Another Work Day

 Campuses were quiet because of spring break.

December '24 Leftovers

 

Soaking up these sweet moments

A petting zoo came to campus before final
and we visited even though we had no exams.

Someone put crystal dreidels in our little library.

In the puzzle library someone left an envelope with a found puzzle piece

glad I didn't ride my bicycle today

SYCAMORE 💛

Special gift - D. printed a tandem for our minifigs

Bits and Pieces

 Plants

Buckeyes!

So many acorns

Yew berries
I used to think this is where glue came from.

The pumpkins seem bigger in Ohio.

Animals

Deer!

Spotted lanternfly!
I knew I should squish it, but didn't want to. It flew into a spiderweb and the spider took care of the rest. Yippee.

Other

So easy to roll onto public transit,
right in the airport and close to home.

"Ride free and vote on Election Day"

The grocery store is working to eliminate food waste by discounting old produce.

The little free library at my elementary school is missing.
I hope they are fixing it up and it will return.

Home ownership

We love many things about our house, but there are bits of reality that aren't my favorite parts.

D. is great at dealing with regular issues around the house, including plumbing problems. On the other hand, if one's drain auger snake is only 25 feet long there are limitations.

Not looking good

Plumber's snake, but it wasn't long enough so he
left and came back with a longer one. Success!  

Next up was a fly infestation. Ewww! But D. found where they were coming from and we worked together to deal with it. 

Having them out of the house reminded me of this book.

I don't know if it is related, 

but we have had two tiny lizards in the house recently.

I had an email saying the power would be out until noon.
No problem, I can go without or go other places.

I got the car out of the garage before the power was out and came back from the grocery store after noon. Maybe I should not have been so optimistic about the timing. But all is well that ends well and nothing melted/got spoiled.

Now we are trying to hire someone to rebuild some windows, fix a tiled floor, and other tasks that are best done by professionals.

Thank goodness these are my biggest issues!

Wildlife on Campus

A neighbor shared that an owl family was living above the clock on a campus tower about four blocks away.

The baby and I walked over to take a look and could see a raven's nest that the mother had taken over and maybe I could see an owl, but it was hard to see.

I mentioned it to a friend with a good camera and she shared these photos

of the mother and owlets

and the father nearby.

I went back a couple times but could not see much. I decided to walk over one more time to get pictures of bird droppings or an owl pellet to enhance this blog post. As we approached D. glanced over and we all got a surprise!

The owlet had fledged!

It snapped its beak at us and was definitely intimidating.

The mother hooted at us from above.

Before we left the area we could see that the owlet had moved, which I hope meant it would move even higher to be safe from coyotes.

I did find something like a pellet

and droppings. 

Updated to add a photo taken the following morning of the fledging in the tree and mother above the clock.

Animals of the West

There is a toad on the shore of the pond at the
botanic garden, which was a surprise
since they aren't native to this area.

also at the botanic garden

and this rabbit, too

I love the turquoise shade of this lizard,
maybe a western fence lizard.

an all-black lizard
maybe a black girdled lizard?
I love the fingers and toes (dactyly?)

The snails were all over the sidewalks on the day of this picture.

Animals of the East

 Rodents, a reptile, and a really big bird!

Thanks to A for pointing out the
black squirrel and sharing this picture.

Another rodent

I was surprised to see an eastern garter snake.
I hope it doesn't eat black squirrels!

I was even more surprised to see a turkey right in town.