Our Awesome Neighbors

We have a phenomenal little corner of the world here in Grand Forks, a historic old house, a fenced yard for the pups, a little more than a 1/4 acre of land to garden with, and some of the best neighbors around.  One of our neighbors in particular live three houses down from us and are simply some of the best people in the whole friggin' world (I might be a bit biased).

Our neighbor Brad* has a John Deere tractor with a bunch of attachments, one of which is a pretty powerful snow-thrower.  Every time it snows (and it snows a lot here in North Dakota), Brad is out in his little tractor clearing his driveway/sidewalks and most of the rest of the neighborhoods' too.  Even if he's already been out for hours clearing his own driveway/sidewalks, he tirelessly cleans off our sidewalks and even our large driveway usually before we've had a chance to do it ourselves.

Last summer I was out in the garden and Brad and his wife Paula* walked by with their little granddaughter, enjoying the summer evening.  We started chatting about the raspberry bushes and plum trees that we'd just planted and the conversation turned to canning and making jam.  Brad and Paula have a huge garden and make various jams and preserves.

Our chat wrapped up and a half hour later I was inside washing up and there was a knock at the door.  It was Brad and Paula. They had two grocery bags of jams, preserves, sauces, and relishes to share with us.  All I could say was "Wow, thanks!!"  This isn't even the extent of all the awesome things they've done, they really are fantastic neighbors.  

Each Spring the last couple of years, after the snow has melted, we've given Brad and Paula a gift certificate to a local restaurant as a way of thanking him for all their help. But this has never seemed like quite enough of a "thank you".

So I ask you dear readers for some help, some ideas.  What do you think would be a proper/adequate way to say thanks to awesome neighbors such as these?  Months of help with snow removal is such a big deal, we want to make certain we express our appreciation.

*Names were changed to protect the identity of our awesome neighbors.

Thoughts of Spring and a TED Talk - Ron Finley

As I sit, prone on the couch, recovering from my knee surgery, I'm doing just about everything I can to keep from climbing the walls.  I've had some brief sporadic attacks of cabin fever and I'd give just about anything to go for a walk or a run, or just about any manner of physical activity.  Heck even a spirited mosey or saunter would be fine.  Unfortunately the optimal position for me is reclined, knee elevated, frozen in carbonite encased in ice packs. 

Alycia has been a kind and helpful nurse, much more nurturing than I thought possible.  But I feel that even her kindness has limits and there are days when I fear she is close to beating me about the torso (even in her rage I'm sure she'd avoid hitting my delicate knee) with my own crutches. Frankly I wouldn't blame her if she did.

It doesn't help the cabin fever urges within me that hints of Spring are tantalizingly in the air - seed catalogs, Daylight Savings, brochures for gardening events, snow melting, oh please just stop! Sure I know that this is only temporary. In a few more weeks I'll be back on my feet, walking around, starting seeds indoors and preparing for Spring. 

That's why this TED Talk by Ron Finley was just what I needed.  I highly suggest you watch if you have 10 minutes, very entertaining.

Thanks to the awesome blog Root Simple (you should read this blog) for tuning me on to this. 

Awesome Nephew Pictures

It's been a little while since I posted pictures of my awesome nephew Jacob. He's growing up pretty dang fast, and even though I'm not a kid person, I think he's pretty dang cute too.

His future is so bright that he has to wear (his Dad's) shades.

For Christmas he got a sandbox from Grandpa, which he apparently loves.  My sister appreciates it since it's a fun place for him to play and burn off little kid energy, but as she told me the other day on the phone "there is sand EVERYWHERE".  I had to laugh. And laugh. 

Mr. Fish

In honor of our beloved Grommie, who passed away recently, I figured I should discuss the other important fish in my life: Mr. Fish.

I had won/fished him out of a fish pond during one of Cavalier's summer Crazy Days when I was a kid. And unlike all other free goldfish that you get as a kid, he refused to die. He lived for 7 or 8 years before I headed off to school at Stanford. My sophomore year at school I decided that I was going to bring him with to school. Since my parents and I annually drove from North Dakota to Stanford, it wasn't that big of a deal, other than the 4-day road trip. We just emptied out half of his tank and let him slosh around in the car all the way out. I believe his favorite stop was a night at one of the stateline casinos in Nevada.

Once at school, Mr. Fish made lots of friends. My draw group (extended group of roommates) all doted on him. In fact, when I would go back to North Dakota, Mr. Fish went home to Fresno/Clovis, CA with my friend, Sue. Her family loves to fish and they treated Mr. Fish as a demi-god. Sue's dad refused to let her fill his tank with their tap water, instead insisting that she use their bottled water. Anyway, I digress. Mr. Fish lived with us through that sophomore year at Storey House, the following summer when we lived in moderate filth at the Sigma Chi frat house (it was the cheapest place to live), and then the following year when we lived in the Arroyo dorm.

Toward the end of his life, Mr. Fish stopped moving very much. He pretty much lurked on the bottom of his tank. He had been white for years, having lost all of his coloring sometime before heading out to California (and no, he didn't tan in the CA sun). Eventually he also developed some sort of cataract thing, where his eyes bulged, and then one day (one at a time) collapsed inward - very weird.

Anyway, Mr. Fish survived through finals week of Spring Quarter, and then he went quietly. Since I was quite attached to him, there was no way I was going to flush him down the toilet, and there was the issue that he was so big, he stood a chance of clogging the toilet. I briefly pondered taxidermy, but when I found out how much that cost, I instead opted for a frozen funeral. All summer he lived in my dorm fridge's mini freezer. In August when I flew home to North Dakota, I bought him a very nice little thermos and ice pack, put his frozen carcass in the thermos, and flew home with him so that he could be buried in the Cummings pet cemetery. Obviously, this was pre-9/11 when security wasn't quite so tight.

So the take-home point from my little ramble today. Of all my pets, my dogs are definitely the ones that I love best, but there is no reason why I cannot also have some attachment to my fish, too. There is no shame in wanting to provide a proper funeral for all of your pets.

Saying Goodbye

We have some sad news to report from the Cummings-Chappell estate, one of our beloved fishies, Grommie, passed away on Valentine's Day, 2013.

Grommie, who got his name from me because he was a Gourami fish, actually pre-dated me in John's life. Thus, up to now, Grommie has been a constant in my life and relationship with John. He was a quiet, peaceful fellow always just hanging around in the aquarium. He watched many other fish come and go and was a nice, predictable constant in my life.

When we moved from San Diego to North Dakota, I convinced John that Grommie should come along. I don't quite know what John thought we would do with him if we didn't bring him along, but I didn't want to think about it. We bought a small 10 gallon "travel" aquarium and so Grommie sloshed around in the back of the Camry for 2000 miles. Every night on our roadtrip, John would have to carry the aquarium into our hotel room so that we could fill his tank with more water and then plug in his air filter/pump so that we could give him some more air.

Recently, Grommie hadn't been doing well. He had been resting a lot on the bottom of the tank, often not moving very well - some days it almost looked like he was paralyzed on one side. I am glad to say that I did not find him, John did. It's always a sad day to have to fish out your dead fish from the tank. Currently, Grommie is resting in a plastic baggie in a box in our freezer. When it is warm and the soil thaws, we're going to bury him next to some of our purple irises.

 Photo credits: http://www.aquariumfish.net

Page View Milestone

Your obedient blogging servant El Gaucho is greatly honored by the recent milestone of 50,000 page views that we reached at approximately 2:44 AM EST this morning.  From humble beginnings and its even humbler current state, the Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes blog continues to exceed all expectations.

Unfortunately Shadowfax was less than impressed with this announcement, radiating sleepy indifference from her cozy slumberball/blanket cave.  Fear not little deaf dog, there are more earth shattering happenings in your future.  You see, Spring is just out of reach over the horizon...and the gnomes are stirring.

Snowdrifts and Icicles

A decent snowstorm blew through on Sunday night and into Monday, not a lot of snow only 4 or 5 inches, but a whole lot of wind.  Wind gusts reached into the 50+ mph range Sunday night and all day Monday causing blizzard conditions and the town of Grand Forks to effectively shut down.  The drift below was in front of the garage door, facing West.

Even though there wasn't much snow, that much wind can leave some large drifts and strange formations carved out of snow. 

This beautiful snow drift was along the south facing wall of the garage, was nearly two feet high, and had a near vertical face on one side.  It was gorgeous and mysterious at the same time.  The force of the wind and eddies created by the buildings worked in combination to sculpt this snow drift.  

Enjoying the unusual snow formations went a long way to make up for the cold early morning snow shoveling and snow removal.  As the front passed, bitterly cold air filled in behind it, leaving the area in wind chill warnings from Monday evening through the end of the day Wednesday.  Chilly.  Even though the calendar says it's coming soon, Spring seems a long way off.

Blind Dachshund Painter

Via Facebook friends I came across this lovely little gem - a blind longhaired dashund who paints and sells her paintings with the proceeds going to help one of her local rescue groups. I'm trying to convince John that we should buy a painting. I'm not in to art, but I think this is in a class all by itself. Check it out, it's fun!

http://www.hallieart.com/index.php