I'm in love with Sherman Alexie

Well, not really, but I do have a new crush. He was so funny, and so real. For those of you who don't know him, he's a writer who grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. I believe he's also part Coeur d' Alene. He's written several books (fictional, of course :) ) about growing up on the rez. His new book is called "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian" and while I haven't read it yet, I can't wait to. He tells it like it is; he isn't afraid to discuss the poverty, drug abuse, alcoholism and the effect the casinos have on the Indians. And he managed to have the entire crowd (Indians, whites, kids, seniors and everything in-between) laughing hysterically the entire time. I can't tell you how refreshing it is to hear someone talk about the REAL issues that I see every day. I'm going to buy this book today, and devour it.

create your own porn-star name!

Yeah, I know, not my typical post...but out of sheer boredom (hard to believe, I know) I was looking through the archives of very funny blogger and saw this:

"You know how you can make a porn stage name by taking the name of your childhood pet and combining it with the street you grew up on?"

Well, no, I hadn't heard of this. But it did cause me to stop and think. And now, I'd like to introduce you to:

Smokey Canal.


oh. my. god.

What's yours??

absolutely nothing interesting to say today...

so here are a couple of photos from this past weekend. Anna and I on our cruisers...




and Anna at the library, so cute in dress, leggings and cowboy boots.






Tonight I'm going out with a friend, for Italian food and to see Sherman Alexie speak at Auntie's, my favorite bookstore. These are the types of things I missed so much when we lived on the coast...

eagles and owls and osprey, oh my!

Yesterday was a gorgeous fall day, perfect for driving down to the south end of Coeur d' Alene lake, to visit Jane and the birds. Anna has been asking to go out to Jane's ever since I made my first visit over year ago, but it hasn't worked out until now. Jane was so sweet and gave us the extra-special treatment, even allowing Anna to go inside the aviary with Beauty.



She's the Bald Eagle who had the top part of her beak shot off (!); Jane brought her down from Alaska and is having a titanium prosthetic made. Jane has found a local maxillofacial surgeon to donate his time to attach the prosthetic; he arrived yesterday just as we were leaving, to take some measurements and figure out how he'll attach it. It's pretty incredible, what Jane does. She is a tireless crusader on behalf of these birds. She and her husband do EVERYTHING to care for these injured birds, every day, 365 days a year. Her dream is to build a Raptor Center similar to the one outside Boise, so that she can educate the public about these amazing birds. If you want to donate to her cause, go to her website; you can even sponsor a bird. She told us it costs over a thousand dollars a year, per bird, to feed them. She has anywhere from 20-35 birds that she is caring for at any given time. Ok, on with the pictures: First, David, Anna and Jane discussing another eagle she is rehabilitating.




Then, the aviary we helped build last week:

And then some of Anna and Jane with a Great Horned Owl and a Peregrine Falcon.

like mother, like daughter

ever since I got my sweet cruiser, all Anna can talk about (well, besides getting her own puppy) is getting a cruiser too. One day in REI, she saw a pink one, same brand as mine, with white hawaiian flowers. It was love at first sight. So...that was her big birthday present. Here's the "Little Pink Devil"* on her little pink cruiser.



*She gave herself that nickname....one day she was being silly/crazy and said "I'm a little pink devil!!" David and I fell over laughing, and that's been one of her many nicknames ever since. Some days it just fits.

a different kind of pain in the butt

I've just realized I've gotten wwwaaaaayyy too comfortable with this blogging thing when I briefly considered taking (and posting!) a photo of the world's biggest, blackest, baddest bruise...which just happens to be on my arse.

Yesterday was the kind of day that makes me LOVE my job. We had a "work day" out at Jane's Raptor Rehabilitation Center (click to go see her site) and as always, it's one of the highlights of my year. First of all, I so adore her and admire the work she does. She will take in the most dire of cases, including a bald eagle that had the top portion of its beak shot off (!!) and, when Janie first saw her at a rehab center in Alaska, was just days away from being euthanized. Janie refused to let that happen, paid to have her brought down to N. Idaho and has arranged an unprecedented surgery to attach a prosthetic beak made out of titanium!!

I didn't take any pictures yesterday, but on this page are photos of recent releases, including me helping examine a snowy owl that was brought in. David and Anna and I are going down for a special tour on Sunday so I'll take pictures of the center and the birds then. Here's me last year:

Anyway, occasionally a group of us from the Wildlife Program head out there and spend the day doing whatever we can to help; yesterday we put a roof atop an 80 foot long aviary that will soon house a Golden Eagle who will use the space to relearn to fly. It was HOT yesterday, almost 80 degrees, and the most beautiful fall day. We worked very hard, climbing across two by fours to nail down special predator-proof netting. I was proud of my ability to keep up (and often, ahem, surpass the guys) throughout the day....not being a "girl" about the heights or the work. And then....I was leaning too far off my ladder, and started to fall. I managed to grab hold of a beam as I fell, which caused me to swing back toward the building and I dropped straight down, landing on my butt right atop a 2x4. Not wanting to make a big deal about it, I jumped up, brushed off and said "Oh yeah, THAT'S gonna bruise". By the time I got home last night I was sore all over, as if I'd been in a car accident. And you should see this bruise....it's quite spectacular.

But I think I'll leave it to your imagination...

i can not stop