly. The culling continues on a yearly basis.

I am all for the culling of Bambi and his extended family via a deer slug. It isn't that I am overly concerned for the disappearing vegetation, though I do love nature. And I don't spend alot of time worrying about Bambi's with two heads (there is always the freak show at the fair). I do hate to see an animal starve to death though, so shooting them certainly takes priority over that.
What I do feel very strongly about and sure you will understand, is this:

My daughter was driving this vehicle when a 10 point buck jumped in front of her. She never saw him coming. In her words, "he fell from the sky." The insurance company totaled this Oldsmobile Bravada.

When I saw the damage inflicted by that buck, I nearly vomited. I was brought to tears with the knowledge my beautiful child had walked away from this twisted, mangled mess.

She had never made the first payment, owning it only two weeks. You will never know how grateful I am it was this vehicle she was driving. For if she had been driving her previous owned car, a Saturn coupe, I am certain she would be dead.

So Carmi, an overpopulation of deer is a dangerous thing. All sarcasm aside, they are stunning creatures with a place in our ecosystem. But whenever something becomes unbalanced bad things happen. If mother nature cannot take care of her own, then it is up to us to help her.
Don't let what happened to my daughter happen to yours...you may not be as lucky.

Dawn

click to enlarge


Brigid poses a wonderful question of us...do you ever rise early enough to see the dawn?

I find that when I am surrounded by the hustle and bustle of the city the dawn passes me by. I pull the covers over my head, snuggle down with the warmth of the body next to me and hope for a few more minutes of sleep.

But when I am at the lake and the world is quiet and the land is far reaching, my eyes pop open before the light reaches the terra firma. I eagerly leave my nest, choosing a spot facing the east and wait patiently for the show to start.


It is dawn, it is different every day and it is never disappointing.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Perspective

Does it change your perspective when you look at the world through the round lens of a camera and then again through something else that is round? I think it just might make things appear to be a bit softer...something we all need now and again.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Life is Like That

It is inevitable, all good things must come to an end. Life is like that. But if you are lucky and the universe aligns just right, you will have something to cherish, something to fill the void that is left where flowers once bloomed or words rolled from tongues. Life is like that.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Twenty-One

Twenty-one...it is the sum of the first six integers.

Twenty-one...it is the legal drinking age in the United States

Twenty-one...it is the atomic number of scandium

Twenty-one...it is the name of a card and basketball game

Twenty-one...it is the number of spots on a cubical die

Twenty-one...it is the Constitutional amendment that overturned prohibition

Twenty-one...it is the number of years you have been dead

Twenty-one...it is the weight of the soul according to Dr. Duncan MacDougall

Twenty-one...it is the number of years I have missed you and hoped yours is finally at peace

Monday, April 13, 2009

Catching Up!

Sorry to have been MIA...I have been busy lately, doing things for me...reading, quilting, taking pictures.

I have finished two quilts, one each for my girls. Fabric scraps that have been sitting around for as long as twenty five years...fabric that once was fashioned into sundresses for tiny toddlers with blond curls, rosy cheeks and lips that were sweet and kissable. How long ago those days were.

These quilts are not beautiful nor are they works of art. They are what they are...cloth stitched together to form squares that were then stitched together to form a larger square...a patchwork of memories. Something to crawl under on a cold night or perhaps to wrap around a newborn someday in the future.

I handed one to each of them this past weekend and together we walked down memory lane. Reminiscing about what pattern had been cut into what form. Some of the patterns and prints have no memory for them, for they were still cradled in my arms swaddled in the weave of the fibers. So it is up to me to form the visions for them.

I felt my eyes glaze over as I told tales of pink gingham, polka dots, and florals fashioned into ruffles, dresses, costumes, bonnets and bows. Recollections of Easters, weddings, Christmas' and summer days decked out in whatever was fresh off the Singer. Memories.....

Though the quilts are similar to the other in color and style...each is also crafted with the personality of recipient in mind. One is quilted with hearts, the other with symbols of music. For there is a daughter who's heart guides her through life and the other who always has a song poised on her lips.

It was with this sentiment I gave to them these creations of woven thread...for my girls, each is as different and unique as her quilt...one is my heart and the other, my song.

I See You!

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