Thursday, August 30, 2012

Fat Farm

It sounded like water spewing out of a leak in a pipe. All too familiar. But there isn't any water coming to the garden house. Or is there?

Back on the ranch and going through a bit of a heatwave, I've been busy fixing and adjusting our irrigation systems. On one trip to the garden house to pick up more drippers, I noticed the distinct hiss of water spewing out. I didn't know of any buried pipes there, but you have to investigate these things, so I pulled away the board covering up the gap between the ground and the raised garden house and that's when I see it.

The torso of the biggest wound up snake I had ever seen on the ranch.

It was giant. Like a boa constrictor. The size of a baby's head.

I inadvertently let out a small squeal and excitedly run off to tell Big Dog who said, "That's a rattler."
"It's no rattlesnake! It's too big. And it wasn't rattling, it was hissing at me."
Of course, I wanted him to see it too so I dragged him out to the shed.
"Where? I can't see anything."
"Look, there. See the giant torso?"
This time, I could see more than just the torso, though. This time, there was the raised head, alert and focused on us. And the head was...yes, a rattlesnake head!
"Oh, god, you're right! It is a rattlesnake!"
And it was pissed off.

We scrammed and by the time I had to go back to the garden house, Snake had split, but I can't stop thinking about it.

Do rattlesnakes get that big? How many rodents did it have to eat to get so super-sized? I know our squirrels are giant, so it really shouldn't come as a surprise to see obese snakes. Or had it just eaten one and was I just seeing the belly bulge?

Labels: ,

Friday, August 24, 2012

Back Blogging

Weeeeell. Haven't I been a lazy blogger. But not lazy. Just lazy blogging. In fact, I've been very very busy.

Things that kept me busy the last 2+ months:

Going crazy about Noda and the restart of nukes
Going to protest in front of his Official Residence along with thousands of others from all walks of life
A pilgrimage to Ise Shrine, which led to:
Thinking about the essence of Being Japanese and
Having visions about the future and
Connecting with departed souls and
Wondering what it all means
Cleansing my home with sacred sand
Cleansing my body with spirulina, chlorella and seaweed
Cleansing my soul with gratitude
Construction/renovation on 4 homes and
Losing the time (or energy) for contemplative thinking
Saying goodbye to J&R and the McC Family
Saying hello to K&P and the H Brothers
Enjoying having horses back on the ranch but
Missing the chickens
Having a Japanese anti-nuke activist come to our area (and home) and
Becoming more connected to the whole anti-nuke community
Fighting squirrels and gophers (and sometimes deer)
Accidentally catching (and quickly releasing) a beautiful fox
Fiercely protecting my beloved plants
Delighting in eating my own produce
Constantly trying new recipes, experiments
Driving at night for the first time
Driving everyone crazy with constant GMO information
Enjoying the incredible taste of our nectarines (super this year!) as well as blackberries, strawberries, plums, peaches and apples
Feeling bummed out at having to leave the ranch to go to LA
Furiously canning, drying, and freezing the harvest
Donating what I can't use to FoodBank
Working on yet another residence
Writing a rather long article for a Japanese publisher, recording a few narrations and basically making some real income
Fighting with Big Dog
Feeling terrible about it
Loving Big Dog
Developing several new friendships
Dealing with my feelings about old friends who are too cynical and unconcerned about nukes
Missing my family and Japan
Loving my new friends and family in the US
Sneaking in a little impromptu dancing when no one is looking
Listening to a little more music than I had in the last 3 years
Enjoying the pleasant temps while the rest of the continent (as well as Asia and Europe) go through a massive heatwave
Cleaning up after everyone
Getting up close and personal with a skunk (pretty eyes! bad smell!)
Bitching about the hard water in our LA condo and immediately apologizing to the water for bitching about it
Squeezing in a few small crafts projects
Never having enough time for everything I need/want to do

I'm sure I left out a lot.

Here's what I managed NOT to do:

Real art
Finish studying up on nuclear matters
Anything about my new video project
Read fiction
Horse riding
Anything very cultural
Anything for the Hiroshima/Nagasaki memorials
Deal with last year's buckwheat harvest
3-D art projects
Find myself
and...
Update My Blog

Oh, why, oh why do we only have 24 hours a day!!!!!
Hey, Earth! Don't go around the sun so fast! Take your time... Take your time...

Labels: