Niobrara Tar Pits

We travel to the Niobrara River 4 times a week on average. Apparently she is a hungry river. She likes to eat things. In this case, she is trying to consume my feet.

Photo credit: Courtney Culp

 A few weeks ago she tried to eat Ben whole, luckily we dug him out before she took him for good. Two days ago she ate my favorite water bottle, and one time she tried to eat our whole canoe. She likes to try to eat paddles as well, but so far we haven't let her keep any of those.

Moral of the story: Be nice to the Niobrara or she WILL eat you.

Things I Am Looking Forward To

Next month I get to fly east for some quality time. In no particular order here is what I look forward to:

- seeing real mountains in Asheville
- medium black coffee with 2 sugars from the Dunk
- going for a swim in L.I. Sound (gross, I know)
- seeing my favorite 5 year old on the planet
- snuggling with Spam and Cheddar ( that would be a person and a cat for the record)
- Doing an impressive flying squirrel impersonation at navitAt http://www.navitat.com/asheville/
- playing tetris on the super nintendo with my Gram
- celebrating life Nagy style
- cleaning some crap out of my overstuffed storage unit
- visiting the store where great adventures begin, the one and only North Cove Outfitters
- heading to Providence to see my Peter and my Rachel
- being around people who over use the term "wicked"
- just being in the one place on earth where I actually fit in

Plover Fever

Despite the flood, Plovez are still nesting :)

A Piping Plover nest amongst ancient bovine bones

Girl's Best Friend

This is Daisy:

She is the Destroyer of all things stuffed and/or squeaky

She takes great pride in her work

... I should say, she is the destroyer of all things squeaky EXCEPT for this monkey.

Daisy came to us when she was still quite young, we think she was around 1.5 years old. She had more character than any other dog I have ever known. She was a royal pain in the ass when she wanted to be, but also the best friend anyone could ever want.

She did not prefer dog food, and mostly ate pizza, ice cream, and old ham bones. She enjoyed long walks in the park, long rides in the car, and running up and down the stairs like a maniac.

I miss my dog.

Daisy

I like my dog more than I like most people. Now she is gone so I guess I better learn to like people more.

R.I.P. Daisy Dog ?/?/99 - 6/11/11

Please Don't Blame the Plovez!

I am truly alarmed at the amount of talk I am hearing about the Piping Plover being a cause of those flooding crisis. Did the plovers make it rain? No. Did the plovers make it snow? No.

Several news stories have indicated that many people are suggesting that the reason all this water is being released now is because the army corps was trying to preserve nesting habitat for the plovers and terns that nest along the river. This is simply not true, and I am relieved that the media is reinforcing that fact. I hate to think of the consequences if people truly believe the Piping Plover is to blame for their loss of property due to this flooding.

The record precipitation this past winter and spring has led to an influx of water that no one could have imagined. The army corps is doing their best with what they have.

Access Denied

As I may have mentioned, the Missouri River is closed to public access due to extremely high water levels.

Clay County Boat Ramp

Mulberry Bend Boat Ramp



The bridge back to South Dakota as seen from Nebraska (There is a crane on the far right adding rocks to reinforce the bridge for the rising waters).

The river is closed, but that doesn't stop some people. Please click the following link to read about a man who was arrested for drunkenly floating down the Missouri River in an inflatable pool:

STORY ABOUT A MAN WHO FLOATED DRUNK DOWN THE RIVER


Needless to say the river being closed has put a slight damper on our season. But never fear, we always have the Niobrara to canoe....