{"id":447,"date":"2010-12-07T09:45:06","date_gmt":"2010-12-07T13:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.summerofjim.com\/?p=447"},"modified":"2014-04-01T09:31:06","modified_gmt":"2014-04-01T13:31:06","slug":"the-secret-is-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/?p=447","title":{"rendered":"The Secret is Out!!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sandy and I have, what you might call, pet<\/em> backgrounds.\u00a0 Specifically, dogs.\u00a0 I love dogs probably more than Sandy.\u00a0 I mean… more than <\/em>Sandy<\/em> loves dogs. <\/em>*cheesh* Talk about your freudian<\/em> slips!<\/p>\n

We’ve talked about different breeds.\u00a0 I am committed to Keeshonden.\u00a0 Sandy loves Lhasas.\u00a0 This difference in canine preferences had the look of an evil cloud in our lives.\u00a0 But a dog, either a Lhasa or a Keeshond, at this time just isn’t in the cards.\u00a0 And, after all,\u00a0we do get to visit with our four-legged “grandchildren”.\u00a0 Still… there was something missing.<\/p>\n

We finally agreed that we wanted something more than a goldfish; but less than a dog.<\/p>\n

In August I was browsing the pages of The New Yorker<\/em> when an advert caught my eye… one of those tiny little ads with just a small graphic, a name, and address and a phone number:\u00a0 The Litchfield Dinosaur Egg Farm, Goshen, CT.<\/p>\n

Cool.\u00a0 Labor Day weekend we went up to Goshen to take in their Fair, stopped into Nodine’s Smokehouse and laid in a supply of bangers, and then went over to check out the “egg farm.”\u00a0 Let me assure you… not<\/em> your typical egg farm!!<\/p>\n

First, we had to fill out a ten page questionnaire.\u00a0 I think it’s easier to gain an audience with the Pope!\u00a0 Why we passed muster when I saw that four other couples were turned away, I can’t tell you.\u00a0 But we happily\u00a0put on hospital scrubs and were escorted into the nursery.\u00a0 State of the art<\/em> as they say…<\/p>\n

At this point I had a distinct advantage.\u00a0 Sandy may know dogs… but she knows\u00a0gornisht <\/em>about dinosaurs.\u00a0 I saw a clutch of Triceratops eggs.\u00a0 My favorite dinosaur!!\u00a0 But talk about impractical!\u00a0 If a Golden Retriever (Sandy’s other preference) would be too big for our home… what about an adult Triceratops, the size of a school bus!\u00a0 Keeping it fed?\u00a0 Cleaning up after it did a number 2?<\/p>\n

Sure I wanted one!\u00a0 Who wouldn’t?\u00a0 I could see myself training it to\u00a0take out\u00a0the State Police radar traps on I-84!\u00a0 But let’s get real.<\/p>\n

After an hour plus of looking, we finally selected a Compsognathus, and brought our egg home with incubating soil that was engineered to replicate the conditions of the Late Jurassic Period.\u00a0 The soil cost us more than the egg!<\/p>\n

We chose a Compsognathus because adults get no bigger than a wild turkey, their diet consists of small rodents, lizards or tuberous plants, they have a cute coat that looks like feathered scales, they don’t make a lot of noise… AND, this cinched the deal, they are easy to house break.\u00a0 This latter detail, Sandy pointed out, put the Compsognathus ahead of me!<\/p>\n

OK, OK… forgive me if I can’t contain my excitement… but on Sunday, November 8, after months of incubation at the farm and our home, Sheila<\/em> cracked thru her thick shell!<\/p>\n

The secret is out!\u00a0 Sandy and I are the proud parents of a precious Compy<\/em> girl!<\/p>\n

The folks at the egg farm tell me that I can begin leash training Sheila after the New Year.<\/p>\n

Oh my… they do grow up fast don’t they?\u00a0 Our Vet said that our girl should top out at 6 lbs and a little less than 3 feet long.\u00a0 Much of her length is contained\u00a0in her tail which we have been told will play havoc with anything on our coffee table in the den.<\/p>\n

For now she is content sleeping and\u00a0scarfing down bangers from Nodine’s.\u00a0 But come the Spring a rodent won’t be safe on Woodbury Hill!<\/p>\n

Something else to report… the folks over at the farm warned us that one is never enough<\/em>!\u00a0 Can you imagine it?\u00a0 Next year Jimbo happily strolling the grounds\u00a0as\u00a0his pack<\/em> of Compy’s flushes out small prey, and, at his direction,\u00a0tear into\u00a0the calves of folks who hog the guest parking spots at Woodbury Hill.\u00a0 Oh, YES!!<\/p>\n

To be continued…<\/p>\n

\"Compsognathus_BW\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sandy and I have, what you might call, pet backgrounds.\u00a0 Specifically, dogs.\u00a0 I love dogs probably more than Sandy.\u00a0 I mean… more than Sandy loves dogs. *cheesh* Talk about your freudian slips! We’ve talked about different breeds.\u00a0 I am committed … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=447"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":449,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447\/revisions\/449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}