Suburban Ecology

OK - get this. My friends David and Karyn showed me a newspaper article the other day, primarily about the presence and prevalence of snakes in this part of the city/state. A python had recently nabbed someone's pet pug - bit it, squeezed it, and swallowed it! There were a few comments made by the author that just ABSOLUTELY took me back! The first thing he said was that "we have to learn to live with these beautiful creatures and not eradicate them". Beautiful creatures? They don't have the same effect on me as a furry seal pup (which by the way it would eat given the opportunity!) He goes on to say, that the dog getting eaten by a python, out here in the suburbs, is "just part of the suburban ecology". What!? What do you possibly say to that. He further goes on to say that "we are all part of the food chain, including humans as part of this suburban ecology" What!!!? This will only be a temporary post as I will go back and get the quotes exactly as the author reported them.

Our "other" blog

Hey - if you haven't checked out our other blog, go take a peek at http://ed_roth.blogspot.com It's a blog my friend Jeff and i started about a year ago when we started to run more seriously and train for a few races last summer. We're still getting 100's of hits from U.S., Europe, and S. America even though we almost never posted for about 4 months straight!

Indooroopilly

OK - this place is just WAY too convenient. As I've mentioned in other posts, I take one bus from where I'm staying and connect at this shopping center (Indooroopilly). Yesterday, on my way to work, when I got to Indooroopilly I went in, got a haircut, bought a newspaper, got some breakfast, and then got back on the bus. On the way home, I also stopped in at ... you guessed, the Pig 'n Whistle and had a pint (... or two) and headed home.

The Bats

I have a new technique to handle the bats(747's) that are flying around at night. Basically, as soon as I get off the bus, I turn my iPod up REALLY loud, put my head down, and don't look up until I get home. However...
Last night, I got complacent, because my strategy had been working so well. I looked up and saw one of those monstrosities flash in and out of the street light a few times. The whole way home I kept my head down, music blaring, and just said, "oh shit, oh shit, oh shit" the whole way home!

Mt. Coot-tha

I took a really nice hike this weekend from Karyn's parents' house up to Mt. Coot-tha. They live right across the street from the trailhead - with the two boys in tow, I'm guestimating, but I guess it took us about 45 mins. or so to get to the top. At the top, there was a beautiful "look out" over the whole city, metropolitan area, and surrounding mountains and ocean - gorgeous!

On the way up I was chatting with Karyn's dad quite a bit - about when they lived in Papua New Guinea (PNG - remember, EVERYTHING is shortened here!), when they lived in Northern Queensland etc. and I looked over, and there was a fairly large spider on his neck. I told him there was a spider on his neck and David came over and knocked it off. Later, when I told Karyn that although we did not see any snakes, there was a spider that was going for her dad's jugular! Maybe a slight exaggeration, but I have yet to be able to interpret the unspoken intentions of Australia's arachnids - so "going for his jugular" is as logical an explanation as any other to me!

But who's counting ...

52 days, not counting today and the day they arrive, until Karen and the kids get here.