Yesterday was selected as "spring shearing" day simply because the shop was open with a short waiting line and I had 1/2 hour to invest. Typical subjects: politics, KungFlu, a bit of local social indiscretions, and some wildlife observations. I was mostly just listening since I really didn't want to engage in a political argument or KungFlu rant but when the wildlife comments started, I couldn't resist.
One guy claimed to have had numerous sightings of cougars(different than the ones noted in the "social indiscretions") and in fact had seen one on 2 different occasions within the previous month. Since I haven't seen a live cougar I started asking specifics as to where and what time of day these observations had occurred so that I could see one of the animals first hand. Of course that caused a bit of consternation for the guy since I doubt he'd expected someone to ask those questions. He did at least provide a location that is well known to be a heavily used deer travel area so his observation is plausible. Then the conversation moved on to armadillos which he claimed were destroying his Wife's flower beds. I was not aware that the armored possums had made it this far North although the road kill report does indicate a northward migration.
My turn in the chair was coming up but I couldn't resist asking if anyone had noticed any Sasquatch activity. Sure enough, guess who piped up immediately? He had his facts right on que with the location of the eccentric BFRO (Big Foot Research Organization) member who lives up the road from Son's place but didn't have any first hand sightings(darn it, I was really hoping to hear THAT story).
The results of the shearing were worse than expected--6 months w/o seeing one's face allows lots of things to change(NOT improve).
One guy claimed to have had numerous sightings of cougars(different than the ones noted in the "social indiscretions") and in fact had seen one on 2 different occasions within the previous month. Since I haven't seen a live cougar I started asking specifics as to where and what time of day these observations had occurred so that I could see one of the animals first hand. Of course that caused a bit of consternation for the guy since I doubt he'd expected someone to ask those questions. He did at least provide a location that is well known to be a heavily used deer travel area so his observation is plausible. Then the conversation moved on to armadillos which he claimed were destroying his Wife's flower beds. I was not aware that the armored possums had made it this far North although the road kill report does indicate a northward migration.
My turn in the chair was coming up but I couldn't resist asking if anyone had noticed any Sasquatch activity. Sure enough, guess who piped up immediately? He had his facts right on que with the location of the eccentric BFRO (Big Foot Research Organization) member who lives up the road from Son's place but didn't have any first hand sightings(darn it, I was really hoping to hear THAT story).
The results of the shearing were worse than expected--6 months w/o seeing one's face allows lots of things to change(NOT improve).
