Housesitting

The food dishes stand about eighteen inches high, for scale. That's a normal-height countertop and a full-size fridge.

Several favorites, from the phrases I've overheard while out for walkies this week:

• "&*%@, you could ride that thing."
• "Holy #$%^!"
  
• "Is that a dog?" [at a house flying a Confederate flag emblazoned in orange with "GIT-ER-DONE"]
  
• "Skipper! Here, Skipper! Skipper, come!" [picks up respectably sized forty-pound dog, warily backs away]

Not kidding about the Confederate Git-Er-Done flag, incidentally. You can buy them. If you want.

Signs Of A Fine Establishment, Pt. 39

(26 Mar 06/Jax, FL/Casio EX-Z750)

Saturday

Change is good for the soul. We have some YWAM friends at church; one thing led to another, and now we're sitting on their patio and they're leading a trip to Oaxaca. They needed someone to water the flowers and feed the dog. While i suspect they were more concerned about the flowers, K. jumped at the chance to have a dog for a week. So did i.

Not just any dog, either. Genuine Humane-Society issue, a Great Dane crossed with Rhodesian Ridgeback, and quite possibly, i believe, The Largest Dog In The World. At the very least, the Largest Dog I Have Ever Seen. Sitting at the kitchen table puts you just about eye-level with his head. He doesn't beg, exactly, so much as loom. He's also remarkably stubborn - in a benign, foot-dragging sort of way - most likely because he's big enough to get away with it. Fortunately for all concerned, he's not exactly what you'd call an alpha dog. Small yappy dogs steal his toys with total impunity. As far as obedience, he knows what he's supposed to do; he just kind of looks at you sideways until he figures out if you know, and - more importantly - whether or not you're serious about making him. Everything goes well enough after that.

Since none of this is particularly exciting, however, and since we have nothing any more edifying to say in the meantime, we now present (courtesy of Valerie) A Brawl In The Safari. The following was the original blurb: "A small buffalo gets taken away by some lions. A group of crocodiles battle the lions for the buffalo. Then the buffalos parents come back with the entire herd and kick the lions ass...."

Go ahead. It's Saturday!

The Africa Mercy, In Africa

(all images: mercyships.org)

I have to admit there were times i didn't think it would ever come true.

By the way, it actually is a ship. You may have mistakenly thought for some reason that it was a rather ugly building washed out into the harbor by mistake, but whatever they were doing to it in that shipyard for eight years, apparently it floats and even sails under its own power. Fascinating.

These photos were shamelessly stolen from mercyships.org. Of course, they shamelessly stole their video from Tyrone, who shot it for his new Africa Mercy site. Great 'soundtrack,' too. Spontaneous, joy-filled, and altogether more real than anything Disney or Sir Elton will ever compose. Click and enjoy!

Mildly Interesting Photos Of The Week

(all three: 25 Feb 2007 / Hawai'i Volcanoes NP, HI / Casio EX-Z750)

Better All The Time

(image credit: AP/breitbart.com)

That's the Lake City airport as of yesterday. I stopped there once last fall. Of course, last fall, you could actually see the runways.

Let's see. The bad news? A hundred miles of interstate are now closed to the west of us. A small matter, they say, just due to a few small areas of smoke and/or towering sheets of raging flame.

But hey, it's only I-10 and I-75. We never really go out that way anyway. Oh, er, except K. when she goes to school. Um, every week. Anyway, she just called (she's doing clinicals all weekend at Shands Gainesville) and said the babies she helped deliver last night all had sky-high levels of carbon monoxide in their blood from all the smoke.

But the beaches are nice! Really! Come visit!

Don't Make Us Come Up There

(image credit: noaa.gov)

Further Notice To Georgia Residents

Now see here.

We thought we'd been over this already.

Apparently it wasn't enough for you to send your fires crossing over our border, coming down here and burning down all of our uninhabited swamps. We already have two hundred active fires of our own. We're quite capable of burning down our own swamps, thank you very much. You'd think that would be enough for you. But no, you have to keep sending all your smoke down here too. Now, the haze outdoors was one thing. But when even the insides of our nice air-conditioned buildings smell like Guatemalan prison trash incinerators, we have to say it's really too much.

Just for that, we're going to send you our subtropical storm. See how you like that.

Smoke

(image: Ray Pennock ,valdostadailytimes.com)

Notice To Georgia Residents

While we understand that the southeastern part of your state may not be your very favorite, we do request that you kindly refrain from burning any more of it down.

Last week's eighty thousand acres was quite enough, don't you think?

Also, the constant haze is interfering with our suntans.