Winston goes to work

Yes, Winston does occasionally pick up the doggie briefcase and head off to work. This morning on his way in he was not quite as excited as his owner to spot Deloitte Walking Man. Since we left a little early, he was spotted walking north on South Boulevard once again near Greystone. The timing was consistent with the Monday sighting.

Once we park in the back (I am the sole full-time remnant of a bye-gone era of back-building parkers) Winston gets out and gets all excited about spotting the cats that he has seen many times. Unfortunately for Winston, I haven't told him they are long gone. The mother died several years ago and the fate of the daughter is unknown; I know she was evicted during the last round of building renovations (better known as junk removal).

Every day I drive the back entrance await me. It's like "Return of the Jedi" but without the Ewoks.

Winston then runs straight up the rickety metal stairway to the door. Using my usual dexterity, the door is opened and Winston always rushes in, eager to greet EVERY member of the Conservancy. He is known by all and never leaves any of his friendly tendencies at the door.

On most visits his dad has to spend about 10-30 minutes preparing materials for field work, but today that lasted ALL the way to 1PM. How lame is that?!? Thankfully several staff members got him all riled up, and yes, I did throw the Kong a few times!

Winston was so bored waiting for me!

Our destination this sunny afternoon was north of Lincolnton on the Catawba/Lincoln border. My task was to establish new line for the surveyor coming in tomorrow. It turned out to be a lot more brutal than I anticipated. After crashing into the woods I received one of the most painful yellowjacket stings of my life! Seeing how I was in fragile health to begin with, I then got an amazing acute headache. Still I stumbled on, marking with my pink.

Now we're talking!

We then faced a precipitious descent to the wetland below. While I was getting the life (blood) sucked out of me, I took some nice shots with the sun and beech trees.

I died a little so you could enjoy this

After tying up to existing line, I hightailed my little behind out of the wetland and into the even worse recent clearcut. Anyone who has walked the woods can tell you this is the most dangerous and difficult type of walking. It was even slowing down Winston! From there I marked some points for the irrigation easement, then tried to make a call.

Why won't anyone talk to me?!?

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After an equally long 50 mile drive into the office, Winston was actually showing signs of being tired.

Another great day for Winston!

Hello, My Name is Winston

Hello, my name is Winston. I just turned 7, but I act like I'm one. Even though I am almost 50 in your years, I LOVE to chase bunnies and don't care about the repercussions. Last Monday, I went with my dad to his tutoring session. Of the main reasons I go is to chase all the bunnies that are sitting around in the yard we go to! There is no thrill like chasing these bunnies. I don't even care if I have to go through a barbwire fence to chase them!

Bunnies and Winston do NOT mix

It's true. I've let my lawn grow out of control. Yes, I'm the lawn pariah of Madison Park. But thankfully today I did something about it. And with a brand new lawnmower. First off, big thanks to my old neighbor Dave for giving me a working lawnmower when I moved down South Boulevard! It lasted three years. Maybe it still works with just the right kick.

Anyway, my lawn was so high I must have attracted the attraction of the local bunny population. For the first time ever, I have noticed two adult bunnies. Winston has noticed them too, chasing one all the way around the cul-de-sac about a week ago. But a couple of days ago, one morning when Winston and I were playing out on the lawn, I noticed a very small/young bunny just sitting totally still in the tall grass.

So when it came time to mow the front lawn, Winston came out with me and I immediately found the small bunny. You do have to understand it's hard-wired in Winston to hunt small game. He went totally crazy grabbing the smaller bunny. I managed to get there before any major damage was caused. Later I think I found another. Winston got to the point where he would not listen, so in he went while I finished cutting down the jungle!

Afterwards, I got a shoe box and scooped up one (of the two?) small bunnies.



I hopped over my back fence and let the scared little guy run free in the large grass lot. I couldn't help feel like I was turning into my neighbor from where I grew up. You see, Greg got quite a reputation for trapping squirrels and taking them to Lake City (where many moons ago they had another floral shop). Am I going to start loving NASCAR and goats next?

SATURDAY UPDATE: After a 17.5 mile run, which involved running some short spurts with those doing the Charlotte RaceFest Half Marathon, I was out working on my car (attempting to install a CD receiver). I had let Winston roam the yard assuming I was wrong about the second bunny on the grassy knoll. Much to my surprise I knew that was wrong the instant I heard what sounded like a squeaking toy. My neighbor Monty was much closer, washing his car, and actually thought the same thing. I jumped out of the car and cruised over to grab Winston. I told Monty about the rabbits. It was another young bunny, perhaps a little more roughed up than the first, but not really injured. Monty got a empty cardboard box for me and this one was a lot more difficult to locate and capture. We actually let Winston go for a moment to sniff out his exact location. I eventually got enough of a hold to put him in the box. Monty then let the bunny out in the woods in back after his daughter got a look.