Cold, cold, cold....

Normally the cold weather we experience in Boulder does not bother me - since we lack the humidity that I grew up with, I usually find the winter weather in Colorado invigorating. If I were just in my apartment, that would still be the case; however, I am pet-sitting at my sister's and her heat won't turn on. It's currently 16 degrees outside, with a wind chill of 0. There is 4 inches of crisp, powdery snow on the ground and we expect 3 to 4 more inches by midnight. Oh, boy! When I left Kathy's an hour ago, it was 50 degrees inside her house - and that was with the oven on and one teeny, tiny space heater running on high. I shut both of them off before bringing the girls, Suki & Boo, over to my tiny apartment. I don't want the pipes to freeze or burst at the house; I have sent an urgent e-mail to Kathy and Jim in Peru via the group they are with - I hope they get it and respond! If you're interested in the Peruvian rainforest, check out Amazonia Expeditions at www.perujungle.com - they have a very good website!

The lost cat of yesterday was named Basenji, and he lives with Tim up in A-209. He was extremely relieved to have Basenji back in his custody. My kits have been giving the entire bathroom a thorough exploration, since there was a "stranger" in there. Lovey is curled up on the foot of the bed, and Banichi is sleeping with his head resting on my left forearm while I type... it makes for an interesting hand angle... The birds have just about cleaned out the feeders, so I'll need to refill them and place more nuts out for the squirrels - and I might put a small bowl of kitty kibble out for the fox....

On our drive back from Pomona on that Sunday night - Kathy and I were both slap-happy - we were physically tired from the drive, and had been stressed by Glenn's sudden death and the meeting of a whole raft of "new" relatives (to us, that is).... As we were headed to Nevada for the night, driving west on US 44, we both laughed hysterically at the little gas station and convenience store sign that proudly read "Kum and Go." Then we passed a road sign showing that the town of Bois d'Arc was 5 miles to the north; after a moment, we discussed how the locals might pronounce their town's name - then I asked Kathy (and I swear, it was Glenn that made me do it), how many locals did she think knew the name meant Dark Woods? She said she didn't know.... and about 3 miles down the road, she said, "Wait a minute! That's not what it means!" I started laughing so hard I had to pull over and wipe away the tears. Then we passed a sign stating that both Mount Vernon and Chesapeake could be reached by the next exit, and we wanted to know how we'd suddenly ended up in Virginia - then came the sign for Peoria - and so on. Over all, it was definitely a good trip.

And we have a new baby in the family! Glenn has a new great-grandson, who was named Garret Evan. He arrived yesterday, weighing in at 8 pounds and 8 ounces. Congratulations to the family!!! - My husband's first granddaughter was born 7 hours after he passed away - I have a funny feeling that Madeline will be a lot like Jeffrey; and that Garret will turn out like Glenn!