Things I Learned on the Way to Other Things

I don't remember what I was looking up.  I think it was, "when is National Adopt A Shelter Dog Month,."  But during my search I found this headline, Diver’s sea creature find is ‘discovery of a lifetime'. The l18-foot-long oarfish was discovered Sunday afternoon by Jasmine Santana, a marine science instructor at the Catalina Island Marine Institute. The article described  the oarfish was dead but its slender, snake-like body was intact, another reminder that the world is a very big place inhabited by many wonderful and unique creatures.   I don't expect to see an oarfish in real life, but I did see a moose a long time ago. He was a gigantic, magnificent fellow.   The typically, slow-lumbering moose weighs in at more than 1,000 pounds, a few reaching even 1,800-2,000 pounds.   Once a fairly common resident in a number of U.S. states the moose, also known as the largest deer, may not be such a common site in the future.   Another article I stopped at  was a New York Times piece, Moose Die-Off Alarms Scientists, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/science/earth/something-is-killing-off-the-moose.html?_r=0,  The article claims that many factors are contributing to the rapidly declining moose population, including climate change.     The article  reminded me of a book I read when my daughter was little, A Moose for Jessica, the true story of a cow who falls for a moose!    People traveled to Vermont from all over the world to see the cross-species love-struck  couple.  By the way my search did lead me to discover that,  October  IS  National Adopt A Shelter Dog Month and we have lots of great shelter dogs waiting to be adopted.