Source of Gunshots Found

There is a animal hospital and a groomer with it about three blocks from our house. Maggie needs her nails cut badly, and my daughter and I are afraid to do it. My daughter used Petko last time. I kept saying why don't we go to the place close to us. My daughter called and had to leave a message. No call back. So I thought Maggie and I would walk down to the hospital and make an appointment in person. As we approached the hospital shots rang out. Maggie stopped dead, and then made a movement to head back home at top speed. I looked up and to the right across the road. There were two or maybe three men with guns pointed toward us, but up in the air. In front of them a flock of geese flew upward with loud honking and a flutter of wings. It was a heart stopping moment. I then dragged Maggie back and towards the hospital. She was happy at the arrival at the hospital for she could see and hear and smell other dogs.We entered the building and there were two women at the desk. I asked if I could make an appointment to have Maggie groomed and they said that the grooming lady was not in but she had her phone with her. They gave me her number. I went back home and there were no more shots at that time. I called the number and got a answering machine. I left a message. Still no call back. I guess they do not want our business.

Another Waker Upper

Not only do we have gunshots to wake us in the morning but a rooster. In the weekly paper front page ran an article about a man from Neenah complaining about the neighbors rooster waking him up. He was the only neighbor complaining. The rooster owner has a permit and they checked the noise and it was not too loud. Just a reminder this is the city. I have not heard the rooster and I would not be bothered by that noise, I lived in the country and I am use to that sound. Neenah is trying to raise money to restore the city clock so it will again chime. Crystal Falls has a bell that would sound on the on the hour and half hour at the County Court House. I liked the bell because if I awoke at night I could tell the time by listening to the number of times it rang. There are people who do not like the bell ringing. I wonder if Neenah will get complaints when the bell is fixed.

Gunshots?

As I was going out the door to pick up Maggie for her morning walk at 7:ooAM, I heard what sounded like gunshots and the dog next door was barking and barking. I noticed the time because I watch crime shows on TV and the thought that came into my mind was that someone was shooting someone in the house next door and I was ready for the questioning. I looked around the house next door as I was walking over to my daughters. Every thing seemed normal. The shots came again. My daughter had left for work and I picked up Maggie and our walk began. We have to pass between my house and the neighbors to get to the walk behind the house that I take Maggie on. I tried looking in the windows, but I couldn't see anything. We walk around the soccer field the shots continued. I thought maybe what I was hearing was fireworks but that would seem unlikely because we were not near The Fourth. Then I thought maybe it was some mad person who was going into all the homes and shooting. Why hadn't anyone called the police? Of course I hadn't. Would I find dr. john shot when I got back,{ you know he wasn't shot because he blogged.] A flock of geese flew over. Could the farmers be shooting to keep the birds from landing in their fields? No police came. That evening I told my daughter. She said that happened every Saturday and it upset her because she would like to be able to sleep in and Maggie was also upset. This was not on Saturday, but the middle of the week, but I hadn't heard the shots before. Pennie thinks the man across from us, who has a business is shooting in the back of the building. There is a field back there. We have no idea whats going on.

Retreat 2008

Over the weekend I attended a retreat at St Marks hosted by St Marks. My daughter was asked to use Margaret ,her puppet. She agreed and she became part of the planning group. The retreat planning had begun almost a year ago, but my daughter joined only in the last part of the planning.

The long planning paid off, for it was a very nice retreat on prayer. Pennie would open with Margaret ,giving a over view of what was to come with humor. There were a number of projects in which you could choose whether to participate or not. A prayer journal was made, prayer quilts were tied,cards were sent to those ill, having a loss or in the service. The synod had supplied some ideas such as mandalas(not sure of spelling but they were patterned pictures which could be colored)and prayer thoughts on equality for men and women. The last was a box with sticks standing with blue ribbons and then there were sticks with pink ribbons hidden in a box of sand. You were to find the sticks with the pink ribbons and place them along side of the sticks with blue ribbons praying for equal rights. The retreat began with the traditional Lords Prayer and ended with singing the Lords Prayer. The retreat also closed with communion. The Holy Spirit changed the program a bit. St Marks has stained glass windows which tell the gospel story and the planners were going to go from window to window telling the story. This was planned in the summer. When the ladies came into the sanctuary to see the windows you could not see them because it was dark. So the lights were turned on and the ladies went outside and walked around the church. We had three meals on Saturday prepared by some men in the congregation. They were excellent. I was very glad I attended the retreat. Pictures on the retreat are found at St Marks web page and you can get there from Dr John's

A Zoo Tycoon

I wrote about how the small cages at the zoo I visited upset me. My daughter found a computer game Zoo Tycoon and then Zoo Tycoon 2. I have been building my own zoo. I failed badly the first time. Then I built a fine zoo but my animals multiplied too fast. I then found they could be released into the wild or adopted by another zoo.That helped but I have lost some animals from old age. I have lazy workers who like to sit on the guests benches. My daughter said pay them more ,but I have not found out how to do that. This game gives you information on many animals and would be good for young children if they took the time to study each animal they placed in the zoo. There are different forms to play. I am playing a game where I have all the money I want but another game gives a certain amount to work with. I am having fun.

Dr john and I went to see his lung doc today. His lung x-ray showed his lung looked better, but his breathing has deteriorated.

Caught a Bird

Note to birds: Maggie moves at the speed of lightening. The birds in flocks sit upon the fence, taunting Maggie the dog. She runs at them they fly away circling just above her reach. That is the way the summer has gone, even flying just above her as we walk in the morning. On Monday evening we gave Maggie a bath holding her with the gentle leader. After the bath,My daughter walked her to my house and put her in the crate to dry. She put the gentle leader on a chair on the porch. On Tuesday morning I looked for the gentle leader over at my daughters . I couldn't find it so I walked with Maggie back over to my house through the back yard. As we were about to enter the door Maggie turned and jumped and landed next to the fence. It looked like she found something on the other side as she was squatting down. I went to see. She had a bird in her mouth. I said leave it. She put it down and I took hold of her collar and tried to get her away from the bird. She made the movement toward the door but jumped back to grab the bird and away she ran. The next hour I tried to get the bird away from her. I gave her all the commands she knows , sit ,stay, give etc. She did none of them she had her prey and she was not going to give it up besides she had me chasing her, a game she loves. I found the leash were my daughter had put it to dry and I took that with me with beef jerky trying to get Maggie to give up the bird.She finally tired and took the beef jerky for the bird. Maggie prey now is two mice and two birds. The rabbit still out smarts her.

How Did He Do It?

We did get to go to the Houdini museum. There were three floors and only one floor having to do with Houdini. The nice thing about the museum is the children could interact. There was a box where you learned the secret of how to get out and could practice and do your own show. They learned about how Houdini would hide keys to use in his escapes. They would not let you take pictures.