I thought I would make a collection of quotes of really bad grammar because of reading the following - but I haven't gotten far, because I keep forgetting.  So here is the one that started the whole thing off; and more may or may not follow.

You tell me - are Emus in need of more fields or of more forest???

"They [the emus] are suffering for lack of land being cleared for agricultural purposes."

In other, not nearly so interesting or confusing, news - I'm in Great Falls now.  The weather was gorgeous today - sunny and clear and about 50.  A bit different from Fort Benton yesterday, where it snowed all day, and never got above about 12.  S'all good.  :)

(no subject)

I have this feeling that I'm caught in a Laura Ingalls Wilder story
lately. (Minus the horses alas, and plus a few engines.) Amy came and
picked me up and we drove out to her place. The roads were fine. Their
lane, unfortunately, wasn't. We got stuck half-way up. The wind was
howling and it was frigidly cold and dark, of course. As we trudged,
bundled to the nines, to the house, I was in the picture in Farmer Boy
of the 4 children going to school - bundled also to the nines, heads
bent against the wind. Mix that in with Pa walking through the snow in
the dark, and you'll have us nearly exactly. Just add a suitcase in.
Then, last night, as we drove in to meeting, I skipped ahead some years
and dropped into The Long Winter. Specifically when Almanzo and his
friend went after the wheat. It was utterly still, and below freezing
by a fair bit. The moon was nearly full, and it was almost as light as
daytime. And you just have that feeling of the storm right over the
horizon waiting to pounce. I kept looking up at the stars
half-expecting to see them being blotted out one by one as the blizzard
cloud rolled in.
It didn't... /that's/ supposed to happen tonight. But, according to the
weather forecast, not until after midnight, so we can go to the potluck
in safety. I hope!!

Having breakfast with brother workers is very different from having breakfast with sister workers....

For one, I've never been with any sisters who discuss the various merits of AK-47s, the legality (or otherwise) of semi-automatics, automatics and rocket launchers, and Vietnam.  I must say it was quite interesting.

On the drive over here, I saw two young eagles fighting over dinner.  I think it might have been a dead deer - they were up on the bank by the freeway, and the object of their argument was hidden.  It was fascinating though; the quick glimpse I had as we whizzed by:  they were on the ground, wings flapping, taking small floating hops and clawing at each other.  Just as we went around the corner, one of them backed up.  Guess he decided waiting was ok by him.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  :)

You know you're really tired when you dream about taking a nap....

And when you're dreaming, beware!  There's no guarantees as to /where/ you'll find to sleep!

For instance - a bathtub that is half-swimming pool, half greenhouse, that your mother (yes, yes, the mother who tells you to wash your feet before getting into bed) has filled with a multitude of plants (with attendant dirt and bugs) while she has been gone on vacation, but is now sneakily covering with nice fat comforters and filling with warm water.  And saying things like, "What's wrong with a little dirt?"

On the other hand, there's something rather enticing about the thought of taking a nap /in/ a waterbed...

minus the mud.

I'm a week late, but it's still interesting.  :)

Last Wed. in meeting, there were 19 adults.  There were 13 children - the oldest of whom was 8.  5 of them were 1 year or under.  Quite a ratio, eh?

And on an entirely different note, I'd like to warn all of you poor unsuspecting souls of an evil that is loose in the world.... Libraries that require you to have picture ID with an address on it IN THAT COUNTY!

Sheesh.  

I am feeling like Hercule Poirot today:

No order!  No method!  Where are the little grey cells of the brain??

I was helping a lady put together a puzzle, and the pieces were just scattered all over.  Not sorted at all, not even all in one place, jammed inside the border so you couldn't put any pieces in easily... Now, I am not the most organized person on the face of this planet.  But I was feeling distinctly jangly at this blatant lack of order.  And then... along came Hercule, muttering in my brain.  

My new favorite thought - thanks to Nichole for passing it along:

When we find it hard to leave the place of prayer is when we know we've found the presence of God.

(There, Jen - a post!  Just for you. :)

For all your burgling needs...

come to Leilani and Jane!

Jane wanted to stash some stuff in the sister's cabin at the grounds - which is not generally locked.  This time though?  Yep, you guessed it.  A nice shiny padlock was hanging from the front door and no one could find a key.  We looked everywhere, and finally called up Julia.  Yes, she had a key; but there should be 4 or 5 somewhere.  And the problem with using Julia's key is the small matter of her being several hundred miles away.  Hm. 

We notice that one window is open (oops...) but the screens don't come out, and it's too skinny and too high off the ground for me to want to try and wiggle through.  I might have fit - if I could have gotten up there!  But only 'might'.  'Might not' was pretty prominent, too.

Ok - there's the woodbin.  One could possibly crawl through the wood bin - if the stove wasn't quite so close, and one was feeling particularly contortionistic.  I do think this one could have been done - but it would have been dirty and sticky and uncomfortable and not exactly easy.  And the decisions required!  For one - which end of you do you stick in first? Face up or face down?  Straight in (possibly getting stuck at the stove), or at an angle?  Can you /really/ do the limbo in that amount of space?

Then we notice the back door (which is also locked) is one of those bathroom doors with the pinhole on the outside for shoving a bit of metal inside and unlocking.  We shove and search and shove and poke and shove some more - but either our nails aren't long enough or are too thick or are missing some essential part - because nothing opens.  Stare broodingly at door a while longer, until... bingo!

We'll unscrew the doorknob.  Screwdriver?  Who needs one of those, I have a nail with a nice sharp head!  So yes, finally, we got in.  And guess what we found there?  

All the rest of the keys to the padlock, safely and carefully locked inside.  Isn't life fun?  The keys now have company - Jane's spare stuff!