On Wed, 21 Jan 2004 13:27:23 -0500, Jeff Wisnia
wrote:

Bob Chilcoat wrote:

Last week I was cleaning up after lunch when I heard a noise in the family
room.

snipped

Well writ story Bob!

I put a Home Depot cap on our chimney in January of 2000 when, after living in
our home for about 15 years, we got our first creature, a Grackle (a crow like
bird), down the chimney.

What was really eirie about the event was that it occurred on the morning we
were burying my mom. The Grackle was flapping around behind the fireplace glass
and one of the kids opened the doors without thinking about the consequences.

We were due at the cemetary in the next town to us in less than an hour, and
this stupid bird bird flapping around the cathederal ceilinged family room,
bashing against the skylights trying to get out.

There we were, running around waving brooms and hockey sticks at it trying to
herd it out an opened window. We were just about to give up and let it stay
inside until we got back from mom's graveside funeral service, in company with
twenty or so folks who would be coming back with us to pay a traditional
condolence call.

The thought of the Grackle, even though it was appropriately dressed in black,
flapping around and knocking over coffee cups and such wasn't something we were
looking forward to.

All of a sudden the stupid bird spotted an unblocked window and took off through
it to freedom. It was pretty tuckered out by then and had difficulty maintaining
more than a couple of feet of altitude as it slowly flapped its way over the
lawn and disappeared behind the homes across the street.

Needless to say, the unintended symbolism of seeing that bird leaving our home
coincident with our family saying goodby to my mother for the final time will
never be lost on us. We can't keep from thinking we watched her spirit heading
off for heaven.

Regarding squirrels; While many homeowners hate the little "roof rats", the ones
around or house know their place, and haven't invaded the premises yet. We enjoy
watching the brighter ones learn to crank the kids' discarded gum ball machine
which I converted to a corn dispenser. Some not too great photos of one doing
that are up at:

http://home.comcast.net/~jwisnia18/jeff/

(Click on the middle thumbnail in the first row...I can not tell a lie, I didn't
take the last photo in the series..)

Jeff

I read the part for the nuke picture. That must be what those
multiple smoke trails are on nuke pictures. They never show them very
long on TV to figure it out. I was always thinking on the lines of
wires behind rockets and the wires would toast for some reason, but
they are just the smoke trails to get insturments at different
altitudes close to the blast?