The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 03: Come On In

[Hypoxia]

Mid-morning in the mountains. Sub-freezing outside; snow too deep for the trash truck; creature tracks across our small conifer-lined meadow. Coffee...

Real small towns by their nature aren't usually very recognizable. You could probably pick any. There are some widely recognized fictional small towns. "Smallville" comes to mind.

Zzyzx Springs CA, or Pie Town NM, or Pyote TX, or Rachel NV (Area 51). Weed CA has a certain notoriety. None of those are 'average'. Just as well.

 

[sharingfantasies]

Mid-morning in the mountains. Sub-freezing outside; snow too deep for the trash truck; creature tracks across our small conifer-lined meadow. Coffee...

Zzyzx Springs CA, or Pie Town NM, or Pyote TX, or Rachel NV (Area 51). Weed CA has a certain notoriety. None of those are 'average'. Just as well.

I always liked these places in AZ: Nothing, Top-of-the-World (which isn't even at the highest elevation in AZ), Why, Lazy Y U,

 

[TxRad]

Ah yes, Mule Shoe, Tx, You Been There, Tx where both city limit signs are on the same 4x4 post. About as small as a town gets. Athens, Tx, Moscow, Tx, Paris, Tx. Travel Europe and never get out of the state.

As you can see, I escaped from the VA Clinic unscathed and with only a few new holes in me. The new Doc liked the numbers he saw on the blood work. For my age, I'm in pretty good shape. I asked compared to what and he ignored me. He is Chinese and a very nice guy but today was only his second day.

I had lunch at DQ. I decided not to go downtown to Long John's with all the rain going on. I may have sold another boat to a guy at the VA. I'll know more when the weather warms back up.

Fresh coffee for the afternooners.

 

[sharingfantasies]

Ah yes, Mule Shoe, Tx, You Been There, Tx where both city limit signs are on the same 4x4 post. About as small as a town gets. Athens, Tx, Moscow, Tx, Paris, Tx. Travel Europe and never get out of the state.

As you can see, I escaped from the VA Clinic unscathed and with only a few new holes in me. The new Doc liked the numbers he saw on the blood work. For my age, I'm in pretty good shape. I asked compared to what and he ignored me. He is Chinese and a very nice guy but today was only his second day.

I had lunch at DQ. I decided not to go downtown to Long John's with all the rain going on. I may have sold another boat to a guy at the VA. I'll know more when the weather warms back up.

Fresh coffee for the afternooners.

Now that is a productive day.

 

[Hypoxia]

Ah yes, Mule Shoe, Tx, You Been There, Tx where both city limit signs are on the same 4x4 post. About as small as a town gets.

Driving through: "So this is Mule Shoe, wasn't it?"

I had lunch at DQ.

None of them around here, either, though I do miss the one in Bisbee, next to a big thrift shop. Fast food is rare up here in the mountains. Call ahead for a drive-through pizza, or snarf deli sandwiches at the local grocery; or hope the cook at the Chinese café is in a good mood, or that the redneck burger guys are sober. Canned chili is safer. And faster.

I was wrong about tracks on our snowed-in meadow. There's some treefall around the edges but not even wild turkeys have dared to venture across. A question arises: If we feed squirrels coffee, will they run even faster?

 

[Handley_Page]

Driving through: "So this is Mule Shoe, wasn't it?"
.
A question arises: If we feed squirrels coffee, will they run even faster?

They make a better target.
And talking of coffee . . . .

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Driving through: If we feed squirrels coffee, will they run even faster?

Tree rats - they’re impervious to virtually anything, even warfarin.

 

[Handley_Page]

Tree rats - they’re impervious to virtually anything, even warfarin.

A well-place .22 seems to work fairly well, though

 

[TxRad]

Tree rats - they’re impervious to virtually anything, even warfarin.

I've lived in this house for over twenty years. I have a wild native pecan in the backyard. I've never got a pecan off that tree. The squirrels eat them before they are past the green stage. I probably kill 30 squirrels a year out of that tree with my .22 and I haven't even made a dent in the population.

Slow cooked in a pepper gravy, served on a bed of rice. They will make you slap your mama. I eat what i kill.

A large coffee for HP.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

People going Eeeew at the thought of squirrel have not considered what a chicken eats. My only grief with them (on my plate) is the pile of tiny bones one must navigate.

 

[Hypoxia]

I eat what i kill.

Kill what you eat. Eat what you kill. Too bad that's not a law of war.

(I think the Aztecs followed that rule. But it's hard to recruit defeated enemies if you eat them. That's why the Aztec empire didn't last -- lack of collaborators.)
_____

I tried walking 100 yards to the gravel road to see if any traffic had left tracks. I gave up one yard from the raw back porch with snow sliding down into my wellies (tall Wellington boots). I didn't feel like shoveling a path and the electric snowblower's cord is too short. I don't think we'll drive to the retinologist tomorrow, nor out for supplies before the weekend. No fresh milk or eggs. No squirrels to stew -- they're hiding.

Q: With how many syllables do you pronounce squirrel?

 

[ChloeTzang]

People going Eeeew at the thought of squirrel have not considered what a chicken eats. My only grief with them (on my plate) is the pile of tiny bones one must navigate.

Well, I've eaten curried snake, and grasshoppers (I think that's what they were - they were crunchy, anyhow) in peanut satay sauce. And water buffalo steak. Thanks Dad

And when my beloved parents took me to South Africa, we went to this restaurant in Johannesburg that served about 150 different kinds of game, so I did my best to sample them all and failed miserably. But I can say I have eaten hippo (it was like chewing a rubber eraser, my teeth bounced and bounced and in the end I just swallowed this chunk of hippo stuff in sauce. Giraffe. Kudu. Springbok. Elephant. Crocodile (and I have the certificate to prove it - "I ate him before he ate me"). Cape Buffalo. Mopane worms. Definitely a few more but I don't remember what they were.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I've lived in this house for over twenty years. I have a wild native pecan in the backyard. I've never got a pecan off that tree. The squirrels eat them before they are past the green stage. I probably kill 30 squirrels a year out of that tree with my .22 and I haven't even made a dent in the population.

Slow cooked in a pepper gravy, served on a bed of rice. They will make you slap your mama. I eat what i kill.

A large coffee for HP.

Squirrels are great eating. My wife's grandmother would fry them up like chicken and put them on a big platter. Mmmm good. With lots of greens and other farm fresh veggies and potatoes.

Every time we went down to Kentucky, the wife and I would go hunting squirrel.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Well, I've eaten curried snake, and grasshoppers (I think that's what they were - they were crunchy, anyhow) in peanut satay sauce. And water buffalo steak. Thanks Dad

And when my beloved parents took me to South Africa, we went to this restaurant in Johannesburg that served about 150 different kinds of game, so I did my best to sample them all and failed miserably. But I can say I have eaten hippo (it was like chewing a rubber eraser, my teeth bounced and bounced and in the end I just swallowed this chunk of hippo stuff in sauce. Giraffe. Kudu. Springbok. Elephant. Crocodile (and I have the certificate to prove it - "I ate him before he ate me"). Cape Buffalo. Mopane worms. Definitely a few more but I don't remember what they were.

When I lived in Atlanta there was a restaurant that had all kinds of wild game meats. From alligator to Cape Buffalo. It wasn't cheap, but it was all good.

 

[Hypoxia]

When I lived in Atlanta there was a restaurant that had all kinds of wild game meats. From alligator to Cape Buffalo. It wasn't cheap, but it was all good.

A guy sees a restaurant with signage of WE WILL COOK ANY ANIMAL IN THE WORLD. Tempted inside, he orders an elephant steak. The waiter hems, haws, and finally tells him, "So sorry, m'sieur, but for only one steak, we will not kill our elephant."

I haven't yet tried a roadkill café. Marmots would be on the menu here. Hmmm...

THE QUESTION AGAIN: How do you pronounce squirrel?

1 syllabble: skwurl
2 syllables: skwer-ell
3 syllables: sa-kwur-ell

Or elseways?

 

[JanusGoneAwry]

THE QUESTION AGAIN: How do you pronounce squirrel?

1 syllabble: skwurl
2 syllables: skwer-ell
3 syllables: sa-kwur-ell

Or elseways?

Here in Northern VA it’s pronounced skwurl, but we are currently struggling with our squirrel diplomacy because they keep eating the wiring harness’ of cars in my neighborhood. We’ve tried mothballs (it’s damn hard to get those little legs apart), wintergreen oil, store bought rodent pest spray, and a couple homegrown concoctions but they target a new car every couple days. So far 5 cars have been towed to the dealership for a $2,000 repair.

Most interesting food I’ve eaten is muktuk, and while the taste wasn’t anything to write home about, it was the consistency that was the most memorable. It reminded me of biting into a firm stick of butter, but one that tastes like mild sardines.

 

[Handley_Page]

Good Morning world;
Whilst I have loads of admiration for anyone who can eat almost anything (muktuk may be an exception), I'll just stick to what I've managed in the past, thanks.

Time for a nice big coffee.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I have eaten squirrel, deer, moose, bear, wild turkey. I have even eaten beaver. Both kinds.

 

[TxRad]

Good morning, Happy Hump Day.

Toast with blackberry jam, for breakfast. Fresh coffee for one and all.

mid 40's going up to mid 60's. Maybe some sun. Nothing much planned for the day so it really doesn't matter what the weather does.

 

[Handley_Page]

It's the middle of the day round here, and we have +12C.
That's bloody amazing.

I need a coffee

 

[beachbum1958]

Pass me a tall one, please Tex, Boss-Lady is still recuperating (she was in the pool last time I looked, so yeah, she looks infirm to me...) and I'm back to work today in the ER, and once again the catalogue of impossible injuries that can only be described as 'WTF...?' has unfurled in front of me; I think they've been saving them up for me, looks like just one won't be enough...

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Morning everyone. Chilly out.

Coffee, hot, thank you.

Y'all have a great day.

 

[JanusGoneAwry]

I have eaten squirrel, deer, moose, bear, wild turkey. I have even eaten beaver. Both kinds.

Yum! (The girly kind)

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Pass me a tall one, please Tex, Boss-Lady is still recuperating (she was in the pool last time I looked, so yeah, she looks infirm to me...) and I'm back to work today in the ER, and once again the catalogue of impossible injuries that can only be described as 'WTF...?' has unfurled in front of me; I think they've been saving them up for me, looks like just one won't be enough...

Good news. Pray pass on our best. Any idea of how long before she can return to work. (No doubt she’s ask you that once or a thousand times.)

Re ‘WTF’ in ER, the legendary Coke bottle aside, what’s been the most WTF problem you had to deal with in the ER?

 

[Hypoxia]

Morning everyone. Chilly out.

Coffee, hot, thank you.

Y'all have a great day.

Yo. Frigid out. Snowed in. No escape. No medical appointment today. No trash pick-up. Pumas a couple miles away by the post office. But power is on. Whew.

Coffee when time is right -- later. Hard cider now, then back to bed. Nothing else to do. Caffeine would be like tethering a bicycle on a downslope.

Y'all stay out of any heavy weather. And watch for pumas.