9.01.2008

vacation: day 2

    Went out for breakfast.
    Hung out with Mom.
    Bought shoes - New Balance walking shoes (844, the already-outdated predecessor to the 845) & Born Mica sandals
these shoes...you knowBornMica

    Walked with Mom & Dad, on their usual path. It isn't as long as the route that I usually take, but there are elevation changes that make it a reasonable challenge. (Photos to come later in the week.)

    Monday was the beginning of Operation Streaky Gopher. For those who might be unfamiliar, "streaky gopher" is another name for a 13-Lined Ground Squirrel (see also here). My parents have had one bothering them for a while. It made its way into the house - Mom walked into the basement and saw it in a hanging plant, swinging gently from the hook in the ceiling - but some combination of Dad with a fishing net (outside, through the window well) and Mom with a pan and spoon (inside) convinced it to exit the house, after which they sealed his ingress hole with some kind of foam. Still, he was hanging around (though not literally), eating the bird seed and generally being a pain in the ass.

    My dad knows a guy who traps. I call him "Mr. Moleman" (see here for comparison) but apparently his name is Rich (and he's younger than me). Moleman set up a trap (catch-and-release) on the front step (since the 'rents never use the front door...sigh...), which happens to be next to the room in which I sleep. The result of the trap shall be revealed in tomorrow's segment.

    What follows are some photos of the moonflowers (seemingly closest to Ipomoea, though the flowers on the ones that my parents grow are much larger and less detailed - they may be Datura?) near the front stoop, the straggly purple things that grow beneath and around the moonflowers, and also some of my mom's monster houseplants - in case you're wondering where I get it from, it's obviously genetic.

moonflower plantmoonflower bloommoonflower bloom, closerwhich are the pistils and which are the stamens?moonflower profilemoonflower plant, from the Eastlovely and dramatic even when they're droopythe purple thingsyes, also the purple thingshouseplants - perhaps 1/4 of the totalthe aloe that ate Wisconsin (eh, no biggie)dwarf Sansiveria - look familiar, anyone?

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