mint bed for raccoon, thrift store questionables, Red Desert.

A raccoon has made a wonderful bed in the potted mint. See the hole? soft and fresh and well protected, a cozy slumber.

The African red grass that has become handsome, I hope it stays - makes it through winter.
The plants are looking autumnal these days. Summer was brief and weird- but not as weird a this guy.

 

Sorry the print is so tiny, click on it to embiggen. 

 If you  have ever been a teacher and this face showed up in the back row, puzzled, not understanding that 1+1 =2 instead of eleven-you know that you have your work cut out for you.   Vote Blue, we have our work cut out for us!! This human is still in second grade.

Yesterday I stopped in at the thrift store to see if I could find tiny Christmas stuff, I could not but I did take a few photos of what''s on offer.

First, the chair that I nearly bought for $6.50- Beautifully made and solid, just needs a bit of refresher.  Another  awesome hand carved/built chair with no where to put it, I left it.

A steam iron that weighs as much as an eight year old American child.

I caught and released this little cart, thinking that it would look great at Christmas  stuffed with orphans.

The doll bin was amusing but nothing that wanted to come home with me...I heard a gaggle of girls screaming "OH MY GOD WHAT ARE THEY???" I checked- they were a family of  large potatoes. 

This  old baby with the herniated belly button, has a  plug at the top so that one might store paper money in there , or secret stash- completely fooling robbers, I am sure.

There were loads of foreign beauties. If I were a collector , for a few dollars,  the many dolls  would have made my day . 

 I bought nothing.

I did get my magic sleep machine and have used it for two nights. It is the Cadillac of sleep machines to be sure, and is silent and comfortable  and it works beautifully. From 46 episodes an hour of apnea  down to 5, the normal range for most people who sleep and don't forget to  breathe. Finally! Who knows how many brain cells have been murdered over the years of oxygen deprivation . Quite a few, some  might tell you.

Anyway, what a difference! Days are so much better- I do not feel like taking a nap having just awoken from taking a nap.  The world is not coated in fuzz and struggle.

 -0-

 

Map, below,  from "home" shows  the vast Red Desert in between my home town and Rock Springs. Driving along that expanse when you are a kid is the longest most boring drive ever and you ask your parents "WHY do we live here?"

Then someone takes you out into it with a different perspective and focus , appreciation comes upon thee.

The geology is fascinating,  There are skulls to be found - human and bison. Desert Elk shed  antlers found in the sage are  particularly treasured. 

It is BLM land and has been somewhat protected . 350 species of animals live successfully in this desert of the Big Empty,  wild horses, pronghorn, elk, prairie dogs, rodents, jack rabbits and species that are not so worthy of a cuddle- insects , snakes and lizards.

 BLM now considering a purchase by uranium corporation to tear up the dessert to mine  92 U.  There was another uranium mine up north when we were kids. A small town was built around it, everyone died of cancer - the town has been vacated and the mines closed. Humans do not learn from history, that is a given.

Mostly concerning is the elk herd of the desert , whose meager lives will truly be threatened. Other than the occasional asshole that "hunts" out there in no mans' land- Called NO MAN for a reason!

This is the moment the guy. with a tiny penis,  fired the shot.

It is a video-  the herd scatters, The bull elk stands for a moment not realizing that he is a dead Daddy. Slowly he looks around at his herd  and then falls.

The dessert becomes chilling , shocked into dead  silence.

 The Orange  man with his bang bang,  is jubilant and grins like he has done a mighty  godlike  deed. The fucker takes the most magnificent creature , leaving Elk women folk and babies to fend through the winter without his lead. 

 Shooting fish in a barrel...

Anyway that is a whole different subject- point being that Red Desert  animals have survived the harshest of environments during  evolutionary  magnificence only to have MAN come  to their only home and tear the living shit out of it. This eco system is one of the largest rarest and most distinct on earth.  

This is the link if you are curious about the Red Desert and how special it is. 

News from Wyoming is generally not the most welcoming.

Not to leave you with a bad taste in your dry desert mouth I leave you with more thrift store things left behind.

And Miss Yvonne from Pee Wee's Playhouse, which I have been watching on you tube  lately- The episode of Miss Yvonne, the most beautiful women in Puppetland comes to visit , one of my faves.

The actress, Lynne Marie Stewart, fabulous and did love Captain Carl too much...Still has a winning puppetland smile!