Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

One way or another, he’s a liar.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

He really is that stupid.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

You are here: Home / Nature & Respite / Respite Open Thread: This Is How It Begins

Respite Open Thread: This Is How It Begins

by | 37 Comments

This post is in: ,

I’ve given up on using the quote feature, as it consistently messes with the formatting.  Here are your fowl stories of the day.

===========================

It was just a normal day last summer at R and R Garage in North Carolina when a rooster randomly wandered over to the garage, and didn’t seem to have any plans to leave. The employees assumed he’d been abandoned and began feeding him leftovers from the shop fridge, but when they took a long weekend, they sort of figured he would move on to another spot.

When they all returned, though, he was still there, so they named him Earl and he’s been the shop rooster ever since.

rooster works at autoshop

“He comes running when the first guy comes in to open up for the day,” Joe Gallo, co-owner of R and R Garage, told The Dodo. “He gets his cup of scratch, then wanders the shop looking for any bugs that may be around. He gets up under all the toolboxes and workbenches looking for spiders and anything else he can find.”

rooster works at autoshop

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As they say, the rest of the story is here, with lots more photos.

And here’s a sweet duckling family:

And finally mammals represent –  a boy and his ram:

And finally – our Governor tells dad jokes – and also signed into law his campaign promise of fully funded all-day Kindergarten.

Respite open thread

Reader Interactions

37Comments

  2. 2.

    RAVEN

    This is a friend and a link to his ant museum site.

    I am interested the processes and mechanisms responsible for the origination, organization, and maintenance of diversity. I am specifically interested in understanding how the importance of diversity maintaining and organizing processes and thus patterns of diversity change as a function of geographic scale. I am currently studying the effects of non-native species on Florida ant communities using historical records collected by entomologists and deposited in museums over the last few decades. I aim to describe what happens to native ant species when non-native species arrive and identify the traits that predict which non-native ant species will become successful. I am working on a taxonomic treatment of the ant genus Strumigenys in my spare time.

  3. 3.

    HeleninEire

    LOL. I love posts like this. Because you all have cats and dogs and chickens and ducks and birds and cows? and gerbils and fish and, um, kids.

    And here’s me “OMG should I get a dog?” Sooo hard, this decision.

  4. 4.

    Gravie

    Let me be the first to say it knocks me out that the garage owner (in the rooster story) is named Gallo. Because “gallo” in Spanish = “rooster” in English. Looks like the little cock-a-doodle-do was just looking for his family.

  9. 9.

    Kristine

    I love animal stories. Question for the duck-experienced, though.

    Isn’t 10 years old for a duck, especially in the wild?

    Is it possible that it’s one of her ducklings that returned to the old nesting ground and remembered the route?

  10. 10.

    Patricia Kayden

    That’s one rooster which will never be eaten. Cool dude. Another round of great animal stories to end the weekend. Nice!!

  11. 11.

    seefleur

    And this is why I LOVE this blogsite… Lovely stories and demented jackals – who could ask for anything more?!?!!

  12. 12.

    Lapassionara

    I saw a chipmunk on my patio today, and for some reason I was cheered by the sight. He was eating the many maple seeds that have helicoptered onto the ground, for which I was grateful. I find solace in the animals, especially the birds, around my yard.

  14. 14.

    J R in WV

    @seefleur:

    who is calling me demented now?

    Ark, ark, ark!!

    ETA: to add the person calling us demented… ;-)

    No offense taken, or I hope, given!

  19. 19.

    Wag

    I’m proud of our new governor. Polis is a quality guy.

    And I appreciate his sense of humor

  20. 20.

    Amir Khalid

    Robert Pattinson is in talks with Warner Bros. to be the next Batman, per CNN.

    Words fail me.

  23. 23.

    Major Major Major Major

    ♥️ Omg, that video with the kid and the ram ?

    I made a little vanilla cake today because there was a thunderstorm and I had some leftover eggs and frozen buttercream, that was nice.

  26. 26.

    Dan B

    @Wag: That’s good to hear especially for Pride Month. As Pence and Pompeo work to undo 50 years of LGBT progress.

  30. 30.

    Steve in the ATL

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Glendale is metro LA. I didn’t mean literally the municipal entity of Los Angeles. And isn’t Glendale in LA county? And don’t I fly into LAX when visiting Glendale? Why yes I do!

  33. 33.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    @Mike J: That’s a crass response to a story of a shy child – possibly on the spectrum – and his interaction with his ram. It’s disappointing that you’d offer it.

  36. 36.

    Ruckus

    @RAVEN:
    I’m trying to watch a Netflix special called Resurface.
    It’s about a program for disabled vets, called Operation Surf.
    I’ve watched less than 3 minutes, it’s 27 minutes long. So far, it’s amazing.

  37. 37.

    Ruckus

    @Ruckus:
    If anyone checks in here I highly recommend this show. It’s not long but it is well done. It struck me that I felt just a bit like I was back in that navy hospital 46 yrs ago, sitting in a group of men with PTSD, some extreme cases, but I was seeing actual progress, not just a holding/hiding process.

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