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.

Yellow Shades Fashion Statement

Posted on October 23, 2013October 23, 2013 by Dusty Roads

A Wonderland of Stone Sculptures

Posted on October 22, 2013October 22, 2013 by Dusty Roads

That’s Utah. I haven’t been to Utah yet but I want to. One thing that’s holding me back is physical condition. I get around pretty good for an old gal but Utah has some amazing National Parks and Monuments and I want to see them all. Most of them require hiking…at least what I want to see.

Tops on my list is a sandstone formation that is actually in Arizona called The Wave. It’s located near the Arizona-Utah border, on the slopes of the Coyote Buttes , in the Paria Canyon -Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, on the Colorado Plateau. It is famous among hikers and photographers for its colorful, undulating forms, and the rugged, trackless hike required to reach it. Access to the area is by permit and only 20 are issued each day. The permits are by lottery which makes the odds really slim. Then there is a grueling hike in as that’s the only access. No vehicles, even off road/ four wheel are banned. All water, food, equipment has to be carried in and empty containers etc have to be carried back out. Kind of daunting.

Along with the Wave I want to visit Arches National Park. This park sees 3/4 of a million visitors each year and all agree that it is an extraordinary place. There are over 2000 natural stone arches that have been carved out of the salmon colored sandstone by natural forces, like the wind and rain.

Another often photographed and spectacular natural wonder is Bryce Canyon National Park. Whimsical spires and Hoodoos create a veritable fantasyland. These formations are all shades and colors.

Still exploring the wilderness I want to see Canyonlands National park. This is Utah’s largest National park and it’s divided into 3 sections, 4 if you count the Green and Colorado Rivers that slice it into a big watery Y.

But I’m not done yet, Capitol Reef National Park is long and narrow with some of the most surreally beautiful rock formations in all of the Southwest. How could I not want to go there!?

And there’s still more…Dinosaur National Monument is 210,000 acres of gorgeous canyons and mountains and one of the world’s largest dinosaur bone beds. With hikes here and hikes there I am wearing myself out just thinking about it!

Although there are more parks and monuments the last one on my list is Zion National Park. This is the oldest and considered by many to be the most beautiful of Utah’s parks. 1000 ft. walls of delicately hued sandstone tower above the Virgin River in Zion Canyon. Once again the park is described as “laced with trails” although there are some short , paved walks in the dramatic chasm.

Eventually everyone has to come in from the wild and I do want to see Salt Lake City and the Mormon Temple located in Temple Square, a 10 acres plot that now includes church administration buildings and a domed shaped building, home of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

There’s still more to Utah, like the animal rescue that’s featured in the “Dog Town” series on Animal Planet, but it’s time to move on to another state.

The count is now: 17 / 27

Everything’s Bigger in Texas

Posted on October 21, 2013October 21, 2013 by Dusty Roads

I promise…no bad Texas jokes. I mulled Texas over quite a bit before I decided it is going on the Yes Side of the ledger. Texas is such a big state that there’s no way to see everything and do everything in one vacation.

(Oh sorry, what was that about Texas jokes? )

I was in Dallas, Texas about 10 years ago. Back then I was selling Mary Kay Cosmetics and their home office is in Dallas so I was there for an annual Convention. I don’t remember exactly how many days I was in town but I think it was in August so it was hot! And when it’s hot, folks in Dallas disappear between 12-2 for a siesta! No one is on the streets.

I did get to see the “grassy knoll” and the “Book Depository” where Lee Harvey Oswald took the fatal shot that ended the life of President John F. Kennedy. The Sixth Floor Museum has a collection of photos and documents and news clippings from the time. The tour is a self guided tour with an audio tape, or it was at that time.

Of course if I was there for a Mary Kay convention then that was going to be the focus and it was quite impressive. We got to tour her offices on the 13th floor of the Mary Kay World Headquarters and we got to go to the Mary Kay museum. That made me think of seeing how flight attendants uniforms have changed over the years. There was a whole section of manikins dressed in the various Mary Kay uniforms from over the years.

So as you can see, I didn’t see very much of Texas. Next trip I want to see the Alamo. Founded near the San Antonio river in 1718, the Alamo became a symbol of Freedom for the nation and remains an iconic element of Texas independence.

While in San Antonio I want to explore the River Walk, a 3 mile, flagstone esplanade that winds amid tropical foliage along both sides of the San Antonio River.

Along the Mission Trail is Mission San Jose . Established in 1720, it is still an active parish and known as a photographer’s dream.

In Austin, located in Central Texas, we’d sample the Texas Barbecue. “They” say that Texas barbecue, especially central Texas barbecue, is so good that you don’t need barbecue sauce and some places don’t even bother to serve it! The very best barbecue is said to be around Austin. Texas Barbecue is usually beef but some pork can be located if one looks hard enough.

Oh dear, Running out of space again but we can revisit Texas another time. There’s rodeos to consider, vintage train rides and National Parks, space center Houston and mountains in West Texas. There’s even a “Birding Trail.” Yup it’s called the Great Texas Birding Trail and more than half of the recorded species of North America can be found along here. And we can’t forget that Texas has a Gulf Coast. So there’s much,much more to cover in Texas!

Score 17/26

Cracking the Bigfoot/Yeti Legend

Posted on October 20, 2013October 20, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Can it be true? Has science finally solved the legend of the Yeti?

A British scientist has told ABC news that he tested the DNA of hairs found in the Himalayas and it is a match to a prehistoric polar bear.

Bryan Sykes compared DNA from hair samples taken from two Himalayan animals — identified by local people as Yetis — to a database of animal genomes. He found they shared a genetic fingerprint with a polar bear jawbone found in the Norwegian Arctic that is at least 40,000 years old.

Sykes said Thursday that the tests showed the creatures were not related to modern Himalayan bears but were direct descendants of the prehistoric animal.

He said, “it may be a new species, it may be a hybrid” between polar bears and brown bears.

“The next thing is go there and find one.”

I guess the folks at “Finding Bigfoot” can relax and keep filming. The search will go on.

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In other news those sneaky felines are at it again.

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — A cat has been busted for smuggling pot into a prison in Moldova.

Guards became suspicious about the feline, which routinely entered and left the prison through a hole in a fence, when they noticed its odd collar. On closer inspection, they found two packets of marijuana attached to it.

The Department of Penitentiary Institutions said Friday that someone in the village of Pruncul was using the cat as a courier to supply inmates with dope at the local prison.

Whoever the human was, this wasn’t a first regarding cat couriers at lockups.

In June, guards caught a cat carrying cellphones and chargers taped to its belly to inmates in Penal Colony No. 1 near the city of Syktyvkar in northern Russia.

Hmmm That puts a new spin on cat burglars.