Annual Fire Truck Parade

You just have to love small towns. Small Town Parades are among the best. Ours is no exception. The Mid December Firetruck Parade brings out the whole town, both the Villagers and those of us "out of town" more rural. This year we stood right next to this very well behaved Alpaca named "Carhartt". He was so quiet but very observant. The local dogs were in a bit of a tizzy though and he just looked so darn like a Reindeer, he had a lot of Photos taken of him. The Firetrucks were awesome as always. The school has started putting a bus in and the bus drivers march. ( they throw candy too!) One fire company threw Oranges and that was a big hit. Tossed I should say. Yes, that is a John Deer Reindeer pulling Santas sleigh. The Rotary was also a John Deer Pulling a lighted Hay wagon- the tall kind that wobble when not fully loaded. Speaking of farming - we are still harvesting Corn out here. Corn Pickers were busy most of last week. Enjoy!!

Turtles and Beavers

Above is the Turtle activity that we are seeing daily now in several locations where we walk. These would be snapping Turtles. They lay there hatch in a sandy gravel area and then the eggs incubate 60-90 days depending on the temperature outside. last year in this area we saw hatch-lings in mid- September. All the disturbed ground on the right of the path is potential spots. Flowergirl actually saw 2 turtles "nesting"

Above is one of the Beavers swimming in the water - kinda hard to see, head is out of the water and tail is in .

The first of 2 beavers heading into the water from the woods. I can usually hear them in the woods and when I go to the edge to see them- Wow- there they are. So big in real life. Edna the Yellow Lab stands very still watching them but her whole body is usually shaking.

Field Trip Friday

These are from the Erie Zoo in Erie PA. we visited on Monday. Today's Field Trip is to the Seneca Park ZOO.
Zoo's - why do we like them? They show us things we could not otherwise see. They tweak our imagination for places to travel, what life must be like in other parts of the world and climates. they teach us about conservation. They teach us that there is more to this big wonderful Planet than just us. They teach us to appreciate this great Earth and creator. so much beauty and engineering in each of these creatures. We were at the Erie zoo in the cold and rain most of the time by ourselves. The Gorilla and Orangutan were very interactive with us. What were they thinking about as they observed us?