squirrel transitional housing

Squirrel Transitional Housing Unit

Free| Studio Loft | Whitter Historic Neighborhood

Features:

5 metal jump posts

extended iron walkway ramp

large wooden balcony

recycled building materials for those eco-concious folk

artist arched doorway

great view 

plenty of room for food storage

insulated heating

wood floors

close to downtown

i am sure upon reading the title, you thought i was trying to random or funny to attract attention. oh no, brace yourself, it's true this post is in all seriousness about squirrel transitional housing. 

upon brandon and i moving into his recently purchased new home, we realized there were already current tenants. a large, fully functioning squirrel community. our roof rafters were their highway system.  aidan was actually particularly happy to be the welcoming crew and possibly their assassin. he could and does spend whole days, watching and attacking the squirrels. but poor aidan grew up with lazy, timid suburban squirrels. he has now met his match with city squirrels. these squirrels have no fear and least of all boundaries. they will get get 5 feet from aidan, dangle from a branch and squeak.  

now there have been enough factors to fix in the house to distract us from the squirrel issue but as winter approaches it has been decided the problem must be solved. 

a beebee gun is an obvious solution, so is plugging up the entry ways. but brandon, who beat and tortured me up with no mercy as a child, has recently become a squirrel humanitarian/activist. he decided that instead of just kicking them out, he would build them a home, conveniently located a few feet from their current one, so as not to leave the squirrels wondering and displaced around the neighborhood.  so brandon spent a whole afternoon and created the above squirrel transitional housing unit, which coincidentally is not the only transitional housing unit in our neighborhood.

now, stay tune to see my post about the wasp hive. . .

360 degree view

this is how i labor day. 

i cast the first stone

so i have decided to postpone my trip to the land of wonder and exotic (africa) or as my mother refers to it the dark, scary continent in which i will never return from. there are a lot of variables that come into play with a decision. sometimes it is combination of smaller ones and the possibilities of others that seem to play the greatest effect. africa is there and my feelings for it have not changed. so stay tuned to see what happens. 

family glue

the day began in an extended sprint, the clouds were hanging but warmth hovered in the air.  work passed in a zoom as requests came in and out. my mouth was moving and fingers typed but moments my mind whirled. i hopped on my two wheels and pedaled past textures and colors that have become the norm. upon arrival, i was greeted with a tail waggin' but no one more.  i casually tossed my yoke and was headed to continuing the routine, until i spied.  there on the flat, oak table was a nondescript package with my very name. i looked around so as to not jinx the discovery. i picked up, turned over, looked around and then proceeded to tear open. layer by layer, sweet words and delicate details roused my anticipation and kindled my emotions. till finally, underneath a thin coating of tissue appeared butterfly wings and rings of silver. lucky me, i not only received a sentimental, elegantly crafted piece of body ornament but a new sister who i think shares a part of my very soul.

a love letter

Dear Mike Rowe-

Though my heart is intended for someone else and you have a girlfriend of 11 years, I just want you to know that I love you. I love when you wear Dickies, I love when you show your upper white man thigh, I love your dry wit.  I can accept the fact that you make the occasional bad car commercials because I think you may be the perfect man. So if our circumstances change, then maybe we can get dirty. 

Love,

Kyra

what goes down, once went up

so here it is the classic "i hiked a mountain" pictures. i probably have more of these than anyone cares to see and until i can reach the quality national geographic seeks i am forced to simply subject them to those who read my blog. these ones are from the most recently hiked 14er, there are a few other camping trip/climbing/hiking pictures that i have yet to post.

the funny thing about this most recent hike is that i went with the executive secretary from my ward. now, you are probably thinking, oh since you are in a singles ward this must have been a date with a strapping young man. and you would be wrong. in fact, the most active, interesting and enjoyable male in my ward happens to be mid-50's, gray hair, and married with children my age. from the first few weeks of being in the ward, it quickly became apparent that Wes and i were going to be friends. he liked my skirt i made out of ties, i liked to hear about his stories climbing exotic peaks, he complimented me on my diverse bio printed in the ward newsletter, i like that he takes off his clogs during sacrament.  so when Wes called and invited me to go hike with him and his two boys, i naturally said yes and a great time was had by all. Wes also proved that any age you can still be a humble bad ass. 

if you explore nature you know all the struggle and personal revelation, physically and emotionally, that goes along with the experience. i have stories i will attempt to share some day but for now, i will simply say, 

"climb the mountains and get their good tidings: let nature's peace flow into you like the warmth of sun rays, let winds blow their freshness into you, let storms transmit their energy, and let the view envelop you, and then let your cares drop off like autumn leaves for in wilderness is the preservation of the world."

festival of writing

so, the problem with starting a blog is that all your thoughts start to process like a blog feed. as i begin to ponder, i start reconstructing my thoughts and sentences into a format conducive to creating the maximum level of flow and cleverness for the reader.  thus my brain gets something resembling  writer's block and my morning runs normally filled with free flowing thoughts have become stunted and out of shape. even worse, when i actually get to the computer to write down all these witty and deep carefully constructed reflections, my brain goes blank and i sit staring at my computer, switching up my pandora stations in hopes that music will inspire my hindered emotional authorship.  so good music or not, i have resigned myself to just punch out a couple of lingering posts and walk away, in rational denial of being satisfied. so here is a short series of posts. 

also you may want to look below you might be delighted to see some lovely pictures added in.