Snow?!?

The weather folks said that snow would fall only above the 6,500 foot mark and that the rest of us would get rain... They were wrong! I awoke at 3 this morning, and thought that things sounded muffled, so I peeked out of the window, and, by golly, there was snow on the ground! It's a heavy wet snow again, and the roadways and sidewalks are clear, as the stuff is melting as it hits - but I saw 4 inches on the roof of a parked car, and the grass in the backyard is completely blanketed. Again, I am not complaining about it - we can always use rain (or any wetness) in this semi-arid area! Monty came to the patio door at 7:30 this morning, so I gave him a handful of peanuts just inside the door. He's eating right now - Banichi is sound asleep in the cat tree above him and Lovey is studiously ignoring him while ensconced in my lap. The snow is currently tapering off in amount, so I've e-mailed the Irish kids' family and asked if they want me to walk them as scheduled, cancel entirely, or walk them this afternoon. Any of the three options is fine with me.

I did everything I planned to do yesterday, except down-loading my camera program to my PC. I did watch The Ox Bow Incident on the Western channel yesterday; it was the first time I've seen the classic in its entirety. I ended up starting to read The Judas Strain (another Sigma series book by James Rollins) and couldn't put it down... I fell asleep reading it last night. - Yesterday was my friend Michael's birthday; and it was also his and Jane's first wedding anniversary. While having hospice care at home, Jane is doggedly hanging onto life, enjoying her time with Mike and all their animals (2 dogs and 4 cats). - This Saturday is the first one of May, which means it is time for the Kentucky Derby... I was flipping channels the other day and happened to see Hattie McDaniel (best known as Mammy of Gone With the Wind) singing "My Old Kentucky Home", and was quite taken aback to hear the original lyrics being sung: "...'tis spring time, the darkies are gay..." and then I realized that the film had been made in the 1930s and that was well before the change of Stephen Foster's lyrics.

At the moment, Colorado has no known cases of the dreaded swine flu. Governor Bill Ritter already has emergency measures in place, just in case there is an outbreak. I can't decide if it's because of my depression, or if I'm just old enough to look upon death without fear, or what - but being a student of history, and knowing of the waves of plague in the past and the "Spanish" flu pandemic in 1917/18, I just can't get myself to be afraid anymore... I think that, possibly, having been so close to the Pentagon on September 11th, that I just can't be scared all the time anymore... I just want to thumb my nose at the world - and say - "What ever happens will happen! - Let me get on with my life!"