Friday while driving to work, I passed by a series of telephone poles next to the Elk Vineyard. I’ve seen vulture mounted on top of them before, sometimes three in a row. But this time there was one vulture and it had its wings outstretched as far as they could go. It did not move, it was almost like those owl statues you see on top of posts in gardens to scare away crows and such. It just stood there on top of this pole, and it was one of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen.

A sign of rebirth? Pueblo Indians consider it a sign of purification and transitions. Obviously they are scavengers, helping to rid of disease (stress?).

Yesterday I did not have such a good day, and was stressing a bit. On the way home I saw a red-tailed hawk fly up on top of a telephone pole as I drove by.

My totem and guardian. Perhaps a sign of protection or intensity? There is a lot of intensity right now, not only in my life, but other people within the Grove. Perhaps it served as a reminder while I was feeling particularly down, to remember my roots and who I am. To stay focused.

Today on the way to work, a crane flew overtop of my car, barely missing it.

I remember seeing cranes on the old farm all the time, and thought they were beautiful. Maybe a sign of upcoming justice? Or to become more focused on my life and what tasks I need to finish up, instead of letting some slip to the wayside.

1 and 2.

Today is awesomely gorgeous (why couldn’t it have been this temperature yesterday?). I was actually chilly this morning when I woke up. But it’s such a blessed thing.

A glimpse of Autumn, hurrah.

On the way home from work last night from Frederick, I heard some thunder in the distance when I left work.

As soon as I got onto 70, rain poured down by the bucket-full, halting 70 to 30mph because no one could see anything.

Once I hit New Market I ran into this:

View other shots from my cell: 1 2 3 5 6

Once I hit Libertytown, the streets were flooding.

But we so needed the rain, our crops looked wonderful this morning.

I don’t know what it is about storms in general, but I think they are beautiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zORv8wwiadQ

If you believe in global warming, you should watch this video.

If you don’t believe in global warming, you should watch this video.

Up at 4am again due to coughing. Though sometime around 4:30 my father and I heard the most eerie screeching sound from outside. Most likely a wild rabbit being attacked by a hawk or fox. It lasted a good 10 seconds, and sounded like it moved a good 100 feet from where it originated before it stopped.

I went out this morning just as daylight hit to see if I could see anything, but didn’t. I don’t know exactly where the sound was coming from anyway.

I think one of the worst sounds to hear is a rabbit screaming. When we kill rabbits a few times a year, we’re careful to make it as painless as possible, not only for the rabbit but to also avoid making them scream. It’s a disturbing sound, almost like you instantly feel like you’re going to hell.

I bring you an article by Wise Bread called The Cost of Meat - Too High to Pay. I’ve made several posts on the subject on all of the mass-produced meat and how it is damaging our environment (and I’m a carnivore), but this post really goes into depth on the different ethical factors that mass-produced meat is causing. It doesn’t just focus on the environment, but also health and cruelty as well.

Very good read.

According to Yahoo, Staples will be accepting used monitors and computers as of today.

Staples said its program will ship the devices for domestic recycling by Vestal, N.Y.-based Amandi Services, which Staples calls “one of the country’s most experienced and innovative electronics recyclers.” Amandi complies with federal standards for electronics recycling and will take steps to ensure personal data stored on old computers aren’t compromised, Staples says.

Items like keyboards, mice and speakers will be taken for free, but televisions and floor-model copiers won’t be taken (and I’m not sure if they plan to start).

Still, it’s nice to have a place for such big items to go rather than filling up landfills.

I went down to do laundry this morning, and a fresh snake skin fell on my head. Not usually the way I prefer to wake up in the morning, but I didn’t see the snake, so I imagine it’s somewhere in the basement. We’ve suspected one or two living down there and maybe one in the garage anyway. That’s about the limit of interaction I want with them.

Our basement is half dirt, the other half is cinder block. As such, there is much access for little critters and things. It doesn’t bother me too terribly much. I don’t particularly like spiders in the house, but I’m never going to eliminate them entirely, so as long as they mostly stay in the basement then we can coexist peacefully. Mice aren’t a huge problem, but we see one now and then, and it gives the cat a chore to do.

But then there are snakes. I actually like for the snakes to stay in the garage, because we have Black snakes, which are non-venomous. There are also Copperheads, which -are- venomous, but are also an enemy of the black snake. Fortunately for me, Black snakes can kill Copperheads by suffocating them, so I’d rather have them around.

We don’t have a problem with them eating our eggs, as there are plenty of rats/mice around the chicken coops to keep them satisfied. It’s a nice full circle of of life. The black snakes keep the rats/mice/copperheads under control, and in return keep us safe and don’t eat our eggs.

The only time I’ve had a severe problem with them is when one came up through our duct work into the living room while I was sleeping on the sofa. This was about 4 or 5 years ago, and the only reason I woke up is because my cat was attacking it (she’s swift for a fat raccoon wannabe). So luckily it fled back down the duct work and didn’t decide to nest in the house.