Bo, the First Dog

The news about the new First Dog has broken. He is a 6-month-old Portuguese Water Spaniel, whose original name was Charlie - but he has been renamed "Bo." The Obama family and he have had at least one meeting, and Bo is now learning his manners with the trainers of the Kennedy family dogs. Bo is a gift of Senator Edward Kennedy to the Obama girls. It will be nice to have youngsters and pets in the White House again! My cousin Sarah has also added a new member to her family - joining Ruby and Sam is a new girl named Ebony. Ebony is about 4 years old, and is part Lab, possibly part Chow and maybe a little Boxer? Ruby is happy to have a playmate, although she is much larger, and Sam, being a feline, is not very happy to have a new dog in the family.

Lovey is trying to catch the robins in the back yard this morning, while Banichi is hiding in hopes of finding a squirrel. It's yet another grey, nasty-looking day. No rain yesterday, and about one hour of sunshine around 1 in the afternoon. The forecasters are, again, saying we have a good chance of showers this afternoon - or possibly snow; they've drawn the rain/snow line at 6,000 feet, which is where Boulder lies - we'll see if we get anything. It's 38 outside and very damp for Colorado - 65% humidity - and we're supposed to hit a high of 44. I head over to Hila's house this afternoon, just for the night; the family originally planned to be gone for 18 days, but it was reduced to one night only. So I'll have the company of Hila, a dozen laying hens and a rooster (Eliphalet Pease), two hives of honey bees and the gardens while I begin to read Sandstorm. I had started reading Amazonia Friday evening; I finished it last night. Woe betide those who try to separate me from the books of James Rollins! He is a fantastic writer!

While reading yesterday afternoon, I was shocked to have a neighbor with an extremely amplified electric guitar start playing some riffs.... I couldn't tell whether the sound was from next door, across the hall, or from the second floor. It was like I was sitting immediately in front of the amp at a rock concert - it drowned out all other sounds. Lovey and Banichi hid under the bed. I called the apartment manager's number, got a recording, and complained. Within 30 minutes, the guitar playing had ceased - whether from my complaint or not, I have no idea - but it was most certainly loud! I felt as if I were sitting at Florida Field watching the Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Roger McGuinn concert back in the middle 70s. I guess I'm getting crotchety - I want to post a notice by the mail boxes that reads: "Interesting Facts: #1 - One does not have to slam a door to close it. #2 - Youngsters screaming at the tops of their lungs at all hours is not appreciated in a studio apartment complex. #3 - When someone can stand in the entrance hall and hear your television, music, video game, whatever - it is much too loud!"

Sorry for being such a crab on Easter Sunday. I hope you have a good day!