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: Kitty & Pup

Let the parade of pictures begin!

Tasha is a big fan of lying on us to sleep because Steve & I make great furniture. She also loves showing her belly but doesn't like her belly to be rubbed for too long. :p

Tasha on Steve's leg, contemplating why her bowl is always empty when she wants noms the most.

Tasha LOVES "sbuggling" Steve, especially his bare legs. I tell him it's because he's just as fuzzy as she is. ;)

Even though it's not *really* allowed, I like to let Eva go off-leash at Babi Yar Park. As you can see, she LOVES it. Eva especially loves it when someone chases her. She run loops and loops and loops around the person, even if they've stopped running. Happy, happy dog. :)

Of course, too much running around makes a little pup sleepy, and our sofa makes the perfect bed.

Nikki Post: Puppy Playdate

A while back, Steve and I took Eva to visit with our friends Lauren and Lisa, both of whom have dogs we thought could be good friends with our pup. Lauren is also our dog walker, so we figured that if the socialization experiment went south, she'd be able to intervene and keep everyone chill. As it turns out, HER dog Sneakers was NOT interested in playing with a bunch of spastic dogs. Lauren was pup-sitting for Nala, who also wasn't very interested in playing, but was at least game enough to wander around while Lisa's dog Shao Khan and Eva acted like best buddies on crack.

Warning: I was NOT paying attention to the fact that I was recording sound, so you'll get to hear our conversations while watching the video. If you dislike cursing, just mute the video; you won't miss out on anything really cute, puppy-wise.

Introduction

Warming up!

As night falls, the pups wind down (relatively speaking).

Nikki Post: What's Happier Than A Happy Dog?

As I'm sure all of you (even my few international readers) know, last week a psychopath went on a shooting spree in a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado and killed a dozen people while also emotional scarring hundreds of other people. Everyone I know out here is thankfully okay, and the response from the community has been overwhelming positive. Luckily there haven't been many copycats, mainly thanks to the vigilance of various police departments across the country.

I've been looking for something to post to the blog to act as filler between adventures and also make some people smile. Good fortune (and my local animal shelters) have given me two adorable pets and a camera phone to record their silliness, so I'm going to make three posts full of pictures and videos of my pup and kitty. I hope you enjoy them and that you share them with someone you know who needs a smile.

Eva's Adventures at the Dog Park

Cherry Creek State Park has an off-leash dog park for members and the general public to use to give their pooches some much-needed running around and socialization. I've taken Eva there three times, and she's LOVED it. She's also very good about coming when called (thanks to treats) or at least "checking in." She loves to play with other dogs in the water and run through fields sniffing stuff and pooping in REALLY inconvenient places. She hurt her paw the last time we went (she was playing too hard), so it's been a while since we've been there. However, we're camping the first weekend of August, and the dog park is one of our top locations to visit.

Running through the water is one of her favorite things in the world. Throw a ball for her, and she's in Heaven.

One part of the creek area is accessible only by throwing oneself down an eroded shore. Eva is REALLY good at running up and down the side.

This video is from her first time at the dog park. We weren't sure how she'd do, but she was a hit with everyone, dogs and people both.

Part two of her first time at the dog park

The most recent time Eva was able to go to the dog park. It's much more fun after there's a little rain, and the water level is decently high.

Nikki Post: Wildfires Post Continued

I keep finding more and more information on how people can help the victims of the wildfires. Some of the updates I've posted in a previous blog entry about the tragedy, and now I'm going to start another one so people can find it more easily.

EDIT: Found this on Twitter. 100% of the proceeds of this tee-shirt will go to help victims.

My friend Lauren has her own dog-walking business and is currently looking for people to help donate or take in evacuated pets. Here's the info she posted to her business's Facebook page:

OK it's time for a call to arms Pooch People. Over 30,000 people have been evacuated due to the Waldo Canyon fire alone. Many of these people have pets. PLEASE contact Larimer County Humane Society, Boulder Valley Humane Society or Pike's Peak Humane Society and offer to foster a dog or cat. If you want to help but you're not sure how, call Dumb Friends League or check their websites for more info.

We are offering DISCOUNTED walks/visits to anyone who has fosters in the house. Please consider opening your homes.

Boulder Valley: 303-442-4030

Larimer County: 970-226-3647

Pike's Peak: 719-473-1741 extra 8723

Dumb Friends League: 303-751-5772

We will also be accepting donations of food (both human and animal) and sundries for those in the shelters. Just leave it in your house with a note that says donate.

Please share/retweet etc. The discounts are good for new clients as well. Hug your pets, hug your family and then do something to help.

Nikki Post: Colorado Wildfires

I usually try to keep this blog light-hearted and funny, full of silly pictures of my stuffed armadillo going on adventures, but today I want to break character for a minute and talk about a very serious subject.

Even though Colorado governor John Hickenlooper has said otherwise, Colorado is burning. This is no exaggeration. Pictures are popping up all over Google, national media outlets, local news organizations, and social media (especially Twitter). People are desperate to find ways to help the victims, whether it's to donate money, necessities, or even their homes to evacuees. I'll be posting links to these organizations at the bottom of this post. First though, I'd like to share with you some pictures of the various wildfires so everyone who isn't in Colorado can appreciate the desperation our citizens are in. Imagine that these are your homes, or the homes of your loved ones. Can you even fathom how terrifying this is for people who don't know if their homes have burned? Who don't know if their mementos, important documents, clothes, and even animals are safe? Who have nowhere to stay except maybe a high school gymnasium, a YMCA, or the shelter of a stranger's house? Again, please scroll all the way down to find ways to help Colorado's citizens.

EDIT:

This comment was posted on a Reddit forum conversation about the fires:

"I'm a firefighter. Sadly, I'm not there, I'm out for this season with an ankle injury and paperwork fuck-ups. But yes, the weather can and will take a fire and turn it into a monster in a mater of minutes. I saw it happen in Northern California in '08, I saw it happen in LA in '09, and I saw it happen in Northern Nevada in '10. Despite all logic to the contrary, fire is a ravenous creature that will devour anything and everything in it's path. If you are even remotely in an area that can burn, GET THE F*CK OUT NOW. I'm deadly serious, get you, your family, and what bits of precious you can't bear to part with, and leave. Right now, if that's possible. I have watched fire run across the ground at 40 mph, torching old-growth trees to kindling in a matter of seconds. Don't stay. Leave. A home can be rebuilt, a life cannot be remade.
If you have time, prep your house. Cover any and all openings, this means windows, doors, vents, eaves, crawl spaces, any hole you can find needs to be covered with plywood or some other dense, semi-flame resistant material. Pull EVERYTHING away from the sides of your house, from wood piles to that lawn mower you keep meaning to fix to that Rhododendron your wife planted to that empty (or God help you, full) tank of propane. Pull flammable stuff away from windows and doors if it's in the house. And when evac time comes, leave a note on your door with contact info, number of people in your household, and your destination.
I'm so sorry I'm not there to help. I feel like I've let you all down. All I can do is sit here at home, feeling useless, and pass on what info I can. Stay safe, my thoughts are with all of you."

 

Photo posted by @donmoen

In Colorado Springs. Fire is threatening Air Force Academy. Photo posted by @KevinOzebek.

Colorado Springs fire. Note the houses on fire in the background. Photo courtesy of Fox 31 News in Denver.

Photo courtesy of @scottseibold. From what I can tell, he lives in Colorado Springs.

I find this picture particularly upsetting. This is a picture of the High Park fire, one of the worst in the state right now. Photo courtesy of RV Vagabonds. Read their blog, especially about how the Colorado Wolf Sanctuary has had to be evacuated because of the flames.

Map of all the wildfires currently burning in Colorado, as of June 23rd. Several more have cropped up in the past few days. Photo courtesy of Wildfire Today.

 

Citizens of High Park wait at a Red Cross station to see if they can return to their homes. Look at how many people have been displaced by just ONE fire.

Rocky Mountain Health Care services are in desperate need of toiletries, specifically towels, shampoo, soap, and food.

The Red Cross is collecting supplies and monetary donations. The link takes you to the local Colorado branches of the organization. I think almost all of them need donations. You can also donate $10 per text message by messaging REDCROSS to 90999.

SO MANY animals (wild and domestic) have been displaced by the fires. Here's two organizations that especially need your help:

• Pikes Peak Humane Society needs animal kennels and bottled water for staff and volunteers.
• Larimer Human Society needs monetary donations, dry dog and cat food, and dog and cat treats.

If you live in Colorado and can help people displaced and homeless by the fires near Fort Collins, please visit this website: http://cohighparkfirehousing.org.

Here are three links to more organizations that need your help and donations:

• HelpColoradoNow.org has a comprehensive list of ways to donate time, money, and supplies.
• This article on The Denver Channel also has several other animal shelters, firefighter organizations, and donation centers that you can contact.
• The Denver Post has a really great list of resources about the wildfires.

Please share this entry. I don't care about "spreading the word about the blog." I just want to help people and make sure that others know how to help people too.