"Knock knock!" called the Resident Carpenter through my bedroom door, far too early on a Saturday morning, "Wanna go pick chanterelles?" Uhm...in the wilderness? Where there are bears that rip off your limbs and eat you and angry [...]
William the Conqueror-squirrel is now part of a household already enriched by Lola, Nikki, The Resident Carpenter, about a million saltwater denizens of the deep, assorted garden vegetables, and a number of wild critters living (only, I hope) in the backyard. This is the story of a squirrel orphan being rehabbed to the wilderness.
Snuck out of the house early Sunday morning, hobbling downstairs to the garage and deserting the Resident Carpenter, snoring peacefully at the other end of the hall. I slipped into Chiquitita the Porsche, dropped her top, and just ... drove, [...]
We saved Elmo. Now to do some impossible things. (such as say "thank you") Alice laughed. “There’s no use trying,” she said: “one can’t believe impossible things.” “I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was [...]
"Excuse me," says the little girl, shyly, fingering the rails of my grannywalker, "Are you really old? My great-grandma has a cage like that too, and she's REALLY old." Don't kids--the ones who survive the next five minutes, anyway--say the [...]
A month ago, traversing this sandy path down to the river would have been unthinkable. Yet here I am. "SHE," said the guard, pointing to me, "is what we call S.T.U.B.B.O.R.N." "Absolutely," I grinned, and continued to climb [...]
My very first in-person tidepool since falling. It was glorious. Here's what they don't tell you about recovery from a catastrophic injury: It's only gradual from the 10,000-foot view. Up close, it's fits, starts, and frustration, punctuated by [...]
"Do you have a cane?" Brenda-the-PT asked, and I nodded, "Good. Bring it next time. I want you to graduate from your walker to a cane." Heady stuff. Me, not lugging around walkers and wheelchairs? Wow. "No long walks on [...]
Frank Sinatra, the blue-eyed hermit crab Starting a marine reef tank is a lot like adopting a demanding, finicky child that eats its playmates and spends money like, well, seawater. Fred Mertz* the reef tank has been alive [...]
Brad and the Resident Carpenter begin the laborious process of setting up our new marine reef tank I dunno, he just LOOKED like a Fred. "Nobody I've met," laughed Brad-the-fishguy, "Ever named their reef tank 'Fred.'" The Resident [...]
