Here comes Santa Claus , here comes…

Posted on October 28, 2013October 28, 2013 by Dusty Roads

It isn’t even Halloween! We still have to get through Thanksgiving! But Taunton, the Christmas City, is already beginning to prepare for the big display on the Taunton Green.

In a way I can forgive them. They do go all out when they decorate and often they have to build some of the displays to avoid repeating too many from the past. They try to make it new and different each year.

I think Taunton usually has a “lighting Ceremony” the first week in December but more and more surrounding communities are lighting up in mid- November, even before Thanksgiving!

Last year was the first time I noticed the way the display seemed to grow. Before I never paid any attention. I’d just be driving home one night and there it was, all lit up… Just like magic !

They are building something around the fountain again but the design is different. This green and white thing showed up Friday. I’m making guesses in my head as to what this will be. Maybe a drum? Will they build another Jack-in-the- box?

Last year I had my doubts as I watched this huge box get built in the middle of the green. I really thought it was going to be ugly. In the end it wasn’t bad at all.

I don’t think it was as nice as the year they surrounded the fountain with angel heralds but that’s just my opinion.

Now that I’m working from home I’ll be able to sneak down to check on the progress better than in years past.

It’s going to be fun watching the scene unfold.

Animal Antics

Posted on October 27, 2013October 27, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Have you all heard of or seen the “People of Walmart” emails and posts that float around the internet? Well, a Walmart in Florida had a switch on the typical tacky dressed customer. This customer needed some serious dry skin treatment. This guy really had a bad case of alligator skin!

APOPKA, Fla. (AP) — A 6-foot alligator made an unwelcome appearance at the front door of a central Florida Wal-Mart. The incident happened Sunday morning in Apopka, outside Orlando. The gator stopped in the entryway, causing the automatic doors to open and close until employees locked them. Orlando television station WKMG (http://hrld.us/1b5psYE) reports Apopka police officers tried to lure the gator away as customers gathered to watch and take pictures.

The gator took off toward the nearby woods. Officers searched the area but couldn’t find it.

No one was injured.

Didn’t anyone think to call the Gator Boys?

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Oh No! Cat Lover Alert! Does Petting Your Kitty Stress It Out?

Could petting your cat really stress the animal out? Headlines started appearing last week about a study that supposedly showed just that. Luckily one of the study’s authors stepped in with a calming update. Stating that the study had been misinterpreted, Rupert Palme of the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, Austria, assured cat owners that they “can carry on stroking their four-legged friends without worry.”

As an example of how petting can stress out a cat, here are some pictures of my cats after a “petting” session.

Buddy:

Smokey:

Rocky:

I can tell they are very stressed out…can’t you?

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Ladies, we are not alone!

A new headline:

Hot Flashes in Cold Waters? Killer Whales Undergo Menopause

This rare evolutionary trait may enable older females to help offspring survive.

According to the article, Killer whales have been revealed to be one of only three species whose females are known to undergo menopause—living on long after their reproductive years in order to help their offspring, particularly their sons, survive the rigors of young adulthood and later to help raise their grandchildren. It is a rare evolutionary trait, shared with humans and pilot whales.

The article goes on to say that they haven’t really been able to determine if the whales actually suffer from hot flashes.

And that’s the latest from the world of Animal News! 🙂

Virginia

Posted on October 26, 2013October 26, 2013 by Dusty Roads

I struggled with this state too. Virginia has so many things to offer to the exploring tourist and I’ve seen so few but I have been in the state for more than an change of planes. My brother and his family live in Virginia and I’ve been to visit them for more than a day or two. I’ve also been to Arlington National Cemetery.

Speaking of Arlington National Cemetery, this is where you have to go if you want to understand the true cost of war. Row upon row of nearly identical white headstones march across the the rolling acres of grass. More than 300,000 veterans from the Revolutionary War to Iraq have been laid to rest here.

This is where you can find the Tomb of the Unknowns and pay your respects to those lost and never recovered or identified. Those brave soldiers who have never been able to return home to their loved ones in life or in death.

John F. Kennedy is also buried here where the eternal flame is maintain for all time, marking the resting place of a president, a commander in chief.

Shenandoah Valley – Shenandoah is a Native American word meaning “Daughter of the Stars”. My brother lives in near here and another friend has gone rafting down the lazy river. I’d like to take the time to explore the Shenandoah National Park.

For me, there’s another must see…Chincoteague. The Eastern Shore runs from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (A marvel all it’s own) to the Maryland border. At the northern end of the shoreline is the island the Indians called Chincoteague; ‘Beautiful land Across the Waters” . A band of wild horses makes this island their home. Made famous in the book and later the movie , Misty of Chincoteague, the band is actually split into two herds, one located on Virginia’s side and the other on Maryland’s. There’s a yearly round up and auction in July to control the size of the herd.

Monticello, the dream home of Thomas Jefferson is located in Charlottesville , VA. Only 11 of the first floor rooms are open to the public but still worth a stop.

The vacation I am toying with for 2014 is historic Colonial Williamsburg. Colonial Williamsburg recreates the period from 1750-1775, the end of the Colonial era. Reenactors dressed in period clothing and speaking the dialect of the time roam the cobblestone streets.

There’s still so much more to Virginia…The Blue Ridge Parkway, George Washington’s beloved Mount Vernon, Busch Gardens, and many civil war sites such as Fredericksburg, Lexington, Manassas and Appomattox, and historic Richmond.

I have one last shout out to another blogger and new B &B owner. I want to visit Bell Grove Plantation. I’ve watched the B&B their get ready for their launch and now they are “live” so I really want to visit to see it in person. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Belle-Grove-Plantation-at-Port-Conway/271783509524776?id=271783509524776&sk=app_190322544333196

So although I’m adding Virginia to the yes side of the countdown, it really needs one or more repeat visits to see it all.

The tally now stands at 19/27

Vermont , The Northeast Kingdom

Posted on October 25, 2013October 25, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Actually the Northeast Kingdom is only a small section of Vermont, the northeast corner comprising Essex, Orleans and Caledonia counties. I’m going to address the whole state of Vermont. Vermont is on the YES side of the ledger. Like the other New England States it is close enough that I can take day trips or a scenic drive on my way to visit family in upstate New York. Growing up we had a Sunday afternoon tradition of driving to Vermont to look for deer.

White Tail deer were abundant then, and maybe still are. I haven’t made that pilgrimage in a long time. But back then we’d take a drive over to Poultney, Vermont and drive the back roads of the mostly rural area. As dusk fell the deer would begin to come out of the trees and into the fields and pastures. Sometimes we’d see 20 or more deer, mostly does but an occasional buck would turn up. We’d pull over and pass around a pair of binoculars so we could each take a turn looking.

Sometimes we’d stop at a farm stand and get a treat of real Maple Sugar Candy.

I remember we usually took the Ferry across Lake Champlain. I thought the Ferry was at Crown Point but a few years ago they torn down the Crown Point Bridge and ferry service filled in while the new bridge was being built so maybe I’m wrong about the ferry we took. I was too young to drive. I was just a kid riding with the family.

As an adult living in Massachusetts I often took the “northern route” when I went home to visit. That took me up to Concord NH the across Vermont through Rutland finally crossing into NY via RT 149 . Lately that route has been getting a lot of attention as a hot spot for Bigfoot. As many times as I drove this road I never saw anything remotely resembling a Bigfoot, maybe a cow or horse or two, but no Bigfoot.

Vermont is known for it’s Ski Areas and the Green Mountains. It is absolutely a beautiful state. On my last drive through I stopped at a farm stand for the best apples I have ever tasted. A little farther on I stopped at Quechee Gorge for quick photo op.

One of my high school classmates lives near Mad River Valley . He posts awesome photos of the area on FB. You can check out his work at https://www.facebook.com/pages/American-PhotoArt-Gallery/90884206988

At the nearby Sugarbush Resort known mostly for skiing, I was privileged to play an amazing round of golf. It was hard to stay focused teeing off on beautiful elevated tees, surrounded by vibrant fall colors. It is a wonderful memory even if I’m not the best golfer.

For the skiers you will recognize names like Jay Peak, Killington, Okemo Mountian, Stowe. The first Ski Tow was a long loop of rope hooked to a Model T Ford engine and strung at the base of Gilbert’s Hill in Woodstock. The year was 1934.

I’m running out of space but a few things I still want to do:

Attend the Father’s Day Hot Air Balloon Festival at Quechee Gorge
Attend the Annual Vermont Maple Festival in St Albans
Explore the Long Trail (The oldest long-distance hiking trail in the US)

Vermont is beautiful year round, not just in the ski season. The count now..18/27

Bring on the Heat

Posted on October 24, 2013October 24, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Last year I was trying to figure out a way to make my orange cat, Rocky (you may know him better as Editor -in – Chief )

relax and stop over grooming. I started using Feliway which is a pheromone diffuser and that seemed to help some.

Rocky also like to “escape” out into the hall where he happily chirps at the sun spots and rolls on them. My apartment is on the shaded side of the building so I don’t get too many sunspots. I began to think I was depriving him of a basic cat right, to lounge in a sun spot. This got me to thinking about how lizards and reptiles like to bask in the sun. So on a trip to Petco I picked up one of the sun lamps they use in the reptile cages.

Rocky took to it right away.

Then suddenly, this spring he seemed to lose interest. I turned it on for him a few times and he’d sniff around it and then walk away. I had no idea what had changed but I wasn’t about to waste electricity running a heat lamp he wasn’t using. Neither Smokey nor Buddy showed any interest so I packed it away.

The first really cool, fall weather finally hit today. About noontime Rocky started wandering around meowing quietly. It was a very sad, plaintive kind of meow. Then he hopped on the desk and got in my face. I took a time out to pet him but that didn’t seem to satisfy him.

Then a light bulb seemed to go off. Could he want his heat lamp? I pulled it out and plugged it in. After a couple of experimental sniffs he stretched out and was down for the count.