Spring has Sprung!

The dean's office is so happy that Spring is finally here! Unfortunately, the weather hasn't figured out what Spring is supposed to feel like. Denver AND Baltimore (and other places) have been COVERED in snow. Many people are mad at Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog scapegoat who predicted an early spring this year. I, however, am of the belief that Groundhog Day is stupid (the holiday, not the awesome movie with Bill Murray). A rodent doesn't care about its shadow, much less predict the weather by staring at it. That's why I celebrated Prairie Dog Day this year at PCC. It's the "Groundhog Day of the West." So don't blame Phil for the late spring; blame climate change. :p

Creatures of the Night

I was in the mood to feature night animals and other silly things on the white board at work. This wasn't a terribly popular subject, so I've suggested that Lyndsay be in charge of choosing the next topic.

I started us off with the howling coyote on the right side of the board. There are a lot of coyotes in my area; we heard some fighting & squealing late at night last week on the Cherry Creek Trail. There's a Batman-looking jewel thief/cat burglar and a singing, howling cat a la Garfield. Twila, who works in one of our school's centers, drew the jar full of fireflies. I have no idea who drew the black widow spider, but as an arachnophobe, I must admit that it makes me uncomfortable.

On the second white board, my owl flies over everyone, hunting for food. The Sasquatch (Carol's) roars to scare away hunters. (I don't understand the quote: "I saw a werewolf @ Trader Vicks & his hair was perfect.") I committed copyright infringement with my doodle of Mike from "Monsters, Inc." Anne was supposed to draw the bats, but Kevin beat her to it.

Nikki Post: Fall Fest

Autumn WAS in the air in Denver - chilly nights that smelled of wood fires, bright leaves scattered on the ground, slightly gloomy days with the sun peeking through just when you need it to most - but lately the temperature's been in the high-70s, which is awesomely ridiculous. The leaves are DEFINITELY prettier than they were last year, and today is blustery as all get-out. Inside the dean's office though, we were celebrating all things autumn on our white board.

Few things say "autumn" like falling aspen leaves and a scarecrow (that isn't very scary). Judith, one of our associate deans, disliked the orange marker we originally had. It was too dried out for the pumpkin she wanted to draw. Luckily, our friend Twila in one of the school's centers bequeathed her orange marker to us so we could have our pumpkin. (I could NOT find a single orange marker on our online office supplier website! Ridiculous.)

Teri joined the party and drew the basket of apples (with an adorable worm coming out of one). Mmmm....cider....

Anthony once again added his artistic talents to the white board by drawing a...gonna go with witch? Calling for help? Regardless, we're very happy to have him in our drawing group.

Kevin drew the corn maze, which is fantastic as always. I've yet to do a corn maze this year, although there IS one on my "bucket list": a corn maze in the shape of Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning. If I'm gonna do a corn maze, I'm gonna "go big or go home."

And then I drew a demonic-looking squirrel stealing an apple.

The other side of our fall fest is more of a scene than a motley assortment of fall figures. Here we find Tracy (the blond in the pink scarf) warming her hands with me (in the purple scarf) by a campfire. I think the tree looks awful, but Tracy said that several people complimented how good it looked. (She's a good friend.) A spooky ghost tried to haunt us, but luckily, one of the Ghostbusters arrived to bust him.

...and then there's the football. Making fun of Tim Tebow is a favorite pastime for some of us in the office, mainly because he's such an easy target. (Although he probably couldn't even throw to himself if he were his own target. BOOM!) Pretty sure Marshall drew this, although it could also be Shawn. Neither is particularly good at adding to our white board themes in any relevant way. ;p

Our finished masterpiece

Nikki Post: We're All A Bunch of Clowns Here

The number of people in the office who participate in the white board game is growing. We recently got Anthony, our Director of Finance, to draw something, small though it may be. Teri, the dean's executive assistant, suggested the theme of "circus," and as usual, my coworkers and I went wild.

We start our tour of the circus outside the big top, along the midway where a sword swallower does his thing, and a bird (penguin?) rides a mama elephant while baby tags along. Kevin drew the elephants, and everyone was really, REALLY impressed with his skills. Seriously, look at that baby elephant. How cute is it?!

Once inside, the crowd (those dots) were treated to a stunning display of activities, all apparently happening at once. High above the crowd, and performing without a net (!), an acrobatic band of brothers twirls and swings through the air, their every move highlighted by spotlights. (I mentioned to Teri that I realized too late that, practically speaking, all of these acrobats except the one standing on the platform would probably die because it didn't look like they'd be able to catch one another, but Teri assured me that it was just a matter of perspective and that everything would work out okay in the end.)

A man elegantly dressed in a blue top hat and blue velvet pants tames a lion, perhaps in preparation to stick his head inside its mouth. (Yes, that's a lion. I'm not a good artist. We've established this.) Behind them, Lyndsay's cotton candy treats tempt one and all. A giant tub of popcorn, large enough to feed the whole crowd and the circus performers too, waits for someone to drown in its fluffy, buttery goodness.

Anthony's aforementioned contribution is the floating, radiating clown head hovering over the crowd. I think it's supposed to be the Jack-in-the-Box mascot, but it looks like some kind of terrifying mind-control device, no doubt operated by none other than...

...DAVID HASSELHOFF, THE MANIACAL CLOWN!! With this "episode" on the white board, David's time as a recurring character came to an end. (Tracy insisted.) David chose to go out in style, in a clown car no doubt overstuffed with Baywatch babes and rabid German fans.

Nikki Post: Pool Party in the Office!

Another great theme for the office white boards: POOL PARTY!!

The deep end of the swimming pool

• Concession stands are an important part of any community pool. Kids can buy candy and get themselves jacked up on sugar, and adults can buy hot dogs and eat their frustrations away with nitrate-flavored tubes of meat.
• I'm a bit worried that the diver will hit his head on the diving board if he doesn't get enough distance while jumping into the pool, but the judges seem to approve of his form. (Except for that damn, judgy Russian judge.)
• Marshall added David Hasselhoff to the picture, much to Tracy's annoyance and horror. However, I overrode her veto, as he IS an appropriate thing one would see at a pool.
• That red thing is a pair of swimming trunks...

The shallow end of the pool

• The general consensus of the office is that Cookie Monster is a MUCH better life guard that Mr. Hasselhoff. While David flexes his muscles and checks out girls in bikinis, Cookie is actually paying attention to the people who are swimming in his area. Well...
• ...Cookie has apparently missed the fact that there is a shark (or something that looks suspiciously like a shark) in the shallow end of the pool...
• ...which is really unfortunate for the guy who doesn't know that his bottoms are floating on the other side of the pool.
• That square thing in the back is a hot tub. I was going to drive a fat, hairy guy wearing gold chains sitting in there next to some pretty blonde girls in bikinis, but that was way too complicated for a white board.
• The lady with the vicious sunburn has obviously never read Dr. Lori Crane's research on skin cancer and tanning. Dr. Crane is one of the professors at the School, and Lyndsey felt it was important that people understand that this woman on our white board was not representative of the employee's feelings on sun-tanning. (For the record though, the only reason she's red is because Kevin was hogging the brown marker at the time.)

The finished product!

Nikki Post: Worktime Silliness

While we wait for Claire to "be inspired" (her words) to write about her recent adventures camping near Pike's Peak, here's a little filler entry that shows how silly my workplace is.

My friend Tracy is the HR liaison for our office/school. She has a small whiteboard on the wall by her desk. My boss Lyndsey had taken to drawing pretty pictures on there to cheer up the office and because drawing on whiteboards is incredibly fun. Well, others in the office started joining in and creating very elaborate scenes on this 1' x 6" (approximately; I have no concept of size) whiteboard. Obviously, something needed to be done, and as the only person in the office in charge of ordering office supplies, I stepped up and purchased a second, larger whiteboard "to boost office morale." Finally, we had enough room for our elaborate scenes!

The inaugural theme for the new duo-whiteboard combo was "under the sea." I started us off by drawing what was soon interpreted as being inspired by The Incredible Mr. Limpet. However, I was actually aiming for the drawing to look like Pete the fish, a stuffed animal that Tracy keeps on her desk.

As you'll see from the photos of our finished drawing below, my drawing of Pete wasn't too far off from its source material. The Nemo I had originally drawn, however, was shameful and made people think it was some kind of floating trash debris. :p

• It's a well-known fact that elephants love to swim.
• Fun fact: The turtle was originally attacking some fish, but we declared it "too morbid" and erased the carnage.
• The seagulls in the corner are obviously inspired by the ones in Finding Nemo.

• Note my AWESOME drawing of Pete the fish in the middle there.
• The Siamese fighting fish in the corner is what took the place of my hideous Nemo drawing.
• Another Finding Nemo reference is in this picture. Can you find it?
• I forget why we have Cookie Monster in this picture, but he'll probably show up in more of our drawings.
• There's one more pop culture reference in this picture. What is it?

An Armadillo on the Prairie

Since July, Nikki has been volunteering every few Saturdays at the Plains Conservation Center in Aurora, a city/suburb southeast of Denver. She wanted to meet more people and become more active in her community, so while looking for cool volunteer opportunities in her area, she stumbled upon this place. You should TOTALLY visit their website and read all about what they do and who they are. It's pretty awesome. Also, read this article from the Denver Post to see what someone who's a little less biased thinks about the PCC. (Note, it's from 2011, so a lot's changed since then. Also note: the author incorrectly called the animals in West Bijou "buffalo." See below for why that's awful.)

The PCC (as she calls it) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving prairie lands, which used to be what Denver and the areas that AREN'T mountains all used to be. You know the book Little House on the Prairie? Well, it turns out that that book is really historically accurate and tells it like it is as far as what life for homesteaders was like. (In September, I'm hoping to visit the replica homestead the PCC has on their property so I can show you how cool it is!) Turns out, a lot of prairie lands have been sold to developers and turned into housing complexes (especially the lands near Buckley Air Force Base, which by the way, is where President Obama lands when he visits Colorado) or roads or cities or strip malls. This is super sad, because there are a ton of animals that call the prairie home, and if they can't live on the prairie, well...where CAN they live? It's not like anyone wants rattlesnakes staying overnight with them!

Nikki raved about this place so much that I decided to tag along one day when she was volunteering at the Visitors Center. I learned SO MUCH about the prairie that day!

This is the left side of the Visitors Center when you walk in the front door.

This is the right side of the Visitors Center when you walk in the front door.

This sign above is really cool, in my opinion. It's a timeline of the prairie and the people who made the prairie their home. One of the people who works at the PCC said that the book in the right-hand corner (The Worst Hard Time) is one of the best books to read to learn about the Dust Bowl and that whole, unfortunate time in American history.

On the day I visited, the head volunteers (Audie is in the blue. He's REALLY enthusiastic and energetic. Lee is in the orange. He's much calmer and a good balance to Audie.) were getting ready for the next day's day camp activities. The kids were going to participate in a murder mystery (!) where, at the end of the trail, they'd find a PRONGHORN SKULL AND SPINE (!!), which the staff have named "Percy." (Nikki told me she's seen it before, and her first reaction was "EW EW EW!") We were trying to get all the clue cards and journals and supplies in order before the big day.

One of the things we needed to do was use plaster of Paris to make molds for animal tracks. No one was really sure how to do it, though, so Audie and Nikki experimented a bit while Lee read directions. Their first attempt turned out really nicely...once Lee dug it out of the dried plaster with his knife!

It's a turkey foot!

Eventually, Audie figured out how to make the tracks more efficiently, so Nikki and I went back to taking pictures and talking with the visitors who stopped by to explore. So many of them lived near the PCC but had never really known it was there! So we showed them around the visitors center, gave them a map of the grounds, and gave them a calendar of summer events so they would know what cool stuff was going on.

Allow me to give you a tour!

Me in our mini replica Cheyenne teepee! I'm just hanging out with some cool, new friends who live on the prairie.

Look! I'm a pronghorn!

Fun fact about pronghorns: unlike deer, pronghorns have "horns" NOT "antlers." Pronghorns have these bony protrusions coming out of their skulls, and the horn grows on top of that. (From the website linked in the last sentence:) "Pronghorn have branched, hollow, hairlike horns that are shed annually. They are the only animal with this combination"

Creepiest. Exhibit. Ever.

The PCC is all about displaying various pieces/bodies of dead things. (*sigh* Nikki Note: They're for educational purposes, as it's much easier to learn about an animal when it's just pieces or stuffed than when it's charging at you maliciously.) They have whole collections of antlers, horns, skulls, feathers, scat (POOP!!), and fur for people to look at and play with. (You obviously don't play with the poop. Ew.)

Another dead thing at the Visitors Center. It's a hawk. Nikki wanted me to include this picture because she thinks it's really pretty. (Click on the picture to see it full-sized.)

Staring down a prairie dog

Never having lived on a prairie before, the only prairie dogs I've ever seen have been in zoos. I never realized how many could live in one area until I visited the PCC! Oh my gosh! They're everywhere! On the drive onto the property, we passed probably a hundred prairie dogs (Nikki Note: This is an exaggeration, although there ARE a lot of prairie dogs along the driveway towards the Visitors Center.), and they were all running around and "barking" at us. So weird. Learn more about prairie dogs here: Prairie Dog Coalition. MY favorite fact about prairie dogs that I learned at PCC is that their burrows are more like condominiums than holes in the ground! They have "kitchens" and "bathrooms" and "bedrooms" and "living rooms," and they keep their prairie dog condos really clean. If they ditch a room, sometimes someone else will move in.....

From top left to top right: ground squirrel, rattlesnake, prairie dog

From middle left to middle right: rabbit, mouse, black widow spider

From bottom left to bottom right: burrowing owl, salamander, hawk (which I think just eats the prairie dogs)

One of these animals does NOT live in a prairie dog burrow. Can you guess which one? ;)

The beanbags above were part of a cool game the Center had set up for kids (and parents!) to help kids learn what other kinds of animals could live in a prairie dog's home. I don't know that the younger kids really got the message, but they sure had fun throwing the beanbags!

In addition to all the dead things that the PCC has in the Visitors Center, it also has some LIVING things too! They've got a rattlesnake, a bull snake, a hognose snake (too shy for a photo), two box turtles (also too shy for a photo), and a salamander (the state amphibian!).

Lift up the flap to see the answer!

The PCC's rattlesnake has (what I think is) a funny origin story: a man came into the Visitors Center holding a shoebox with air holes poked in it and duct tape securely fastened so the lid wouldn't fall off the box. He asked an employee if they'd take in a rattlesnake. The PCC person agreed, but fairly alarmed, asked WHERE he had gotten a rattlesnake and HOW it had gotten in the shoe box! The man said that he went into his young son's room and under the bed, he found a shoe box. Opening it up...he saw the rattlesnake! How the little kid captured something that can kill you with one bite (or at least TOTALLY ruin your day) is beyond me and everyone else who works there.

 Okay, so maybe I'm just sensitive because I'm usually a prey animal in situations like this, but dude just looks EVIL. Look at those eyes! He looks like he's gonna eat me! (Nikki Note: The rattlesnake is in a secure tank and cannot eat anyone visiting the Center.)

 The rattlesnake's shed skin

Wonder who it could be?! (Other than Nikki, who is an actress.)

The bull snake!

Now, I know this isn't the greatest angle, but seriously...this dude doesn't look ANYTHING like a rattlesnake! For one, he's not evil-looking. BUT! He DOES eat hawks (well, in the wild he would), so that's pretty badass.

My favorite thing in the Visitors Center is DEFINITELY the bison head they have mounted on the right-side wall:

I know it's a "dead thing," technically, and I was all "ew, dead things" earlier, but he's so fuzzy!

One thing the PCC people are really particular about is NOT calling the bison a "buffalo." They look totally different and don't even live in the same place!! Bison are in America and Europe; buffalo are in Asia and Africa. In my humble armadillo opinion, bison are way cuter anyway. The PCC's new property on West Bijou Creek (which you can only visit during scheduled times) has its own herd of bison that will actually come up to you and feed out of your hand! I'm hoping that we get a chance to visit it soon. In the meantime, check out these photos (click "older" to see more pics) from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science of a group that got to visit the property and check out the K/T boundary. (Follow-up to the article about the K/T boundary. I'll have to ask Steve more about it, as both of the articles are old.)

Lastly, the PCC Visitors Center is home to their "Donation Sheep" where patrons who had a particularly good time can donate some cash or change to the Center to help them keep up all their awesome work.

Won't you make a donation? The sheep says she feels so empty inside...

Nikki Post: Eva's Field Trip

Steve and I took Eva to Cherry Creek State Park on Father's Day evening to sniff around and see the beach. I thought she might get a kick out of playing in the water and walking along the trails. The pointer in her LOVES smelling things; I should have renamed her "Toucan Sam"! ("Just follow your nose!") While she was a little hesitant about playing in the water, I eventually got her to splash around in it by standing up to my calves in the (thankfully warm) water. She kept trying to drink the water though! Hopefully it'll be ok. :p

Here are some cute pictures of her adventures at the park. Enjoy!

Pulling "Daddy" towards the park

So excited! So many things to see and smell!

We're finally on the beach!!! Look! There's people! Let's be friends!

I sure do love getting my paws dirty! (Shadow is Steve's)

This sure is a BIG bath!

I'm done with the beach. Let's go exploring! I bet there's TONS of little animals I can chase!

BONUS VIDEO!!

Nikki Post: Babi Yar Park

Babi Yar Park is a small memorial park located behind my apartment complex in Southeast Denver. In case you can't tell by its design, it's a Holocaust memorial. The park was founded in 1971 and is currently under construction, which can be frustrating on days when I want to sleep in. ;) Here's the official page for Babi Yar Park, sponsored by the Mizel Museum.

A month or so ago (when it was still closer to autumn than winter here in Denver), I took a walk around the park, snapping pictures. The leaves were changing colors, and it had snowed a few days before. Perfect photo weather! Take a look at my photography Facebook page for a few more pictures. And click on the pictures below to see full-size versions.

Looking at the orchard

"Desert" plants in the snow. What a neat concept!

The orchard

Love that you can see the mountains in the background.

There's a plaque in front of a fountain by the orchard in Babi Yar Park that reads

"In this grove at Babi Yar, each tree stands tall. Each a living memorial to men, women, children - the majority Jews with Ukrainians and others.

In every leaf, their lives; in every branch, their families; in every rooted trunk, their past.

Life courses even when leaves have fallen. Memory persists even after presence parts.

Can we not learn from the trees? Each stands alone - yet flourishes in the benevolent shade of others.

Seasons change; so must we. Winter's madness must not dry the sap of loving life again."

Homecoming

Tasha and I have safely returned (escaped) from the kennel. I think Tasha and I both have colds, so Nikki's going to make vet appointments for the both of us on Monday. She kept profusely apologizing when she picked us up, because it was obvious that both Tasha and I had given up all hope of her ever coming back.

The first couple of days weren't so bad. It was just me and Tasha, hanging out, not doing much other than sleeping and eating. I kept asking the kennel "care"-takers if they'd mind letting us out so we could wander around and stretch our legs, but apparently, no one there spoke armadillo. On the third day, a Persian named "Mr. Fluffyface" (that poor, poor cat) joined us in another cage (cell). He was an ok conversationalist but tended to brag about his pristine living conditions up in the mountains. After she couldn't take it anymore, Tasha finally asked him why, if the mountains and his house were sooooo great, he was stuck in this kennel by a damn water park like us? That shut him up, which was both good and bad. We had sort of gotten used to his nasally intonations. He left a few days after and blew us a raspberry behind his owner's back as she carried him out the door. Good riddance.

By day six, we were convinced that Nikki was never coming back. She had said that she'd visit us, but we later found out that the staff had told her that it'd be "too confusing" for Tasha and me if Nikki came to visit and then left without us. I can see their point, but it's rough being far from home and surrounded by unfamiliar people and the haunting noise of howling dogs echoing from wherever they housed the dogs.
FINALLY Nikki came to get us, apologies spilling from her lips. It took about 45 minutes in traffic to get to our new apartment, and Tasha was a PSYCHO the WHOLE RIDE. She just wouldn't shut up!! I started to worry that she had forgotten who Nikki was, but I think she was just so elated to be out of the kennel that she couldn't sit still and couldn't keep her mouth shut.

It's taken Tasha a few days to adjust to our new home. It's a huge two bedroom apartment with a big living room and....A FIRE PLACE!! How cool is that!!?? I'm totally roasting marshmallows when it gets cold enough. There's also a great, big deck attached which overlooks some trees and a pond. Tasha is enthralled and loves being outside, something she never really got to do when we lived in Baltimore. Of course Nikki doesn't really trust Tasha as far as she can throw her; my cat friend must be supervised at all times to make sure she doesn't see something interesting and throw herself down two floors to the brush below. Honestly, I don't think Tasha's stupid enough to escape, but I DO hold her in high esteem, so...we'll see. So far so good.

Nikki says that since they still don't have all their new furniture and the place is basically still kind of a mess, I'm not allowed to take any pictures of the new place. BUT!!! I had Tasha take this one when Nikki wasn't looking.

This is from my first day back. I was shocked that they had so much stuff, and that Nikki and Steve managed to get it all into the apartment on their own!!

Nikki assured me we should get most of the new furniture this weekend, so keep an eye out for me giving you all the grand tour!!

To end this blog on a super happy note, here's a postcard that Nikki's mom Diane bought for me:

The resemblance is striking.