You are currently browsing the archives for 7 October 2009

Goodbye, Bambi.

  • Posted on October 7, 2009 at 6:21 pm

bambi

apparently, there’s an area relatively close to my hometown with a deer problem. (click the link for the whole news story) this deer problem is of epic proportions… it’s a 3.5 square mile public park in the middle of a suburban area. in that park, there are an average of 200 dear per square mile. (those aren’t deer, they’re RATS!) i am amazed at the scope of the problem… apparently, (and this isn’t too hard to imagine) they are causing problems with disease (ticks and such) and a huge amount of vehicle collisions.

as a result, they have hired a firm to train police sharpshooters to lay out deer bait, and cull the herd. they will work in teams of 3 over the period of a month,  in which the park will be closed. each deer carcass will be taken to a processing plant, then donated to homeless shelters.

naturally, animal rights people are up in arms over it. there have been mass protests, including one gentleman who gave a speech- while wearing all black, and holding a gore dripping severed deer head aloft. it wasn’t a halloween prop, either. he has a blog, that you can see here, if you want that side of the story. be warned, though- they have some really gruesome pictures up.

so what do you think about that whole situation? i have to be honest, my gut reaction is horror. there are places in the US that are seriously hurting for deer, i can’t help but think “why can’t they just relocate them?” of course, after i ask that question, my brain promptly tells me that doing that would be so difficult and expensive, it’s better just to shoot them and give the “proceeds” to homeless shelters, so at least they didn’t die in vain. sorta.

but even after my brain says “that’s the only option”, i can’t help but feel a little horrified. i was raised to view deer as a wonder of nature. i don’t hunt. i don’t even like being around guns. when i see a deer on the side of the road, i slow down (so i don’t squash it…) and tell my kids “look! there’s a deer!”, and we all oooh and aaaah at the pretty deer that nature has supplied us for our entertainment. when i see deer out in nature, i photograph them. they are beautiful, and i just can’t quite wrap my head around killing so many deer just because they’re in the way.

but what else are they supposed to do? if i was one of the people who had a deer jump in front of my car in the middle of the night, or if i (or someone i know/love) caught lyme disease because of the overpopulation of tick-bearing wildlife, i’d probably be a little more sympathetic with the plight that the city is in.

of course, i also have issues with the shooting of firearms in the middle of a suburban park… but i’m pretty sure that doesn’t need elaborating.

in less than 10 words- i understand it, but i don’t like it.

opinions? arguments? agreements? lemme have it.

Continue reading Goodbye, Bambi.

2 Comments on Goodbye, Bambi.

Webster’s Wednesday: Peregrination

  • Posted on at 9:28 am

the actual word of the day on Merriam-Webster Online is “Stanch”. but i thought… that’s just not interesting enough. what on earth would i write about the word “stanch”? so i dug into the archives, and scanned the words from last week. oh, how exciting! i actually had trouble picking a word. do i go with ‘holus-bolus‘, or ‘bibelot‘? or maybe insert a little bit of humor, and go with ‘ripsnorter‘. but marmoreal, ennead, and irenic also sound so interesting… but alas. i can only choose one word, and ‘peregrination‘ is the word that speaks to me this morning.

peregrination • \pair-uh-gruh-NAY-shun\ • noun

: an excursion especially on foot or to a foreign country : journey

Example Sentence:

The eccentric millionaire set out on a peregrination around the world, in search of the perfect wine to complement his favorite meal.

Did you know?

We begin our narrative of the linguistic travels of “peregrination” with the Latin word “peregrinus,” which means “foreign” or “foreigner.” That term also gave us the words “pilgrim” and “peregrine,” the latter of which once meant “alien” but is now used as an adjective meaning “tending to wander” and a noun naming a kind of falcon. (The peregrine falcon is so named because it was traditionally captured during its first flight — or pilgrimage — from the nest.) From “peregrinus” we travel to the Latin verb “peregrinari” (“to travel in foreign lands”) and its past participle “peregrinatus.” Our final destination is the adoption into English in the 16th century of both “peregrination” and the verb “peregrinate” (“to travel especially on foot” or “to traverse”).

if you were to set out on a peregrination of your own, where would you go?  i don’t know about you, but with my children? a peregrination is slightly out of the question. at this point in my life, a long plane ride with two young kids and roughing it on foot in a foreign country just doesn’t sound appealing, no matter how amazing the scenery. sticking within reason, i’d LOVE to see Yellowstone national park. it’s somewhere i’d love to take the kids someday. we could hike, camp, and still be in civilization. we wouldn’t have to worry about boiling our water, or what kind of bacteria the local food is going to give us. (for the most part) oh, and there’s that whole lack of a language barrier thing.

but that isn’t very interesting, is it? so where would you go if you didn’t have anybody or anything holding you down? if you didn’t have to worry about keeping your job, your house in good maintenence, or most importantly…your children. (yes, yes i know we love them and could never go without them, but just play along for a little bit) ignore your deep rooted fears of intestinal illnesses, (or is that just me?) language barriers, and the germs of new (and possibly poverty stricken) areas, and think of a place you would like to… uh… peregrinate?

personally, i think visiting Tibet would be absolutely fascinating. i love exploring ruins of old, old places. from what i’ve seen of the Tibetan culture, it fascinates me, and seeing it close hand would be the peregrination of my dreams. i went to Chichen Itza on my honeymoon, and it was like i stepped off that stanky old bus, and into heaven. exploring those centuries-old Mayan pyramids was absolutely fascinating, and oh, the photo ops! yes, journeying to Tibet with my camera in hand, a good pair of hiking boots and a shit ton of pepto bismol would be a dream come true for me.

realistically, if i won a month long excursion into Tibet right now, i’d refuse it or sell it. as i mentioned earlier, i have children that i couldn’t leave, and a husband that has a job he needs to keep. Tibet is a land that will stay rooted in my dreams for now, but maybe after my husband and i reach retirement and our children are off living their own lives (instead of ours!) we can sell off our stuff and finally take that dream peregrination. of course, that’s barring illness, oldness, fatness, and flat out laziness. or death. one thing i’ve learned in the few years i’ve been on this earth, is that things never work out quite the way you want or expect them to- and retirement is a long way from now.

so that brings us back to the question… the ultimate peregrination…where would you go?

Continue reading Webster’s Wednesday: Peregrination

9 Comments on Webster’s Wednesday: Peregrination