Bits 'n' Pieces

It's a little warmer this morning... 23, and Sammie and I just returned from our walk. He's still a little leery of me, but has been licking my hands and allowing me to pet and scratch his head. His owners will be back this evening, so I won't be stressing him out any more - poor thing goes outside and then is terribly disappointed when it's still me who opens the door to let him back inside. Tuppurr could care less; he gets the food and treats he wants, and companionship when he wants that. He's a talker, like Lovey and Banichi, so I haven't missed out on any kitty chatter. - The Rockies' 3rd division playoff game was postponed due to yesterday's snow and sub-freezing temperatures. They are now scheduled for today, tomorrow, and Tuesday, if necessary. This afternoon the undefeated Broncos face the New England Patriots; and only three of my college teams lost this weekend: Colorado, Maryland, and Missouri. - Zenyatta won her 13th straight race yesterday, and is now preparing for the Breeders Cup. British import Gitano Hernando won the Goodwood with Colonel John finishing second and Mine That Bird was a disappointing 6th place. Calvin Borel was back riding the colt again, but the trainer thinks the colt's 10-week vacation caused the loss. Mine That Bird is also headed for the Breeders Cup. Rachel Alexandra, the fabulous three-year-old filly, however, is on vacation until the 2010 racing season begins.

I grew up on tales of my Swedish grandfather, Cap'n Walt. Mom was a good story-teller and she frequently regaled us with ice skating tales of her father. When Pop-pop immigrated to the US, he brought his wooden skates from Sweden with him. Mom remembers her brother and sisters and friends skating, playing and having a great time on the frozen creeks and ponds near the house on Chincoteague, while her father sailed majestically along on his old wooden skates, hands clasped behind his back, and pipe gripped firmly in his teeth and leaving a trail of aromatic smoke behind him. Mom remembers other people making fun of Pop-pop's wooden skates and that he would shrug and ask, "Why pay to replace something that works fine?" One winter in the early 1920s the Eastern Shore had a terrible winter; the channels and bays were ice-packed and the island had run out of coal-oil for heating and light. A group of the best skaters met and agreed to skate from Chincoteague up to the town of Franklin in Maryland, and return with 5 and/or 10 gallon cans of coal-oil on their backs to share with other families on their streets. Both Pop-pop and his father-in-law, Ickky D, skated over and brought back oil to share. They were the first two men to return from this skating exercise, and people wanted to know where the other men were. Walt and Ickky D looked at one another and shrugged; then Ickky D said, "It'd take 5 'Teaguers to beat one of us Scandinavians!" (Ickky D was Danish.) - The only reason I remember this at this time is that a young lady from California was standing at the edge of Wonderland Lake yesterday evening, with her ice skates slung over her shoulder. After this one freeze, the young idiot thought it would be safe to go out skating on the Lake! I told her she had better wait until we'd had at least 10 nights of hard freeze in a row before she ever put her skates on. And I also suggested that she might enjoy the smooth skating rink downtown better than the rough surface of a protected lake. I hope she had enough sense to take my advice.....