Paul Bunyon and Babe, the Blue Ox

In preparation for the start of the rebuilding of our Parish's drainage system and parking lot, the tree company has been here for the last two days clearing a section of the "forest" next to our church offices. On the first day, they parked a HUGE wood chipper (think large, diesel engine powered, ground shaking, ear splitting, tree grinding piece o' machinery) right outside my office window. Just lovely! Between that thing, the chainsaws, and the gas powered blowers, I am about to lose my mind!
And it just gets better! I just found out that they are going to start the process of grinding off the black top next Monday! Yes, GRINDING off the blacktop! They stopped in the office to let us know that next week might be kind of loud and dusty! Woo Hoo! Aint progress great! :-)
Repeat the mantra: "The new parking lot will be more welcoming, the new parking lot will be more welcoming, the new parking lot....."

They're Done!!! Yeah!!!

I just received word that my GOE re-writes are SATISFACTORY!! Yeah!! I am officially done with the GOEs!!! It is seriously time to party!! Hallelujah! "The strife is o'er, the battle done...."

Skunk Incident, Part Three - The Saga Continues

When the exterminator arrived yesterday and set out a trap for the skunk, we asked him many questions about how we might get the skunk to leave the window well without having to resort to carnage. He gave us some ideas which we tried. We used tuna fish and cat food to try to entice the skunk up the tree branch and out of his confinement. What we ended up with though, was not a rescued skunk, but a skunk which began to feel quite pampered. Last night we left with the hope that, instead of entering the trap, he would figure out how to get out of his confinement. To quote yesterday's post, "skunks isn't the brightest of God's critters." This morning he was in the trap. Mr. Exterminator arrived silently and quickly dispatched the skunk before we had any chance to bemoan the event. All that was left was to mourn the empty window well. Well, at least it was a painless death by gas as opposed to being crushed by a Hummer's radial! Poor Mr. Skunk. RIP.

Skunk Incident, Part Two

Well, apparently skunks isn't the brightest of God's critters. We put a beautiful climbing branch down into the window well for him to climb out (and was told by one expert that once it got dark he would do so), but this morning, there he was, faithfully avoiding that branch. Unfortunately for the skunk, they do not "relocate" skunks in the Chicago suburbs, they "humanely euthanize" them. So 11:00 a.m. CDST time is when the bell tolls for our little friend. We have tried every thing suggested by the experts to entice him out, but to no avail. We are trying to assuage our guilt at his impending demise with the thought that he won't be suffering from a cruel death from dehydration and/or starvation. :-{

Things They Didn't Teach Me In Seminary

This morning we discovered a baby skunk in the basement window well of the music director's office. Question: How do you remove a baby skunk from a window well? Answer: Very carefully! According to one service we called, if we put a tree branch down into the window well and wait until dark the skunk should climb out. Hmmm, we'll see. More tomorrow.

Do I need to worry?

This morning there was a large number of police patrolling through our parking lot. At one point, they even drove up the driveway to the rectory. By the time they had made pass number 10 through our parking lot, the parish admin and I went out to ask what was going on, but they didn't even slow down. They just drove out of the parking lot leaving us standing there wondering if we shouldn't probably go back inside and lock the doors! Hmmm?!?