Quite a sight, looking up through the open core of the blue spruce tree, up along one of the thickest branches, facing to the southwest.

And seeing the mother great-horned owl staring right back at you, pinnae alert. With a chick perched at her side. And the other just a half meter or so farther down the branch.

The remains of last night's last meal, the back half of a cottontail, laying in the grass directly below.

Yes, quite a sight.

I assume it is possible that some are getting tired of owl reports. I'm not. They seem to be the highlight of my days. The other boring news for today?

Brunch at Fat Boys, with clan plus wife's godson.The three young men tried to play Magic in the car on the drive in, without even completing a round, and then again at the brunch table. With less luck (who wants pancake syrup on their cards, even if they all are in sleeves?).

SUV had overheated when they tried to return after Mass, so I got the task of getting it functional while they returned godson to his Dad's. Looks like the radiator was nearly empty (surprising since it went in for "full service" checks last month, as well as all the work on the air conditioning, and there was fluid in the reservoir). Still doesn't run smoothly... afraid she may have done more serious damage. Wife thinks it was bad gas.

Big project of the evening was fertilizing (with weed killer added) the yards. Hasn't been done in three to four years, and it shows. Grass is drying out much too quickly, and the weeds are the greenest things out there. Almost like a "Mid-Western" lawn.

Boy, I have got to get this out. I hate the misnomer of "The Mid-West." To all of you who apply that term to places like Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas or Illinois... get a map!.

The Prairie states are the middle of the country (excluding Hawaii and Alaska). Everything east of there is the "East". If anything, the states claiming to be the "Mid-West" are actually the "Mid-East."

If any places are the "Mid-West" of the USA, it is New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana.

Okay, rant over.

Anyway, the lawn has been completely covered with little white pellets of phosphorus and plant growth hormones now (that's how most lawn weed killers work... they make the weeds run through their entire growth cycle in just a few days, denying them the chance to breed). And all four feet of each of three heelers have to be washed and wiped down after each and every excursion into the yard.

Such fun. And I have my usual hyper caffeinated-type jitters from inhaling the dust for an hour or so.

No wonder it's been years since I did that.

Also spent some time on my knees, with my wife.

Jammed between the dryer and the basement wall, trying to get the vent hose reattached.

That was fun.

And during that process, we heard rapid and panicky thumps and tracks of the heeler Mom running all over the floor above us. (Her daughters were down with us, getting in the way.)

Heading upstairs, we found her running around with her head cocked to one side, right ear down, with her right leg in constant tremors. Got her outside, but it was no better. Still running in panicky loops, acting as if she needed to scratch, but couldn't, and needed to run, but couldn't. With her head tilted almost 90 degrees.

We were getting scared.

Checked her ears. They looked incredibly clean.

So tried the obvious next thing.

I scratched her neck and ear. Vigorously.

That got her head on straight, and then she immediately ran out into the yard, and left a big pile.

And then trotted to another corner, and left another big pile.

That dog was full of shit. Or, at least she used to be.

Assume she has been helping herself to someone else's dinners, as well as her own.

We presume she had a horrible itch on her head or ears (mosquitoes are out in force, and love heeler blood), which brought on the rear leg scratching tremors. But she couldn't reach the itch because she was too full of shit.

Either she physically couldn't reach the itch, or more likely, given her panicky state, she was afraid she would lose rectal control if she actually did stoop to scratch, thereby making a mess in the house, embarassing herself and displeasing the Alpha.

She seems to be fine, now.