IT'S GONNA BE AVERAGE STUFF
It can't be all fun and travel games here. Back to reality, home life and all that comes with it. The Blog may seem a bit dull, a bit average.

Always the rolling stones who gather no moss, we'll be home for a time then off to Brookings Oregon for a Thanksgiving celebration on the beach. Candace is worried that I'll buy a turkey that won't fit in the RV's oven. Candace, I said, that's why the good Lord made cooking oil. I'll just slather the bird with oil and guaranteed that puppy will fit in any oven.

I'll also use my special method for determining if the turkey is done or not. It's pretty basic. All you have to do is to stuff the turkey with unpopped popcorn. When the rear end blows out of the turkey you can be certain that it's cooked to perfection.

Who in their right mind would take a picture of a game hen cooking on the grill and then post it on his blog? Don't answer that.

Candace is down in bed with the flu and a cold. As you can see dinner last night was dinner for one. Cooking any poultry on the grill has become easy. For a turkey, a whole chicken, a game hen - a rack comes in handy for grill cooking. Turn the middle burner off. Leave the front and back burners half on. When the grill is about 400 degrees place the hen or chicken on it, close the lid and let it go for about 45 minutes.

I have a helper who keeps the grease pan of the grill spit shine clean. A raccoon or possum periodically does that chore for me. In the middle of the night I awaken to hear the rattling of metal against metal as my critter friend helps themselve to haute cuisine ala' Weber style.

We have green space on two sides of our home. To the rear of our home sits a ranch across the creek that separates us. It has horses, chickens and a peacock. It was not long ago when a bobcat wiped out the population of chickens on the ranch. It's during these times that I get really nervous about letting the girls out in the backyard.

Each night the owners place their horses inside a barn. Each night I hear the sound of hooves kicking the wooden stall walls as the horses settle down for the night. Like a teenage boy, bedtime in a stall for the horses is often unwelcome. As I settle down myself for a night's rest I wait to hear the sound of a board or two breaking with each kick. It never comes.

Once in a while coyotes walk along our fence line in their quest for their next meal. They'll explore along the boundaries of the ranch next door looking for a chicken that may have been left outside of the coop for the night. I'm not sure what triggers their howling and yipping but to be sure the noise they make nearly makes you think that the coyotes are right outside the bedroom. The girls have learned that whatever it is that makes all of this noise is not a threat to them. They often sleep through the coyotes' serenade. Sometimes they'll sit up, perk up their ears and just listen.

Our next door neighbor left their gate open one day. They came home to find a coyote in their backyard wistfully eyeing their 15 pound cat. Taking this lesson in stride, they no longer leave their gate open.

I don't hear the peacock anymore. It's cry has been missing for a month or more. One can only think about what has happened to it.

A bevy of 250 homes are slated to be built to the southwest of our home. The ranch will remain as it is and will continue to provide our home with a buffer of green space. I wonder what will happen to the animals who frequent this area. Who will clean the grease pan on my grill? Were our animal friends considered along with their habitat when an Environmental Impact Study was completed? This is progress, the developers say. Is it really?