The Watering Hole; Friday January 30 2015; Ice Geese

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We’ve had some weird weather here the last couple of weeks. First it rained, then it got cold, then it snowed, then it got COLD, then it stayed cold for a few days, then it got sunny and really warm. Most of the snow melted; the frozen lake stayed mainly frozen except for a few thawed spots along parts of the shoreline. On the warmest day, we took a couple of hours and a camera along with us on a leisurely walk around the lake. The local goose population was there in force, and was clearly enjoying the ice, the water, and even the sheltered corner where the ice was still snow covered.

Following are a few photos from that day, none of which need a caption or further description — they are what they are, sotospeak. Take a look, enjoy the view, and if you can, please explain to me how it is that any critter anywhere can stand for hours on the ice ON ONE LEG while sleeping. Me, I’ve decided not to try it, but still . . . 😀

Beckwith geese 775

Tree GeeseGeese and reflections 801

Geese on ice 798I’m thinking that being a goose is kinda cool. About the only hassle they have in life is the idiot with a gun — but I guess that we humans also have THAT problem. I do know a few folks who can stand on one leg in that yoga “tree” pose, but I’m not one of them, either.

Maybe in the next life? Nah. Prolly not. Life ain’t THAT fair!

Anyway, that’s all for today. Feel free to chatter away on whatever happens to tweek the imagination.

OPEN THREAD

 

 

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41 thoughts on “The Watering Hole; Friday January 30 2015; Ice Geese”

  1. So the Keystone XL bill passed the senate, and in so doing had the support of nine Democrats, including Colorado’s remaining “progressive” Democrat, Michael Bennet.

    I’ve written a letter to Bennet, and am posting it here and and perhaps in other public places on the web for all to see, perhaps to inspire others to respond to the Keystone abomination. It reads thus:

    Senator Bennet:

    Your Senate vote in favor of the Keystone XL pipeline demonstrates for all to see that you care nothing about the environmental consequences — real and potential — of that abominable project. I also assume you have been bought and paid for by the financial interests underlying the project — there are NO other reasons for anyone to support its construction.

    Be advised, therefore, that you have lost my support for your reelection in 2016, and further that I shall do all in my power to influence all fellow Democrats within my reach to dismiss completely your candidacy. If we can find an alternate to support, we shall do that. If not, if you’re the sole non-Republican on the ballot, we will leave that part of the ballot blank.

    I should add that I’ve been registered to vote since 1964, and this is the first time in those 51 years that a candidate I’ve supported has so viciously let me down.

    Have a nice day.

    It likely won’t change his mind, but his actions sure changed mine.

      • So do I. Feel free to use all or any part of the above if you decide to contact him. I know it won’t change anything, but when silence means more that it ought to, it doesn’t hurt to shout.

        • Thanks, I may well use your words. I can scrape his bumpersticker off my truck myself. 🙂

  2. Less than a month into the new Congress & the Koch Bros are getting their money’s worth.

  5. I’m seeing promos for a ‘Morning Joe at Night’ special tonight in place of Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow. I guess Chris Matthews gets to send us to prison tonight.

    • I refuse to even watch The Scar on MSNBC’s internet stream (we abandoned cable more than a decade ago). I will say, though, that if MSNBC’s current streaming methodology is any indication of its overall quality, it’s pulling the network down at least as much as ‘Morning Joe’ has — and that’s WAY down.

      • No, I was home sick. I’ve had a cold-like thing going on all month,. and after being outside shoveling Tuesday, it hit me hard Wednesday and Thursday mornings. I was able to get some work done from home, and I went in to the office today. But I could use the rest this weekend.

        Thanks for asking. 🙂

  8. Years ago I watched some ducks landing on Green Lake in Seattle. When ducks land (wait. is it landing if they’re plopping onto water?) they lean back a bit, stick their feet out on front and gently plop their butts into the water. It’s actually an elegant move. Unless the lake is frozen solid, in which case they look very silly and thoroughly confused as they spin around out of control. I’m sorry, but I laughed.

        • I don’t get fights because the dominant bird has already been established. She’s the one who sits while drinking and leaves when she’s ready. The other bird just hovers while effectively looking over her shoulder the whole time. Case closed.

          • I’ll have to video them this spring. she does sit there drinking, but there are two to three who try to run each other off as to get the next drink. This is a different case I suppose.

    • I’m beginning to hope there is a Rapture and it will be very, very soon.
      Swoop up the stupid and take them away, leaving the sane!

  10. Sharia law is gaining a foothold in Michigan, President Obama is blocking the sale of miracle drugs and Satan is commanding the gay rights movement. But Sarah Palin has uncovered the most menacing threat to America of them all: criticism of Sarah Palin.

    Fox News contributor and RedState founder Erick Erickson sells out his RedState.com email list to questionable sponsors who prey on the conspiracy-minded and science-averse.

    According to Media Matters, one email to Erickson’s list claimed that the federal government is suppressing a miracle cancer cure that healed Ronald Reagan. Another warned that President Obama and the FDA could kill “over 45 million Americans…including you” because they are refusing to release a “secret” cure to cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s.

    Upset that Fox News host Bill O’Reilly mocked the prospect of Palin and fellow reality television star Donald Trump running for president as a “reality show,” Palin charged that O’Reilly is trying to undermine the conservative movement just as it prepares to take on Hillary Clinton.

    Palin fumed that “quasi-right” media outlets like Fox News should wake up to the fact that “this is a war” against Clinton and should help the GOP unify and “surface the competitor who can take on Hillary or whomever it may be and win for this country.”

    The preposterous right-wing conspiracy theory that the city of Dearborn, Michigan, is controlled by Sharia law has long been completely discredited, but that of course hasn’t stopped the Family Research Council’sTony Perkins and Jerry Boykin from promoting it.

    Perkins recently spoke with Frank Gaffney, a fellow anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist, about the supposed rise of Sharia law in the U.S., and unsurprisingly, Gaffney joined in on the frenzy and referred to the city as “Dearbornistan.” This might be news to the city’s residents, including one Army veteran who was able to find no shortage of stores selling haram goods like ham and liquor, along with a gentleman’s club, despite the claims of right-wing activists that the city is now imposing Sharia law.

    National Organization for Marriage founder Maggie Gallagher and prominent Proposition 8 supporter Rick Warren, warned that marriage equality for same-sex couples represents an even “graver threat” to society than divorce “because what is now given the name of marriage in law is a parody of marriage.” By legalizing same-sex marriage, the statement reads, “a kind of alchemy is performed, not merely on the institution, but on human nature itself,” since same-sex marriage apparently “disregards the created order, threatens the common good and distorts the Gospel.” The statement even claims that marriage equality will turn children “in important legal respects, the property of the state.”

    http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/paranoia-rama-satans-homosexual-agenda-obama-s-deadly-secrets-and-sarah-palin-exposes-fox-ne

    • The one thing I can’t get a firm grip on is the percentage of religious wingnuts are just plain stupid as opposed to the percentage of religious wingnuts who are just plain seditious. What’s the ratio? They ALL are one or the other, right?

  11. You’ll need to have this handy

    or this

    Jim Bob’s Niece Was Born Out of Wedlock

    The aspiring country singer, 28, shared a photo of her parents Deanna Duggar and Terry Jordan, writing: “The tabloids are telling the truth. My mom and dad did have me out of wedlock. Just because we are Christians doesn’t make us perfect, it just makes us forgiven.”

    “Just because I share the Duggar name doesn’t mean my life is perfect!” she wrote. “God knew my uncle would have a hit show and that somehow I would be apart of it. He knew my parents story would be told. How amazing is that?! Your testimony is everything. Everyone struggles, and sins differently. but Jesus paid it all!!”

    Isn’t it quite amazing that god forgives them?//

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