Moose

 I have been dreading this post for some time now. But I feel I have to do this for two reasons. One, to remember him and two, hopefully for some closure. 

It has been over a week now that we had to say goodbye to Moose. It still breaks my heart that he is gone. I spend a lot of time outside because being in the house is very sad for me. Everything reminds me of him. His favorite blanket where he would sleep for hours all curled up inside of it.

Where he would sit, watching the birds or squirrels.

The way he would always greet us at the door when we came home. 

Moose has been showing his age now for some time. We have had him into the vet many times for a sneezing problem. He would have these sneezing fits and then lately when they happened his left eye would bleed. So in May he was diagnosed with a tumor behind his eye that affected his eye and sinuses. 6 months was his prognosis. They sent me home with a prescription to reduce the inflammation. That's all we could do for him. That was a sad day for sure.

For the next 3-4 weeks we watched him. Those of you who knew Moose, you knew he was a big cat. He was over 16 pounds. He had lost a lot of weight. He was down to just over 11 pounds now. I spoiled him at the end. Giving him all the treats he cared to eat. Soft food when he looked hungry. I think Stinky gained weight because whatever he didn't eat, she would. 

Finally it got to the point to where we couldn't bear to see him like this anymore. He would still have sneezing fits and you could see that he was in pain. We knew it was time.

This was the last photo I took of Moose. The day after, we took him to the vet one last time. I have never been so sad in my life. I held him in my arms until the end. Watching the life leave his body but knowing he was in a better place now. When it was done, the sight of his lifeless body laying on the table as we left still causes me to tear up.

The house now is a little lonelier and more sad. The other two cats I know are wondering where he went. Moose would spend a lot of time in the garage towards the end. When he was ready to come inside, Stinky would run to the door to greet him. She still runs to the door but he is never there now. And Journey, for 10 years she has been with Moose. They had a special bond.

Moose loved laps.

It didn't matter who you were, if you were sitting, he would climb up on your lap and quickly fall asleep. He was always with me during my 3 surgeries. Always providing comfort.

We got Moose from a shelter in Sanford FL. He picked me that day so long ago. I think I took him for granted, always thinking he would be around. Now he is gone. Here is the first picture we ever took of him.

He will be missed.

 

From Cryptids to the Paranormal

 Our hero's, Gladys and Tango, have added another occupation to there long and distinguished resumes. "How can that possibly be?" you ask. We know they are renowned Cryptid hunters. traveling the country searching for Sasquatch's, Skunk Apes, Yeti's and many other sorts of scary beings. Warriors, Caregivers, Carny's, Professional Soup Slingers and the list goes on and on. What more could they possibly do?

Paranormal investigations. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, it simply says : not scientifically explainable.

When we built our fortress of solitude, The SSUVFL, 5 years ago, we have had a few unexplained phenomena happen to us. Nothing like in the movies such as poltergeist, or anything like that. What I will share with you are a few of the "hair on the back of the neck raising" types of things that have happened to us.

This is a photo of part of the SSUVFL taken from outer space. To the right of our building we put in an RV pad with full hookups out there. Only intending to be here during summer months in our fifthwheel. After we first built our place, we had our fifth wheel parked out there. Gladys and I were sitting inside with the windows open. The RV pad was made of rock. As we sat there we could hear footsteps in the rock plain as day. We both looked at each other, I jumped up and went outside wondering who was out there. I went around the entire camper and building and did not find anyone. Sure, you might think it was a rabbit or squirrel but it wasn't. For one thing, we don't have rabbits around here. and a squirrel would make random jumps as they move. These footsteps were even and sounded heavy.

The second example is this. After we added our cabin addition on, we were inside watching some television. Lisa got up and set her glass on the counter by the sink and then sat down again. A few minutes later the glass shattered while it was on the counter. It wasn't hot or cold. It was just empty. Freaked us both out. 

There have been several other times that we would see a shadow pass by a window or door. Always sending chills down our backs.

One time, Gladys was staining boards for our cabin. She was hunched over them, when she turned her head, she saw someone standing next to her. It was only legs and a torso, without a face. She jumped and then blinked and it was gone. She swears that it was her father. So vivid was the image that she can even describe what he was wearing.

We don't get too overly concerned about it. We have smudged the house with sage in the traditional indigenous way. If there is a spirit here we think of it as the spirit of Lisa's father who passed away and left us this beautiful property. We refer to it as "Wiggies ghost".

A couple of weeks ago our daughter was going to spend a couple of days with us. She works nights and then drives out to our place very late. So as she arrived, our trail camera, that we have set up at the entrance of the SSUVFL took a picture of her. This is what it caught.

If that isn't a ghostly apparition, I don't know what is. The picture before and after that one does not have anything like it. Things that make you go "hmmm". 

Here's the picture before her arrival.

And after her arrival. You can see the time stamps.

Another curious thing about those photos is that there are no critters pictured to have set off the camera.

Maybe it is a good thing to let the world know that the SSUVFL is haunted. Might keep the Rif-raf away. Until the next spooky thing happens.

Cryptid Hunting

 

 

Our heroes, Tango and Gladys, have set aside their Sasquatch hunt for a while. Having ventured to the swamps of Florida last year searching for the ever elusive Skunkape. Still reeling from the financial burden of the dreaded truck repairs and equipment failure of that expedition. Hunkered down, deep in the middle of the SSUVFL, our heroes wait for news of the next big adventure. Wait long, they did not.

Rumor spread of an invasion not far from us. Creatures larger than Sasquatches if you can believe that. Practically in our very own backyard. "Gladys! To the Sasquatch mobile!"

We traveled a few miles north of us to where the sightings of these creatures have been reported as being seen. It was a gloomy overcast day. The kind of day that makes it perfect for hunting. We arrived and not long after that we saw our first sighting. It was horrible, yet breathtaking at the same time.

You may be asking yourselves what this could possibly be? Folklore says these creatures have been around for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. Moving amongst us unseen. What praytell could it be? In one word.

TROLLS.

The Oxford dictionary says this. An ugly creature depicted as either a giant or a dwarf.

North of us there is a town we locals simply call DL. (IYKYK) Hidden in the woods around this town live an assortment of Trolls. 9 to be exact. So off we went in search of these mythical creatures. Each troll has a clue and once you get all of the clues, it will tell you where there is a golden rabbit hidden. Never have we hunted Trolls before and we had no idea of what we were getting ourselves into. So blindly into the wilderness we went. There is an order to finding these things but looking at the map from my navigator, the second troll would actually be closer for us to find. Find it we did.

The first Troll.

Lisa with Ronny Funny Face.

I'm the smaller one.

These Trolls were placed around the county as an interactive art exhibit. Very cool and these things are huge. I think if you scan that QR code it will explain it all. On to the next one. 

This is actually the starting point of the Troll hunt. There is a large wooden book just in front of Lisa in this photo. It is the key to the Nordic alphabet that will tell you where to find the Golden Rabbit. Around each Trolls neck is a clue.

Two Trolls down, seven to go.

Except for the first Troll, which is right in the middle of the DL city park, you have to venture out into the woods to find them. So prepare for an all day adventure should you choose to partake. At this Troll you can choose to rock jump over a pond to get there.

To everyone's dismay, Lisa made it across without incident. 

We found four of the Trolls. We decided that this would be a fun activity to do with the grandkids on a nice summer day. In some areas we were slip sliding through mud and I didn't want to fall and break a hip. So we called it quits there. 

On a more personal note. I have become more like the Trolls. I told you about my back surgery. Now I have had to have a tooth removed from my head. They couldn't save it and it hurt pretty bad so now it is gone. Just a big gaping hole in my mouth. Growing old gracefully.

Having this tooth removed reminded me of the time my wisdom teeth were pulled. I was 19 in the Air Force at the time. The dentists name was Captain Esqueval. Why I remember that, I don't know, but I do. I swear that when he was pulling them, he had a foot on my face, yanking so hard as to break one or two. I was in the hospital for 3 days after that. Now this part is truly unbelievable. I smoked at the time and I had a non-smoking hospital room. I had to walk down the hallway to smoke. Things sure have changed.

The next great adventure awaits.

 

Turning the Corner

 What a difference a week makes. Last week we were 20 below zero. Today we are at 46 and it looks like we will be in mild temps for the next two weeks. That's a 66 degree temperature swing. It sure does wonders for the attitude. We have to remind ourselves though that it is still February. You know what they say about March. I said to Lisa that we haven't had a blizzard yet this year. Knock on wood.

Back in the winter of 2019/2020, our last year on the road, we bought a Jeep Wrangler while we were in Pahrump, NV.

We bought it in Las Vegas. It was such a good deal we couldn't pass it up. This is our second Wrangler. Remember our first one, Lil' Blue. This one we named Smaug from "The Hobbit". Back in January we were traveling to the megatropolis of Fargo when all of a sudden it started the notorious "Death Wobble".

For those that don't know what that is, it's a violent shaking of the front wheels. When it happens at 70 miles an hour it is very scary. Don't worry though if you think it could all of a sudden happen to you. It's a Jeep thing. We got that fixed and it wasn't too costly of a repair. I think it was $250. So we are happy as little clams getting the Jeep back, until........

This latest Arctic cold spell hits. 20 below temps are just hard on vehicles anyways. We started noticing a puddle underneath it. I looked under the hood and it looked like it was coming from the power steering. Fluids at 20 below are just thick and they expand so I just thought it was from that. Lisa took it to work and on her way home the engine temp went way up and she wasn't getting any heat inside. Oh-oh. I told her to drive it to the dealer and I would meet her there. We told them the problem and there was also a grinding noise. To make a long story short, There were two radiator hoses that split, an oil leak and the rear differential needed to be rebuilt. They said we were lucky it didn't lock up on us and cause an accident. That was February 3rd. It's still in the shop.

I had back surgery in January. Before you say "OMG!" rush over here and drink our beer and eat our food, it was nothing serious. I just had a cyst removed from the middle of my back that was becoming annoying. I was starting to look like the hunch back of Notre Dame. It was about the size of a marble. Is that what they mean by the saying, "Growing old gracefully"?

I went to a dermatologist I have never been to. An older fellow. He examined me and made his recommendations. The next day I got on the computer to look at his report. At first he writes this: "This pleasant 60 year old man comes into dermatology here for the first time with two skin problems." Pleasant, he called me pleasant. I like this guy. 

Farther down in the report he says this: "This well-developed, well-nourished 60 year old male..." Is that a polite way of saying I'm fat? What the heck? I don't like him any more. LOL.

After this last winter, we have been thinking about heading someplace warmer. So if any of our RV friends want to let us know where you will be, we will try not to go there. Especially Jethro and Bambi. Although I hear they may not be allowed back into the state we are thinking of going to. Something to do with the statute of limitations or something like that.

Stinky watching the snow melt.

Winter of 2024/2025

 

Deep in the bowels of the Arctic wasteland that we call home. Too cold to venture outside to do the smallest of tasks, our hero's, Tango and Gladys, find themselves staring at each other. Wondering who is going to go crazy first. (My money is on Gladys.) Gladys had a job at a nursing home for the winter, but now she has quit that to prepare for soup season which is just around the corner. One day at home and she is climbing the walls from boredom. I on the other hand have seen my days of soul searching and reflection, have come to an end with questions of "what are we going to do today?" A nonstop question that goes on and on. I often have to stop and wonder where in the heck I put my duct tape.

Today's forecast.

A cold week for sure.

A dire warning.

Thanks to the weather service looking out for us. I remember as a kid long, long ago, the weather people would be like this. "It's going to be cold today so bundle up."  This cold weather though is what keeps us inside. Hunkered down until spring. No energy or motivation to do much at all. The only thing keeping us going is all of the photos of friends and family who are able to travel to warmer weather showing us how nice it is to not be here. LOL. Maybe it's our jealousy that keeps us warm. I don't know. 

I remember as a kid, we never ever thought of not going outside. We would throw on our snowsuits, boots with bread bags, gloves and hats and be outside for hours. Never ever really feeling the cold. We were oblivious of the temps. If we didn't want to go out, my mother would make us go out just to get some peace and quiet. At school we would be able to play on the snow piles that were built up in the parking lots. They were huge. Have you ever played "King of the hill" with about 50 other kids. Utter chaos. We had teams but after a while it was just a free for all.

In my teens in High School my father bought my brother and I snowmobiles. I think my sister got a new Barbie or something. My brother got an Arctic Cat JAG 3000 snowmobile.

I got an Arctic Cat JAG 2000. The difference being that the 3000 had electric start while mine had to be pull started.

See that handle there with the red arrow. You pulled that to turn over the engine. Some days when it was really, really cold it would take quite a few times to get that thing started. I had arms like Arnold Schwarzenegger. I knew if I couldn't start it, I couldn't ride it. My brother on the other hand had a real muscular thumb.

I remember we had this game we would play when my brother would invite a friend over. There would be three of us and only two sleds. (slang for snowmobile). The game went like this. We lived in the country and two people would ride around the house. The third person would hide somewhere and when a sled came around the corner, he would jump out and try to knock the person off the sled and steal it. Needless to say I don't think our parents were home at the time. Good times.

Now that I think about it, my brother and I had identical Motorcycles also. Suzuki 185's. Only his had electric start and mine had to be kick started. Hmmmmm. 

Back in the old days, when I started to drive, was a challenge in winter. We didn't have SUV's with 4 wheel drive or cars with all wheel drive. We didn't even know what any of that was. We had a car, with rear wheel drive and that was it. You had to learn how to drive on snow and ice. Drifting was an every day thing. Not just made for movies. If you got stuck, you had to learn how to rock your vehicle to get it unstuck. Forward and back, forward and back until you finally broke free. It's not like we got stuck and then had to call our dads from our Cell phones. We didn't even want our dads to find out. 

I remember one time I was driving my 59 Cadilac Coupe de Ville under a train over pass. It was glare ice on the road. As I reached the top of the hill the lights were red ahead of me. I hit the brakes which sent the car into a 360 degree spin coming to a stop just behind the car in front of me. I should have jumped out and yelled "TADA!" but in fact I may have sharted. Thankfully I didn't end up in the ditch.

That's it for my reminiscing. Stay warm out there. Except for everyone showing us beach pictures. I hope you get sand in your bathing suits.

The Battles are Real

 

I had an anniversary this week. November 18th, 1982. That is the day I entered the Air Force. I remember it as if it were yesterday. A time in my life I would not trade for anything. What amazes me is that it was 42 years ago. Where does the time go? 

The 'Cold War" was still going on. Always being reminded of that when our base would run nuclear or chemical warfare drills. It was a little nerve racking to say the least. I spent 3 years and 9 months on active duty. Getting out 3 months early to join the North Dakota Air National Guard, where I spent another 22 years. I was only deployed to three different foreign countries my whole career. Hard to believe. They were England, Panama and Canada. Aircraft we had on our bases over the years were this. F-111D, F-4, F-16, C-130 and the C-21. The F-111 was my favorite because it was the first .

I found this photo on the internet. It is actually from the base I was stationed at. Cannon AFB in New Mexico. The 27th Fighter Wing.

Now to the reason for bringing up past battles. My military training will stay with me my entire life.

The long standing battle continues here at the SSUVFL. The battle I speak of is man vs. mouse. Those pesky little critters are getting everywhere. Years ago I blogged about the battle with Rambo mouse. If you are new to the blog you can read about it here. 

For years I have been using the old fashioned spring loaded mouse trap. It has never failed me until this fall. Trap after trap I set. Only to come back in the morning to find the bait stolen. And as a slap in the face there would be at least 10 mouse turds all around the trap as a "thank you" from the mouse. Why don't I use the bucket trap? Well winter is almost here and the water required in the bottom would just freeze, providing a skating rink for them. They would be like a miniature Torvill and Dean's skating in the bottom of the bucket. No. This is war! I had to find a new trap to bring the war to the enemy. Find one I did.

This is a trap made by Tomcat. I set out two traps. One in our pickup camper and one in my sons camper. The next morning there were two mice in them. 2 for 2. That thing snaps down on them hard. I didn't want to show you the pictures because I know Jim is squeamish when it comes to those kinds of things. So that is one battle raging on right now. 

Here is another. Squirrels. Don't get me wrong, I like squirrels until they get into our bird feeder. They have had all summer to gather acorns because we have a lot of oaks on our property. They are not starving. Plus they also get the benefit of our walnut trees. So they could at least leave the sunflower seeds we put out for the birds to the birds. But NOOOO.

It starts with one.

They are very good at climbing that pole. They chase the birds away when they are up there. The red squirrels will chase the grey squirrels away just so they can have the feeder to themselves. 

Then two.

Then three.

I don't know how many times a day I walk by the window to see those little critters feasting on our sunflower seeds while the birds are waiting in the trees to have a turn. I will then open the window and yell at the squirrels which makes them freak out and run away back to the woods. But the more I do it the less freaked out they get. So now, (and I'm not too proud to admit this), but I will run out there barking like a dog to get them to scatter. No, that will not be on YouTube. So I went to the local farm supply store for a new weapon in this battle.

We will see if that solves the problem. It's been on for an hour while I write this and have not seen any squirrels on the feeder. However a red squirrel tried.

Lisa originally put the sunflower seeds in a plastic garbage can outside to make it easier to fill the feeder. Well the squirrels discovered that and had chewed a hole through the top to get to the seeds. No wonder our squirrels are so fat. We went and got a metal can and that stopped them. They are not pleased about it and let us know by urinating on it. Dang critters.

I am busy and I can see how someone may be confused at all of this. You're probably wondering if that is all I do all day? Worry about mice and chase squirrels in a dog costume. I do have a set of chores that I do daily. Our long list of things to do is almost complete, thank the maker.

Now I have time to share with you a third battle that I am waging. It is a battle on the planet of Pandora against bandits, psychos and all kinds of mean and evil creatures. It's actually a video game called Borderlands. I love it. I could play for hours and hours a day. Just ask Lisa. Look at these things you have to defeat.

It will literally take you months to finish the game. I don't like when you buy a game for 60-70 dollars and finish it in a week. That's not fun for me. I have been practicing because there is a new Borderlands game coming out in 2025 so don't expect me to take phone calls or anything once I get it. 

Just another exciting day at the SSUVFL.