Sunday, October 23, 2011

Apple Tree and Me

Mrrrr Friends,

If you are like me, you appreciate the four seasons of the human year. Autumn is my favorite in many ways...because of the crunchy leaves for chasing and the crisp air that is so invigorating for a furry guy like me.

I took advantage of this very crisp day - we had a frost last night - to go out and check on my pal the apple tree.


You can see her here barely, Oom just wrapped her trunk cause it has a scar from being hit by a boulder. She's about 18 human feet tall I think and has two little trees attached to her roots but growing independent-like (the two scrawny trunks to the left). She used to live down along the brook close to here:


See all those pebbly rocks? My brook used to flow right there and she was right on the old bank. (All the grasses are still flattened from the big water. If I had been in this spot during the flood, I'd have been 2 feet underwater and moving fast downstream.)

That cranky old Irene broad brought the big rain, and the brook turned into a raging river. It took the apple tree away early in the day, and we thought we'd lost her beautiful spring flowers and fun to chase little red apples forever. But Oom found her downstream the day after. She was laying down with one long root still clinging to the bank with her branches hanging on to the two little trees.

Oom was pretty stressed out and sad that day, and she got the crazy notion they should try to save her. So with Boo they pulled her out of the brook, gently wrapped her roots, hauled her up to a new, safe spot, dug a huge hole and covered up all her roots real careful like.

We think that if she makes it, so will our town. Upper Jay, Keene, Ausable Forks and lots of nice people with there roots deep in these places got hammered just like my apple tree pal. I hope they are all okay. If you want to help them you can go here. Tell them Diesel sent you.


Sunday, October 16, 2011

Autumn


Mrrrr Friends,

Autumn is here. I love autumn.

Crunchy leaves:


Fresh wood piles:


Clearing runways for tree-scaling:


Fewer bugs down by my brook:


And, pumpkin pie:


And in just a month or two...snow, glorious snow!

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Mothballs

Mrrrr Friends,

Mothballs stink and you should keep them away from critters....especially moths.

But I feel like I've been in them since August.

I was having my mid-life crisis, and there was the whole ordeal with the deer fly. I felt like my life was spinning out of control...the only constants were Oom and Boo's love, Alex's stripeyness, and my kibble consumption.

Then there was the big bad water on 28 August. That was just awful for lots of critters and folks. Ava the cat is missing still, the pony got washed away, and I just can't imagine how many other good critters got the tough end. But there was the barn cat in Keene that hung on for dear life, my pal Black is okay in the hardware, and Mike the Cow and his pals are okay too. The water was super high and fast and ate up some people houses and my other neighbor people's barn. Now, some of the people seem mad at the river. Puts it all in perspective for a furry guy.

And then last week, I got this nice letter:

Diesel,


I was a former Wisconsinite who moved to Oklahoma City in 2009. My family grew back in 2004 when we adopted Oy from Sauk County Humane Society, which is how I happened upon your blog. My family grew yet again in 2006 when yet another kitty joined our pack, this one hailing from Westby and going by the moniker Mog.


I had my old PC buried in storage until tonight and going through my old bookmarks, I realized I had forgotten to check your blog as diligently as I had. It was a pleasure to get caught up.


In honor of a belated Diesel Day, I must say that shelter animals are of the most in need of a home and it is up to all animal lovers to spread the word of how in need these animals are.


In honor of you and animals everywhere, happy belated Diesel Day and many, many more :)


C.J., Oy and Mog


That was nice. Thanks Oy, thanks Mog...extra big love for C.J. from me.
And my brook is still fine...swollen from a few days of rain and they kind of messed it up down where it meets the beleaguered river, but up here...there is hope.

Stay out of the mothballs...there's too much to do.