Long Meadow Lake Hike

Today I went hiking on the proposed state trail in the Long Meadow Lake unit of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. Much of the time I wasn't actually on any trails, but rather I was hiking through the woods. The snow melt has caused a lot of flooding, and my knee boots were a necessity. The first picture shows a huge cottonwood tree that tipped over. I'm there to give some perspective to the size of the tree. The second picture shows a couple of the two dozen or so White-tailed deer I saw. Three of them were actually following me for awhile, as they can get rather curious when they don't think you are a threat.

March Snow

March weather is interesting, with warm temperatures and sun one day and snow the next... like today...

Bush & Cheney, with or without US

President George W. Bush marked yesterday's anniversary of year five in the Iraq war, by saying that he made the right decision. This after the May 1, 2003 "Mission Accomplished" speech, 4,000 dead U.S. soldiers, many more casualties, 80,000 dead Iraqi civilians, billions of dollars spent, our economy faltering, gas at an all time high, Al-Qaeda now in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan still burning (on the second burner), and NO WEAPONS OF MASS DISTRUCTION!

Way to stick to your guns there George...

When vice-president DICK Cheney was asked (courtesy of ABC) about recent polls that show about two-thirds of Americans saying the fight in Iraq is not worth it, Cheney replied, "So?"
"You don't care what the American people think?" Martha Raddatz asked the vice-president.
"You can't be blown off course by polls," said Cheney, who is currently touring the Middle East.

Wow... how can you be so stupidly arrogant? Unless you are rich and out-of-touch with the "regular" people. You know, the ones who spend a lot of money on "regular" gas that makes families with oil interests wealthy.

One could ask if they are too misguided to know that the eventual fall of America could affect their huge bank accounts. The answer is obviously yes.

Beaver

Here is the beaver we saw in Louisville Swamp today.

Presidential Candidate Cutris Photos

Presidential Candidate Cutris Photos
March 10, 2008
UnAssociated Press

Presidential candidate Cutris is proving to be extremely unorthodox, as he has been photographed recently with Republican John McCain, and Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

"I'm just having a good time!" Cutris told reporters over the weekend.


Though he consented to be photographed with President George W. Bush and John McCain, the look on Cutris' face seems to betray his true feelings.


Cutris looks into the distance with Hillary Clinton. The two candidates seem to get along quite well, leading to the question of whether they may join forces.


Cutris ponders something that Obama said.


It's "thumbs up" for the Cutris campaign!

Man vs. Bacteria

In the war of man vs. bacteria, bacteria started out by historically kicking our asses. Then, antibiotics turned the tables on the little bugs, and in sheer numbers of killed and destroyed, man has taken the lead. Still, how many bacteria does it take to equal one human being? Chances are, bacteria will outlive, overtake and pass by human beings within our ever-changing, and growing toxic world.

What if in it's resistance to drugs, a certain type of bacteria had a super growth burst and they were the size of Cocker Spaniels? They got into your house from somewhere, and liked to hang around the kitchen and bathroom. You'd have to smash them with a club, which could be hard on the furniture, but then… what choice would you have? At least if they grew to that size, you could always shoot threatening bacteria. It might take them awhile to develop an immunity to bullets.

Great Horned Owl

Yesterday while hiking in the Bloomington Ferry Unit of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, we were fortunate to find a Great Horned Owl.