The Bear Went Over the Mountain...

* Minor note: it appears while Marge and I were away last week we had an interloper on our property, sorting of a breaking and -- uh, well, not exactly entering, but --

One of our two apple trees appears to have suffered major limb damage, side and top, at the claws of what can only be a black bear. It appears the furry fella (or femme) decided the apples on top were tantalizing enough to scrabble up the tree, snapping a main limb away from the main trunk (splitting it, really, causing some damage we can't repair) and then clambering around on the top branches, snagging everything in reach and mashing and breaking a fair amount of those tender top branches.

It also appears it tried to make it out to a bird nest on the far end of one of the stouter uppermost branches, but gave up.

We've cleaned up what we can, and have plenty of apples left on the tree, but I'm taking one precaution: taking my morning piss around the tree (and its neighbor McIntosh tree) from now on, in hopes of discouraging a return trip. Human smell is a great deterrent!

* Couldn't resist adding this (compliments of HomeyM), to cap the afternoon, though hunting season is a ways away:

A couple of hunters are out in the woods when one of them falls to the ground. He doesn't seem to be breathing. His eyes are rolled back in his head.

The other guy whips out his mobile phone and calls emergency services. He gasps to the operator: "I am pretty sure my friend is dead! What can I do?"

The operator, in a calm soothing voice, says: "Just take it easy. First, let's make sure he's dead."

There's silence, then a shot is heard.

The guy's voice comes back on the line. He says, "Okay, now what?"

Wednesday Morning Whizbang

* Bye, bye, Joe: " Hours after losing his Democratic primary to an anti-war businessman, Senator Joe Lieberman vowed to continue his run for a fourth term as an independent, saying Wednesday that he had to do it for the good of the country and no one could persuade him to drop out."

Though I disagreed every step of the way with Lieberman's stance on the war, if Joe had put half the time into substantial debate (which was nonexistent) on the Iraq War and issues of substance that he did into censoring video games and media, he'd have my sympathies. As it is, this is the first good news of the election season; I'm not sorry to see Joe go. More info

here,

more comments tomorrow.

* My grandchildren are here -- gotta run!