#6 - Living Creatures

This past year I have been continually fascinated by all the close contact with Columbus' native fauna, many of which I never really saw first hand in Utah. (My theory is that since there are no mountains/valleys here we tend to bump into the animals a lot more).

Here are some highlights of animals I've seen over the past year:

GRAY SQUIRREL

There are a bajillion of these guys running around all over Columbus. They are all over campus and in the parks, and any tree in the city (including the tree that we tie our hammock to at our home... just try taking a nap when one of them is munching on nuts right above your head).

As a side note, I was driving about 2 minutes away from home and saw one of these scurry across the road...

Only to be eaten by one of these...

It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen in my life.

Other birds of note:

TURKEY BUZZARD

CANADIAN GOOSE

Ohio shares a maritine border with Canada. I can only assume that's why we have so many of these messy birds in our parks.

CARDINAL

The cardinal is Ohio's state bird. They are so beautiful and I see them all the time right outside my kitchen window.

Also in my back yard:

HARE

The last two creatures were uncomfortably close to home:

OPOSSUM

A few weeks ago we talking by the hammock at night, and heard some rustling noises coming from the underbrush. I ran and got my flashlight and saw these glowing eyes staring back at me. My first live opossum experience.

SKUNK

A couple days ago we spotted one of these prancing across our front porch as we were saying goodnight to guests. Of course the goodbyes were delayed for a couple of minutes as we made sure everyone was safe to leave the house.

#5 - Football Season

Yesterday was the Marshall game, which marked the beginning of football season here at OSU. Anyone that has visited Columbus soon discovers that the city breeds fanatical football followers. Football season is a HUGE part of city life here in Columbus, especially for a student, so I decided to get season tickets this year. You just can't attend OSU and never experience this:

So, I'm going to at least one game this season, and I'm allowing myself to get excited for it. I just need to figure out which game will sell for the cheapest on craigslist, go to that game, and sell the others. :)

As a side note, BYU announced it's independence from the Mountain West Conference on Sept 1st. I happened to be with Burke when he found out. This lead to an hour-long sports history lesson about the whole ordeal. It was surprisingly interesting. Burke let me keep the visual aid he produced during our discussion. (All the numbers are in millions of dollars):

Bottom line - college football is corrupt, and BYU is now one of only four colleges who have freed themselves from the imbroglio. We even made a spiritual analogy: Just as each constructed temple decreases Satan's power on earth, so each independent college decreases the BCS's power. (If you don't know what the BCS is, talk to Burke).

Going independent from any conference, though, is apparently a very risky thing to do, so we are praying that the Lord's football team doesn't fall off the face of the planet.

When I grow up...

... I wanna be one of these: