Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Evening of Thursday



Little Miracles

The first time I saw the albino Eur-asian dove I knew it got a raw deal from when it came out of the chute. While birds fly together to confuse the predator with sheer numbers this one stood out from the beginning and three times has disappeared for months and each time I figured it was the conclusion of the raw deal. Today the albino came to visit.


Walking 9 to 5: What Kobae Likes Most


Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Evening of Tuesday


Ten Years

For ten years, six or seven times a year, we come to the Last Hurrah gate and because Kobae's head can fit under the gate, he has yet to sort out why there's an issue somewhere else.

Monday, September 19, 2016

Evening of Monday


I Got a Plan

Kobae sometimes takes the little canyon going back to hole #9 on the disc golf course. When we moved here he weighed 22 pounds so lifting him up the ledge which was about four feet high at the time was no big deal. When he got to 100 pounds sand from the floods had built up and the ledge was only about three feet high so was still manageable. Last year with the ledge about two and a half feet high Kobae got to about 135 pounds and it was close lifting him up on the ledge. I got some equipment and really worked on upper body strength trying to keep up with him. This year he blew by 150 pounds and two weeks ago when we got to the ledge, now only about two feet high I couldn't even lift him off the ground. Here's my plan.

No Crowds

We had a nice spot in the shade but then a whole bunch of people started showing up and Kobae took off. Then on the road to Wind Caves Kobae finds just a little bit of shade which quickly disappears so I put my rain jacket over him and get a second chance to use my new chair. Now we're both styling.



Evening


The Polite One


Kobae: On the Edge

Kobae has been fascinated with the creek bed and the overhangs. Everyday is an adventure. Eventually Kobae finds himself a spot for shade and I do the same. Back in February when I was in San Diego picking him up I got a chair that folds up and fits in the back pack and I finally got to use it. I'm styling. Little ol trend setter me.


Sunday, September 18, 2016

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Pretty Cool

Hello I just thought I would drop you an email saying thank you for the hospitality. it was quite an adventurous day for us, stopping by the adventure lodge and having a beer was one of the highlights! The world needs more sharing and trusting people like you. Keep doing what you do!
Take care,
Lisa

The Shadow Monster

Kobae is still eating a lot every day. The price of romaine has gone back down but he's still $100 plus a week. I'm a believer in signs. Things hardly noticed by most. I hope I'm wrong on this one. On Wednesday Kobae and I hiked about six hours. On the way back, with the sun setting, hiking down the Sand Hill, the angle of the sun created a shadow of my hiking partner I'm hoping is not an indicator of the future.

The Day After

The day after Kobae's close calls falling off the overhang and also falling in the sinkhole.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Left of Bang

Kobae's not very good at being left of bang. So, I go with him on hikes. He doesn't see the signs that bang is coming. Flood, hail, moving vehicle, steep drop offs with overhangs, depth of water, or darkness. Bang. All detrimental to his and in turn, my health.

Right of bang is cleaning up. Trying to wait out the storm with flood waters all around us or covering over him when the hail comes or putting a flashlight in front of him to get him to move in the dark. When I lift my voice and say "ooooh Kobae" he will hesitate and seem to understand danger is about but usually he continues on.

For most when danger comes the options are freeze, flight, or fight. The frustrating thing with Kobae is he can't comprehend any of those things and it's a battle when you've picked the option you think is best knowing he will fight you every inch of the way.

I try very hard to be left of bang to make up for my hiking partner's shortcomings. To watch the dark clouds, notice the wind pick up and it's direction. Creeks with potential overhangs, listening for vehicles, and constantly hand measuring the sky for time before darkness. (Extend your arm fully and cup your fingers. Take the top finger and place it just below the bottom of the sun. Measure how many hands from the bottom of the sun to the top of the land horizon. Each hand is an hour of light prior to the sun setting. Each finger 15 minutes.)

Today though we got thrown a new twist. As Kobae approached the overhang I gave him the high pitched Kobae warning and he turned away from a possible 15 foot drop. He started walking out where the second one was but as he went to turn back the hole where a large felled tree use to be and had partially filled in began collapsing under Kobae's weight. I'm pushing dirt in there as fast as I can with my feet but Kobae is falling into a sinkhole and at 150 plus pounds and him in an almost upright position it's a battle. I edited 5 minutes of video staring at my butt but the rest is kind of entertaining.

Where Have All The Rock Squirrels Gone: Long Time Passing

A few months ago I counted 22 rock squirrels at just one feeding area. They were a problem. For Kobae to eat his food I bought four squirt guns and assigned guest kids to the front porch to squirt gun away any rock squirrels attempting to steal Kobae's food. Three times they ate wires on my truck, my jeep, and the generator, as well as two guest vehicles. Nations was tired of rewiring my vehicles and it was getting expensive. I was thinking about catching some of them and releasing them somewhere else. They broke into the house, tore through screens, chewed up the carpet trying to get under the door and knocked a beautiful vase over. I was thinking bad thoughts. After new squirrel proof screens, food locked in containers, spraying "Critter Begone" on everything and the problem seems solved. They are disappearing. I don't find bones, I don't find diseased bodies, I don't find rock squirrel hair in fox scat off the porch, and I don't find tracks of a new predator. There are four left. Two live under the porch and two live under the sidewalk. That appears to be it. They are just gone.

Kobae: The Chair


Sunday, September 11, 2016

Hare and a Lesson

Picked up my mail Friday while in town and good news, my hare/rabbit costume finally came. Now I can go trick or treating with Kobae on Halloween. It's imperative you do crazy stuff while you're young. Then when you get older and people say you're losing it your friends will stick up for you and say "He's always been like that." It's important to have good friends.


Saturday, September 10, 2016

Elephantides

The argument goes something like this though the exact years are all over the place. It is said that during the existence of human beings, at least in this area, that creatures such as the Wooly Mammoth, Elephantides, and the like were extinct before we showed up. Others believe that they were still here and if anything they went extinct because of over hunting on our part. When you come across something like this it is said to link the two together. How can such a petroglyph exist unless someone saw it of it's faked and not all that old. After I visited the first time I ran into a guy in town at the Visitors Center who said he use to be a typesetter and he's familiar with all kinds of type, drawings, and anything faintly related. He says that the truck was done at a different time than the rest of the body and by a different person. You can click on the picture to make it larger. Also, my weak explanation as to how I missed the Elephantides the first time I came looking for it.

Thursday Evening



Where's Kobae

Kobae was hanging out in the kitchen waiting for Elsie. I went outside to look at some deer and the sunset and when I came back in he was gone. Found sleeping in the storage hallway. He hasn't slept anywhere but his house and the laundry room back when it was cold in years. That streak is over.

Wednesday Evening




Friday, September 9, 2016

The Lights

It's dark and I see lights out towards the Base Camp sign. Lights up on the cliff by the dinosaur tracks. I head over in a side by side to see what the story is.

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

The Return

Missing for a few nights after the death of it's sibling the other baby skunk has returned. I sat outside and watched it eat the hot dog making sure none of the raccoons came while it was there.

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Kobae: Single Focused


Bit of This and That

Cynthia and Cole each commented about the amount of graffiti on walls where there are petroglyphs and pictographs. What I've noticed is it appears to be going down. In areas that were known only to Moab-ites for years there is a lot and much of it dated "C and K, 1956". Most of the inscriptions that are dated are a long time ago and there are few in the recent years so perhaps awareness of the mess it causes has slowed it down or people just don't date graffiti anymore. There is much more trash on the trails though and more vehicles going off the trail.

 I found this chart of the Earth's history displayed in a 24 hour day.

There was a birthday a couple months ago when the blog turned eight years old and got it's 100,000 hit about while I was lying on the floor in the kitchen paralyzed on the 4th of July. 3,476 hits the first year to about 30,000 this year. Granted that's not much when a six year old sings something cute and gets 1.5 million but it's pretty much just people that have been here. Since I don't label the pictures they don't get picked up on YouTube searches. Plus, posts, pictures, or videos that get posted somewhere else and and viewed there don't show up either. For example a couple weeks ago the post "What Kobae Likes Most For Two Miles shows 23 views on the blog counter but where Heather posted it to Facebook it shows on YouTube that it had 101 views.

While at Moab Giants and visiting the Museum I came across this exhibit. For the amount of mountain lion pictures I looked at online I never found one this dark. What I saw cross the road a couple weeks ago was darker than this, had shorter hair, and the ears were more pointed but about the same size so I believe my unrecognized to me critter I saw crossing the road was a mountain lion.

Thanks to Rachel for sending me this as I didn't know it existed. Kobae sometimes has a relationship with the stairs. On this particular day he broke the stairs and they were collapsing. So I did an emergency repair while trying to keep him from getting hurt and not interrupting his special time.

Monday, September 5, 2016

Moab Giants: Aquarium (This is the one)

This is the guy that use to eat Great White sharks.

Moab Giants: Aquarium

With 3D glasses these are incredible and not bad without them.

Moab Giants: Museum

As you walk in there is a dino foot coming through the ceiling and below you is the imprint it made when it landed.

Moab Giants: Rock Art Gallery