Grab the Lapels

Sunday Lowdown #234

THIS WEEK IN REFLECTION

My big focus was on animals this week. It’s the hottest it’s been all year in my area, and now it’s storming a lot, too. The pansies in my front yard were so loaded with water that the hanging baskets pulled the shepherd’s hooks out of the ground. I moved them to a spot in the garage near the window to dry out. The flowers looked so pathetic, and the leaves were turning yellow, so now I’m wondering why I pay so much money for hanging baskets each year. I think I might switch to windchimes in 2024 and plant more wildflowers instead.

With all the rain, Toadman finally made a return:

So, hooray for Frogerick Toadman’s return! He’s been spotted once in a while, typically by Nick, but it wasn’t until Friday that I realized he hangs out in a new spot because there’s a gap where he can get down… I think under the cement of the garage??

Another mystery that was solved: it’s very hot, so when I noticed Kitty wasn’t drinking her water, I was concerned. She’s in her Kitty condo that I’ve shared here before, she has a fan and A/C. Then I worried that it was hotter than I realized in the room because Kitty’s pet fish was losing water. Now, you likely see where this is going, and I confess even those potheads on Scooby Doo would have solved the crime faster (approximately 21 minutes), but it wasn’t until Nick caught Kitty red handed (red pawed?) removing Fishlander’s lid and drinking from his soup that we put two and two together. Case closed!

The last animal mystery: what is that mouse-looking thing traipsing across the yard? A — you know — mouse? Nay! Nick took a photo, which was when we realized it was a mole. We argued; he said it was a derpy adult mole stupidly waddling above ground, and that moles don’t get very big. I said it was a baby mole making its way in the world. Upon conferring with Google, we learned that baby moles often come above ground to — who’d have guessed? — make their way in the world, even though it’s not safe. I tried to catch the baby mole with my flip flops so I could (this is awful) take it across the road into the neighbor’s vast front yard.

Nick got upset with me because in a fit of silliness, I yelled something like I was going to smash the beast with my flip flop to avenge our yard getting torn up last year, and he should know I’m not an animal killer. But, his distress meant I was not allowed to catch the baby mole with my flip flops. I’m just going to start auto-transferring $20 every month into our savings account, so when the house is burrowed off its foundation, we’re ready.

And I think I will leave you with just the update on animals because my Philosophy class has traversed from “Hmm, that’s interesting!” to “Wow, this is goofy.” I have yet to agree with or be convinced by a single thing Descartes wrote in First Meditation. I think he first established that he actually has hands, but then he said knowing what a triangle is is innate, meaning God exists.

THIS WEEK’S BLOG POST

I was glad to take a moment and reflect on how the 20 Books of Summer challenge is going, because I see that I am further ahead than I thought just by sticking to school, listening to the occasional audiobook that clocks in around eight hours, and participating in book clubs. Overall, the challenge has been laid back. I also realized that 20 Books of Summer obviously does not last 20 weeks, which means it’s a good thing I’m not reviewing every book at length. Here at Grab the Lapels, I only post reviews once per week. Otherwise, it’s like I would be giving you guys homework reading all those posts.

NEXT WEEK’S BLOG POST

I think it was Silence of the Lambs that really kicked off America’s interest in forensics. So can you blame me that I picked up the book The Last of Her: a Forensic Memoir? It’s not horror, it’s not about murder, and I’m not even convinced it has forensics. We’ll see what you think when I review Kim Dana Kupperman’s memoir on Wednesday.

BOOKS I BOUGHT

Books I paid for (that are not textbooks) since January 2023:

  • True-Biz by Sara Novic ($1) — READ
  • Rants from the Hill by Michael P. Branch ($1) — READ
  • The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories, edited by Peter Haining ($1.50)
  • What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day by Pearl Cleage ($0.79) — READ
  • Ecology of a Cracker Childhood by Janisse Ray ($0.79)
  • All of Me by Venise Berry ($0.99)
  • Planet Earth books from Time Life ($4.00 for 7 books) — READING
  • North American Wildlife by Susan J. Wernert ($0.50) — READING
  • Your Dog is in The Bar by Celia Rensch Day ($o.79) — READ, FORTHCOMING REVIEW
  • Sybil by Flora Rheta Schreiber ($0.50) — RECYCLED
  • Witches’ Brew, edited by Alfred Hitchcock ($0.50)
  • At Wit’s End by Erma Bombeck ($0.50)
  • To Be Honest by Maggie Anne Martin ($0.50)
  • The Summer of Jordi Perez (and the Best Burger in Los Angeles) by Amy Spalding ($0.50)
  • Young Matriarch by Karen Patterson ($10.69)
  • The Complete Tales of Mystery and Imagination/The Raven and Other Poems by Edgar Allan Poe ($6)

Running Cost: $30.55

BOOKS ADDED TO THE TBR PILE

Thanks to Stefanie @ A Stone in the River for her recommendation!

47 comments

  1. Australia doesn’t have moles – we have wombats which might fill both the mole and the badger niches.
    What I want to know is if you have moles and England has moles, are they the same, are they imported – like rabbits and foxes in Aust.
    We have birds with English names which as far as I know are not related at all.

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  3. I’m glad Toadman is back!

    That naughty, clever kitty! Cats want whatever source of water they can get that isn’t their water bowl, lol.

    I enjoy reading your “Wild Kingdom: Indiana” updates! 😄

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  4. Cogito ergo sum Melanie! Hahaha Descartes is crap but sadly, he helped kicked off the Enlightenment with clockwork nature meant to raped into submission. That’s really worked out well for everyone.

    Yay for Toadman’s reappearance! Now be sure you respect his bodily autonomy!

    Of all the critters I have to deal with, moles are not one of them. More likely to be voles or gophers here, but so far I have avoided those too. Though now and then I find a hole in my garden and wonder who the fork dug it, have a little panic, and then blame it on squirrels who get blamed for everything unattributable, just like my younger sister, though 9 times out of 10 she really was the culprit.

    Also, Kitty made me laugh!

    So glad you added Soil to your TBR! Also, The Forest Brims Over looks good, doesn’t it? I’m looking forward to reading that one too.

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    • I read Descartes one paragraph at a time with breaks in between, though that is not conducive to finishing before my discussion post is due.

      Oh, Stefanie, your comment about who to blame is hilarious! My therapist always says look at the evidence, so if your sister was 90% culprit, then surely the squirrels are, too.

      I am keeping my distance from Toadman and only saying hello from far away. Now that it’s been eleven days, he’s starting to hand back in his apartment.

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      • No, taking breaks after each paragraph of Descartes only draws out the pain in my opinion. You need to just rip him off like a band-aid on a hairy arm and get it over with 😉

        I like your therapist! 😀

        Thanks for the DE’VIA link! Super cool. Also, I found it interesting in the video that manifesto was finger spelled. Is there no sign for it? The art is gorgeous and visually and emotionally moving. I’m surprised the museum is in Kansas. Not a place I would expect for it to be.

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        • Kansas has a school for the Deaf, which was established in 1866. That tells me that maybe they have a strong Deaf community there, hence the museum location choice?

          Manifesto is an interesting one. If someone said it and I had to interpret that, I would describe what it is because there isn’t one sign. That’s pretty common. If someone fingerspells, it’s possible the word is common enough in the community that they know the fingerspelled word and its meaning, or they assume their audience is fluent in both ASL and English, which is not always the case. These are my opinions based on what I’ve seen and learned so far.

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  5. I died laughing at you and Kitty! The mental visual of you trying to chase this baby mole with your flip flops and then yeeting it to the neighbor’s is too funny! You have so many pets now – a mole, a kitty, a toad, a fish…what’s next????

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    • Well, part of the adventure trying to catch the baby mole was realize SERIOUSLY how many tiny holes are in our yard. I mean, that thing kept getting away. I thought maybe we had snake holes, but now I realize we need a snake. OMG, is the anaconda hole just one huge mole hole???

      Technically, we just have Kitty as a pet, and Kitty’s pet is Fishlander. Toadman is an independent entity, more like a renter who pays nothing, lol. The baby mole gonna get evicted if I see it again.

      What’s next? I suppose I have not told you about the Turkey Superhighway that is the driveway? 😬

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  6. Per Wikipedia, William Buckland, known for eating every animal he could, opined that mole meat tasted vile. 🤢

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    • Why…. why did you look that up, you lil weirdo. You know what, I take it back. That’s going to be a Jeopardy! question at some point in the future, and I will regret my comment.

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  7. Love your animal stories. So glad to see the reappearance of Toadman of course.

    And Clever Kitty.

    Oh, and if you ever need to crowdfund retrieving your house from a pit just let me know. I’ll do it for the moles!

    One of the things I will really miss from our home is the nature. We have had a resident (changed over time) blue tongue skink for a couple of decades and occasionally some jacky lizards. We have Australian magpies who not only sing beautifully but potter happily around the garden with us. We sometimes hear kookaburras laughing from the reserve across the road. And more. We do hear birds in our new place but it’s not the same.

    Some of those book covers you’ve shared this week are gorgeous.

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    • I had always heard that the Australian magpies is a vicious bird that hates bicyclists, so it’s nice to hear about them in a positive light. I know their attacks are related to nesting, but they are certainly persistent, according to the videos I’ve seen on YouTube. And the ways cyclists try to deter the birds grows increasingly hilarious.

      I’m so jealous you live near Kookaburras! There is one (maybe two?) at our local zoo, and it’s like this Hollywood movie moment when you hear it make noise. I love that we Americans often confuse the sound of the Kookaburra for a monkey in the trees in films.

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      • That behaviour of Australian magpies is limited to a short time of year as you clearly know, and is by no means typical of all magpies. “Ours” know us and never attacked us nor that I saw anyone walking by. Most people love our magpies for their song and the fact that they lived comfortably with us in our gardens.

        I’d never heard that about Americans, kookaburras and monkeys. I guess I can understand that though no Australian would make that mistake!

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  8. I’m very glad Toadman has returned safe and sound! And if “A forensic memoir” is neither forensic nor a memoir, I look forward to finding out what it is…

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  9. My cats take care of any moles and voles that come near our house. We had to have a groundhog relocated, though, because it was tunneling under our deck and porch and other animals were moving in (raccoons mostly).

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  10. Some beautiful covers at the bottom of this post! And yay that Toadman is back. Boo for the voles/moles. I don’t think we have many up here in Calgary, but they definitely do exist. Probably because I’m so inner city, we don’t have to worry about many. Also, weird fact – Alberta is ‘rat free’. Like, we don’t have rats, the border is protected from rats for some strange reasons. Farmers help us keep Alberta rat free. It’s a thing…a very strange thing.

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  11. Oh that kitty! I love your reasoning on that one. They are terrible, aren’t they, cats. Once of ours has a water fountain and uses it beautifully. The other will only drink water that’s mixed with his food. So he gets enough water, he’s not dehydrated, vet is happy with him, but it still bothers us!

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  12. A mole! That seems so charming – probably because I love The Wind in the Willows and do not live in a place where we have moles. Pearl saw a rat yesterday but that is less charming. I’m glad to hear an update on Toadman too!

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    • Yeah, there is nothing charming about a rat unless (maybe) it’s one of those white ones that are pets. Otherwise, I’m just seeing scary cartoon rats in my head. Actually, I used to think moles were rather scary because there was that Thumbelina movie in which another character tries to convince Thumbelina to marry the mole. He’s awful.

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      • Haha, that’s funny because in my mind THAT specific mole is not a jerk but it never occurred to me to extrapolate that to all moles. Even as a kid I thought it was weird that a mole wanted to marry her.

        Pearl at first told us she saw a mouse but upon further questioning, it was clearly a rat. She was very calm about it.

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