Author Archives: Mark P

Pink sky at night

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We had several warm, cloudy, and rainy days last week, but Tuesday was the day the cold front was supposed to move through and change the weather. That evening, right before sunset, the entire sky seemed to be filled with pink clouds.

This was the view from the front steps. You can see one end of the house on the left of the image and the other end on the right side of the image. I took the image with my iPhone in panorama mode. The view is centered towards the east. Click for a bigger view.

This is the view back towards the house from the front yard.

This time of year the sun sets a little to the right on the house in this image, behind the mountain so that we can’t get a decent view of the sunset. As a consolation, this time the sun provided a nice show everywhere in the sky.

The cold front did, indeed, pass, leaving us with significantly cooler days and nights, despite the continuation of cloudy skies.

Disheartening

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Lucy usually sleeps through the night, but she woke us up around 3 or 4 am Thursday morning with a weak, whimpering sort of bark. We thought maybe she needed to go out to relieve herself, so I got up and went to the living room, where we keep the crate she has to sleep in because of some inappropriate urination. I opened the door and called her, but she couldn’t get up. She struggled for a few moments, then I reached in and brought her out onto the floor. She couldn’t stand up. She normally has a kind of splayed stance because of her hips and knees that gives her trouble on the hardwood, but this was different. She would just topple over.

So I took her into the garage where we have a utility carpet strip leading to the outside door. She was still very uncertain on her feet. She continued to stagger around and fall over. I picked her up again and put her in the flower bed, where she often relieves herself, but she couldn’t stand up.

I brought her back inside and put her into her crate. She kind of half stood, and looked around like she was trying to figure out where she was. I thought maybe she would be more comfortable if she could lie down next to Sam and Zeke, and possibly even us, so I brought her crate into the bedroom. After I turned out the light, every time I checked, she was still looking around. After about an hour and a half, I finally heard her snoring.

Thursday morning she seemed much improved. I took her to the vet, who said she now has a heart murmur that she didn’t have a couple of weeks ago when she was in for her checkup. Although the symptoms aligned with the list for a stroke, the vet said Lucy had suffered a heart attack.

Now, Thursday afternoon, she’s barky and snippy when we give her a treat by hand, so pretty much back to normal, but she’s on a veterinary medication for congestive heart failure for the rest of her life. For some time she has been balking at taking the regular long dog walk every morning. From now on, she’s probably going to get a pass on that, unless she volunteers.

Old boots

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Back when I was much younger, I sometimes went for weekend hikes on the Appalachian Trail. I started hiking with some clodhoppers that must have weighed 10 pounds each. Then I found a pair of nice Vasque boots that were much lighter, but, as it turns out, very durable. That was sometime in the late 1970’s or early 1980’s. I still have them.

I wear them when I work around the yard. On Saturday I wore them while cutting up a tree for firewood.

They used to be a very nice reddish color, which you can kind of see in the upper ankle area and the tongue. Those are the original laces. Believe it or not, I was able to find a photo of “Vasque boots from the 1970’s.”

What a lovely pair of boots. These are for sale for $82. I might consider them, but they’re a size 7, and my old boots are size 11. They don’t make boots like these any more. And also, based on some reading, what they sell is made in China. Mine were made in Italy.

I decided the old boots needed some TLC, so I am polishing them. The most appropriate shoe polish I could find in the basement is cordovan.

It’s a little dark, but they are going to look much better with a coat of shoe polish. They’ll probably feel better, too. So, they have lasted 35 or 40 years, and based on their appearance now, I expect them to last another 35 or 40 years. Or, in other words, for the rest of my life.

Carnage

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One of the less pleasant parts of walking the dogs up and down the mountain is seeing all the dead animals that people driving cars almost always overlook. There is a little of almost everything — snails, salamanders, snakes, turtles, birds, squirrels, armadillos, possums, dogs and deer. The dogs and deer are usually murdered elsewhere and the bodies dumped along the road. The rest are victims of our transportation system.

I almost never take pictures of the deceased, but a few days ago I saw a snake that showed no obvious sign of its cause of death (in other words, it wasn’t smashed), and was such a beautiful specimen that I did it anyway.

This is what I believe to be an Eastern Milk Snake. Curious Zeke is in the image for scale. This is small for a mature milk snake, so it is probably a juvenile. According to the linked site, the Eastern Milk Snake and the Scarlet King Snake sometimes intergrade in northern Georgia into Tennessee. Make sure you have followed the link to see the picture of the king snake, it’s magnificent. The coloration of the unfortunate snake I saw here seems to be somewhat brighter than the image of the milk snake, so maybe it’s one of the intergraded snakes.

What a shame.

Snakes alive

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Leah and I found a snake crossing the road last week on our way into town. It was stretched out across the centerline of the road. I passed, then turned around and came back. It was around three feet long.

Usually all they need is a little nudge to get them moving, but this one didn’t want to be nudged. He coiled and reared his head as I approached. When I got closer he began to lunge and strike. I was sure enough that it was not venomous that it didn’t worry me, but I still didn’t want his little snakey bites, so I got a collapsible umbrella out of the car to nudge him. No dice. Usually snakes just want to get away; this one just wanted me to get away.

While I was busy trying to move him, my uncle and aunt pulled up and stopped. Uncle Tommy said it was a chicken snake. After googling I found that it was a gray rat snake. Here it is at the side of the road, where it’s hard to see.

It’s actually a beautiful snake. The markings remind me of Southwestern design. I didn’t find anything online about the rat snake’s temperament, but “grouchy” seems appropriate.

Another person stopped. A young man jumped out of the car and ran up to the snake. He looked like he was going to stomp it. I told him not to kill it, but all he wanted to do was hold it down while he grabbed it and tossed it towards the edge of the road. I’m not afraid of snakes, but for some reason I just don’t like handling them. I can do it with gloves, but not barehanded. I know how to pick them up, I would just rather not.

A few days later as I took the dogs out just before dark, we found another snake on the driveway. It was too dark for me to tell what it was, but when it started striking at Zeke when Zeke was still about five feet away, I figured it was a gray rat snake. Zeke barked. I told him not to bother, but he felt it was his duty. The snake eventually slithered off into the tall grass at the side of the drive.

That tall grass is just a little bit worrisome now. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Georgia Poison Control Center says that snake bites are up 40 percent over last year, mainly because of a mild winter (what winter?). Copperheads seem to be the worst culprits. I’m not a herpetologist, but I knew the rat snake was not a copperhead. The rat snake’s head is small relative to its body. The copperhead’s head is larger, like an arrowhead.

The tall grass at the side of our drive is the result of seeds that were in the wheat straw I put all over the yard last year. I imagine it provides an ideal environment for snakes. I have been avoiding getting into that grass mainly because of ticks, but now I need to worry about snakes as well.

It was almost a relief on Wednesday to see this little green snake on the dogs’ morning walk.

This snake acted like he was supposed to. I nudged his tail and he slowly edged his way off the road.