Wet Earlobe

Nikki and I had a wonderfully brisk walk this morning; we saw 3 fox and 8 coyotes in the development. Nikki wanted to chase each and every fox and coyote, so my right shoulder is a little sore from her pulling on her lead. She is very well trained, and if I pull the lead in and keep her "in position" she will heel, sit, top, and stay - but in the mornings, I pretty much give her 30 feet of line and just let her explore and romp. Therefore my sore shoulder is my own fault.

Boris didn't mean to wake me up this morning, but I awoke to my right earlobe being alternately licked and then sucked on.... He was lying curled across my throat, and his purr seemed incredibly loud - but then, his nose was directly over my eardrum... When I first got up this morning, Nikki decided that she would take over my space in the bed; she seemed quite put out that I made her get off the bed and go out into the living room with me.

Banichi and Lovey are both outside on the patio. Yesterday, when I was leaving to visit Rosie and Remy, I had to call the kits inside. The kits were nowhere in sight - Lovey came running from under the fence; she had been visiting the Alumni Homecoming tents, lunch and concert at the Millenium Harvest House. She ran right up to me, and I hugged and praised her and then put her inside and closed the patio door. While I was calling Banichi, she presented me with a concert of her own pitiful meows. When I began to make my second call for 'Nichi-ji, I saw a slight movement out of the left corner of my eye; there was the man... sitting behind the silver-grey bark of a twisted oak in the far corner of the yard. I asked, "Nichi - are you going to make me come to you?" and he sprang out from behind the tree and ran up to my feet. Of course, he promptly dropped down and rolled in the dirt - but I was happy with his response.

I watched the Vice-presidential debate last night with great interest. I tried to watch the debate with an open mind - as if I did not know anything about either Senator Biden or Governor Palin. The first thing I noticed was that Gov. Palin was not answering the questions she was asked; that she seemed awfully "folksy" when speaking directly to the camera; that she never laid out or explained any plans for the government during a McCain-Palin administration. Senator Biden answered the questions; he laid out plans for the Obama-Biden administration; he seemed to be a little stiff at the beginning of the debate, but loosened up during the last half of it.
In looking for a winner, personally, I think Biden made better points and a better over-all impression. It seemed to me that Palin was putting on an act - the "folksy" sayings were a bit too much over the top; the use of "Darn right!" and "Darn it!" made me want to find a pair of socks, a knitting egg, and some wool and my darning hooks; she had certain doctrines of the GOP down pat and recited them well. She did not ramble or have a public melt-down , so I guess she did well. But she did not leave me with the impression that she truly understood what she was saying/parroting - and I still dislike the fact that she did not answer the questions she was asked.