Coyotes

Police Blotter

Another slow week in Homer Glen, but crime in Plainfield is picking up:

Location: 2400 block of Flowers St. Plainfield

Summary: Victim stated person/s unknown forced open a window, entered her residence and removed 20 DVDs, frozen meat and pizzas from the freezer and a gallon of milk from the frig.

I don't know how this guy fits $100 worth of change in his console. When I take a full can of change to the bank it usually comes to about $75.

Location: 900 block of Herr Drive New Lenox

Summary: Victim stated person/s unknown entered his unlocked vehicle and removed about $100 worth of change from the console.

Wildlife

This morning at 0030 I glanced out the back door and there was a coyote standing in front of the pool looking back at me. With all the snow and outdoor lights it was pretty bright so I could tell that it was definitely a coyote. I yelled for Kelsey to come out of the office to look (really loudly but that's what it takes to get her moving quickly) and she was able to catch a look at it as it went over to the neighbors' yard.

Today I had to get a few things out of the shed so I looked around for coyote tracks. Not only were there coyote tracks around the front and back of the pool, but also deer tracks coming around the shed to the apple tree then back out into the field. Mom asked "Are you sure they aren't skunk tracks?"

Maps at the Field Museum

One of the papers for my History class requires a visit to a local museum, so I decided to go to the Field Museum to see the new exhibit of maps. It was really interesting, to see how the view of the world changes over time. It includes many maps drawn by historic figures like Ptolemy, Cortes, da Vinci, Mercator, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and Charles Lindbergh.

One of my favorites was a famous map of London's SoHo district in 1854 by Dr. John Snow, known as the father of epidemiology. He charted deaths from the cholera outbreak on a street map and figured out that they were tied to drinking water from a public pump on Broad Street. He was able to convince the local authorities to remove the pump handle, and the cholera outbreak soon died out. The scientific consensus of the time was that cholera was caused by "miasmas", or bad air, and Snow's theory was not accepted until Pasteur came along with his germ theory several years later.

More info about the exhibit here.

Little People, Big World

I've been watching this show with Kelsey and it's starting to get to me. The dad on the show is stealing all of my vacation ideas!

First they rented the world's largest RV and drove cross country to the Grand Canyon etc.

For the past two shows they have been in the Bahamas, where they chartered a 46' catamaran and sailed around the islands, snorkeling and kayaking. When the family boarded the catamaran and set sail they were all so happy they were almost crying. They did hire a charter captain along with his gourmet cook wife. At the end of their sailing week the captain had to drag them off the boat and send them home.

If Mr. Roloff starts talking about Nepal next week I'm going to lose it.