The Case of One Levitating Pup

    Physics. The concepts are really not difficult.  
   
   Modern physics state that: A body continually fed coffee will stay in motion.
   
     Or puppies who eat spilled coffee beans off my kitchen floor won't stop until a force greater than them stops them. Unfortunately, I haven't found that force. And now, Bean and Abu think it's hilarious to slip the puppy a few coffee beans and watch him zing around the room.
    And when I say ZING- I mean I'm not sure if his feet are even touching the ground.

     I love the concept of physics in Scooby Doo cartoons. Such as gravity doesn't work until you notice it, you can go splat and flat and be just fine and there are no such things as monsters, just normal people dressed in super techno, wildly expensive get ups.

   I'm starting to believe that puppy hood defies the laws of physics. How else can I explain a creature that never seems to run out of energy, can chew a toy in two seconds flat (I counted), and can manage to run around the neighborhood loose for only the time it takes me to put on my shoes yet comes back covered in glazed donut.
      I have to admit, the puppy smelled DELICIOUS! Mmm, glazed donut. But as Abu said, as she tried not to laugh, I hope there isn't a kid down the street crying because Gibson stole his donut.
    Oh, great. I might own a donut thief!!

   Actually, my scientific hypothesis based off no real facts except that he was covered in glaze from head to toe, was that he must have found an empty donut box and proceeded to roll in it. All I have to say...it's better than when he rolls in deer poop. Right before I have to leave...and I HAVE to give him a bath because he's not coming in my house with deer poop on him.
   No, the dog hasn't ate my homework but he has made us late because of deer poop.

   My brother who was interested in adopting a puppy has changed his mind. I think I have Gibson to blame. He loves the dog... but I'm sure it's all the lovely stories I have told that has made him rethink his plan to adopt a puppy. Too much work.

  Tell me about it.

  And the BABIES are getting clever. They really do work together to cause mayhem and chaos. And it's simply out of curiosity and wonderment. I truly think that's why they get along. They both share the same sense of wonder. How does this work? Can I eat it? Can I chew on it? Does it break when I perform experiments on it?

 First Case in point: Gibson grabbed a plastic hanger, there were two left on the chair where the older girls grabbed their coats and left for school. He starts chewing on it and TEARING it apart while I'm stuck on the phone. Baby Blueberry notices how much he likes to chew on the hanger and goes over and grabs the second one and hands it to him. ENCOURAGING the mutt!!! At that point, I told the person I had a Baby emergency and I HAD to go! I cleaned up the broken hanger and saved the second one from a similar fate.
   But that didn't stop the BABIES- no- they proceeded to search the room for something else to chew on. And when Blueberry found some paper she immediately hands it to Gibson.

   He loves this Baby. She understands him. Everyone else just yells at him for chewing.

    Second case in point: Gibson loves the trash can.

   - Note to self: Need to buy new trash can with lid. -

     Blueberry noticed how he loves to steal things out of there when I turn my back.

   Yes, the puppy waits until I'm not looking.
   
    So she waits until I turn away and she grabs the potato peels I just tossed in there and starts taking them out and handing them to the puppy.
   
    Blueberry! Out of the trash. So gross.

   Gibson! What have you taught my Baby?


  Perhaps they can communicate because he's telekinetic.

  He can levitate and speak with his mind. 

  I didn't adopt a puppy.

  I adopted a super hero with special powers. 

 
  

A Storm Called Atlas

  Around my neck of the woods we had a little storm called Atlas. It reminded people that for as safe and secure we feel in our civilized world, we are not above the laws of nature. And sometimes nature doesn't play nice.
    Perhaps we need to borrow some pages from a Boy Scout manual. Be prepared. It's not crazy to prep. I know society likes to paint a picture of crazy of people that prepare for natural disasters, zombie invasions or the grid being taken down but it's NOT CRAZY people.
   How long can you survive without water? Shelter? Your Apple product? (Surprisingly, you can survive without your Apple product. Really. It might hurt a little but it can be done.)
    I realized how woefully unprepared I was for any real disaster. I thought I was ready. But I'm not.
     Such as, I had a flashlight.
     But I didn't have the right batteries for it.
     I have a water filter. But what happens if the water doesn't come out of the faucet?
     I have bags of rice.
     But no way to cook it if my electricity goes out.
     I didn't even have the girls' winter boots yet. They had to borrow mine to go outside.
     If the zombies come. It's clear, my brains would feed the undead. Not a happy thought.

How many broken trees do you see?

    I've been through blizzards before. Wind and snow and cold. But this storm was incredible. It howled and attacked. It was without mercy. It started with hours upon hours of cold rain. And then the storm arrived like a Viking raiding party of old. It ravished and killed and was driven by a force of cruelty.
   People weren't expecting this storm to be so nasty. Blizzards we can handle, this storm was something else.
   Hero Hottie was stranded at work with coworkers and customers. I had friends stranded without heat and water and lights...for days.
  Some people were stranded in their vehicles over night until rescue crews could reach them.
  Our state's cattle and horses died by the ten of thousands. TEN OF THOUSANDS. Just imagine that. Where do you put the bodies afterwards?
   We, as a state, were also surprised when the media didn't cover our loss. When they didn't think it was worthy news. I think we were saddened to find that many on the east and west coast were heartless. That they blamed us for the deaths. Do they really think there are enough barns to shelter nearly a hundred thousand beasts? Really?
   Do they think that a man wouldn't try to save his animals? His livelihood?
   I hear prices of beef have already started to go way up. Haven't people realized yet, that nothing happens in one part of the world that doesn't affect all of us?
   Simon and Garfunkel had it wrong. We are not an island.
 
      When I let Gibson out that night, or more like I hooked him up to his leash and literally tossed him out, I could hear the moan and groaning of branches as they cracked, broke and fell to the ground. For hours this went on. It was like the entire world around me was falling apart.

The next day...broken tree limbs and piles of snow.

     Even weeks later, huge mountains of tree branches are piled on street corners and in backyards. Tree cutting services are working their butts off to trim the broken limbs that dangle dangerously above us.
     The yard waste department had to have special collection sites to handle the massive amount of debris. I think nearly every single tree or bush or structure had something broken. Imagine that. Damage to every single wonderful tree.
    

Broken

My old shed, although rusty was still hardy, suffered enough damage to it that I will be removing it this spring. Here's a picture of the top where just the sheer weight of the snow and the harshness of the storm caused it to buckle.

I will huff and puff and blow your shed down.

But I have to believe humanity is stronger than storms. For the next few days after the storm, as I was shoving snow with a very helpful neighbor friend of mine, people, who we didn't know, would wave to us. As if they were saying, 'hey, we all lived through this together.'
   Even now, fundraisers are under way to help the ranchers and horse camps that lost their herds, that lost their horses. And the community is giving.
  
   So two things we need to take from this 'going down in the history books' storm. One, prepare. You're not crazy. You're not a Doomsday Prepper by understanding you are a human being and have certain needs. Such as water, shelter, food and medicine.
   Our civilized society can still be affected by natural disasters and malfunction. I know I'm making a list of things I can't live without. Water, food, heat, shelter, medicine. Oh, and plenty of chewies for Gibson. Gotta keep the dog busy too.
   Perhaps extra diapers for the Baby Blueberry. I'm sure she doesn't want me collecting cold and wet moss from the trees and stuffing it in a makeshift diaper.
  
  And the second thing. I wish people would hold on to that feeling of togetherness they feel after a disaster. It seems too quick we go back to our 'me worlds', forgetting that we should love thy neighbor.
   
   Gibson and Abu enjoyed the snow. Gibson though it was hilarious to steal her hat and run. She had a terrible time catching him as the snow was three feet deep and impossible to run in but he just seem to sail over the top of it like a gazelle. The dog may hate water but he loves snow.

   Stay warm this winter my readers. I have a feeling winter plans on being harsh this year but spring will come.
     It always does.