Missouri Mists... Chicken Mansions...Rolling Onans... and more South Dakota

Been staying fairly busy. Lots of little projects along with some bigger ones... while letting the future sort itself out a bit.

That's the toughest part, being patient enough to let the noise of confusion settle down sufficient to let a busted buster make some sense of any of it. Well, that's happened to the degree that I'm pulling out Sunday morning for a lightning run, bobtail, to South Dakota to do the deal of turning my residency to pure South Dakota... Just to confuse the issue as much as I can...

I should try and get a piece of dirt for a "summer camp" up in Montana... so that... Arizona, South Dakota... or... Montana... I can Keep the dang govie bureaucrats guessing...

The Lakota's plate expires in June... and Colorado, being the stepchild of California wants right around $900 to live in it for another year. On a lark I called my SD contact to ask what it would cost and how difficult it would be to swap the title/plates on an "encumbered" rig to SD.

$184 and two bits of information. ... uhhhhh... wait... what?

That's right just $184 as opposed to Colorado's greed. Considering that doesn't even count in the lack of a state income tax... another couple hundred bucks anyway... and it becomes a no brainer. Which is good considering the damage I've done to what I was issued leaves me just about in that position. Guess I'll find out what I can do with an extra grand in my pocket each year.

A couple weeks back Arlo got modified...

Those cones are awkward in a house... in a horse trailer, they are a pure unadulterated nuisance. A week of that...

Had him just gazing out the window at sunrise... wanting to be back outside letting the other dogs try and catch him...

...which they can't do so he just runs inches in front of their noses tormenting them...

Hoping that the loss of some essential bits will slow down his metabolism a mite, and make him a little bit more tolerable a road dog!


The sunrise around here is my favorite time. It's quiet and the day is still unblemished. Lets a guys hope simmer along some more...

The coop we started a few weeks ago is coming along. It's taking shape in the Missouri mists... got obstructed here and there by weather and other distractions...

Folks seem all wired up about it's architecture... Some variation of; "Why'd you build it so tall?" seems to be the dominant wonderment...

Uhhhhh... because we Wanted To?!

*The chicken coop is nearing completion*

The second most common comment is some variety of; "It looks like a church."

Now, that, is actually the most accurate thing folks have said. See, it's all about doing what you want to in life. Doing what toots your OWN whistle. Finding fulfillment and what makes YOU happy... NOT... doing what anyone else or all the judgemental control freaks try to bludgeon you into.

This here project, this lil' chicken coop is about my daughter working to build the world around her that she wants to live in... and all the comments of "Why? It's just for some fool chickens" makes me kinda sad for the grey brained people who think that narrow and unimaginatively.

Another project I've been tinkering with is my generator. The temporary mounting needed replacement... so I got to work on fabricating that...

I didn't have access to a welder so I thought I'd just rivet things together...

That was working pretty well... though the rivets wouldn't pull things quite tight enough to please completely.

... so I've had to add some bolts here and there to give me a lil' more confidence.

 It's also near to complete. Just a couple more lil' bits, some prep and a spray paint job and I'll get Josh to help me grunt the gennie onto the "cart" and bolt it down...

... and then drag it up a ramp back onto the truck...

The end result will be able to be unloaded if I want... and if I have a ramp, 'cause that Onan beast is heavy!

Jasper had a "Zoo day" with his pre-school the other day, so I tagged along.

Springfield's zoo isn't terrible big but as lush and green as it is around here it is a pretty place... if you can tune out the cacophony of seventeen jillion kids! It was EVERYONE'S Zoo day...

I have some trouble taking photos in a lot of zoos... trying to make a picture of an animal without the ever present wire and cages in sight is difficult. There lies my ambivalence with zoos. I like seeing animals I'd most likely never ever see otherwise... but I'm not sure my want to see them trumps their right of creation to be out there, free in the world... kind of a bit of a paradox to ponder I guess...

Keriann and I had us our own private guide...

Jasper had his zoo map out and kept us from getting lost...

The little ones are fun to see excited about all the different critters... but... when some 15 year old runt is chasing pea cocks around stomping and tormenting them it pushes buttons in old hermit drifters that are best left un pushed.

His "Teacher" finally stepped in and placed minimal control on the delinquent... juuuuuuust as my feet started taking the rest of me in his direction with the intent of doing a lil' stomping and tormenting of my own...

Whew! close call... bet that woulda made the news huh? ;)

So, Sunday morning I'll fire up the old dodge and roll for South Dakota to do my requisite overnight... Then back here for another week or two to finish up some projects... then I'm bound back into the west where I belong...

Brian