Police Assist Skunk

My knees are chilly. I know I should close the patio door to help get warmer, but at the moment I can't spot Banichi inside, and I don't want to close him out. Folks in Denver are getting excited since today the Rockies begin their first play-off game and also because the Denver Broncos are undefeated. The Avalanche, the local NHL team, also won their opener. It's 42 degrees outside, but the weatherman says we'll hit 72 today; but struggle to reach 40 as a high tomorrow - and, yes, we're expecting snow tomorrow. The Loveland Ski Area opened today at 8 our time, and the Arapahoe Basin is due to open Friday morning. I know that my fingers are babbling; please excuse me. I feel that two police officers in Colorado Springs deserve special thanks from lovers of wildlife - yesterday was trash pick-up day, and a lot of people put their trash out the night before due to an early pick-up. Soon after 8 yesterday morning, someone called the CS police department to report a skunk with a peanut butter jar stuck on its head. The two responding police crept up behind the skunk, and while one held the creature, the other popped the jar off its head. They then placed the skunk on the ground and ran as fast as they could. Neither were sprayed by the skunk, who wandered away from the area about 20 minutes later. ... Oh, good. Banichi just appeared and I can close the door.

I am still trying to convince my PC to download my photos... I hope to be able to do so soon. Yesterday, USA Today reported that a 9-to-10 ton crane fell off a barge in Smith Mountain Lake in Franklin County, Virginia. I have a single question: How? ... My sister and I are feeling that we have to concede to our age and gravity after Saturday at the horse show - there was a large straw bale that was a little higher than our waists, and we assumed that we could easily jump up and sit on it. Nope. Kathy finally got her heinie on the edge of the bale, so I grabbed her around the knees and pushed her backwards onto the bale. (We were both giggling hysterically.) Then I was able to put my tush up against the side of the bale and "walk" up the side of another nearby bale, until I could flop my bottom down on top of the straw. From that vantage point, we were able to see 15 of the 21 cross-country jumps that were then being contested. Then we had to laugh again - we had maps of the course and a list of the 121 competitors; after the Training group jumped, an employee mistook us for jump judges, and came to ask us for our paperwork and number of refusals overall. We had to point him toward the three real judges and their reports. ... And I highly recommend the Italian bakery and restaurant in Parker that is named Gaspare's - their food is stupendously delicious. (Stupendously delicious meaning that I could easily eat myself sick with food from either the restaurant, or goodies from the bakery...)