Cheetah, We Barely Knew Ya'

As a child, I always looked forward to Sunday afternoons, after lunch.  I always hoped the weather would hold and we would be able to pick up the channel 12 transmission from Jacksonville on our TV antenna.  At one o'clock on Sundays, channel 12 would play Johnny Weissmuller movies - Tarzan or Jungle Jim - and I would get to see African wildlife.  Everyone in the family got a big laugh from watching the antics of Cheetah, the chimpanzee, in both of those movie series.  If I remember correctly, it was in Tarzan's New York Adventure that Cheetah supposedly ate several tins of face cream and followed it with a cologne topper.  Cheetah's kidneys failed him last week, at the age of about 82, and he passed away the day before Christmas.  It is generally accepted that Cheetah was never bred, so his genes are gone.  He had lived for the past 50 years at the Suncoast Primate Sanctuary, having lived with the Weissmuller menagerie until the mid-1960s.  Chimpanzees are very special creatures, and Cheetah was a master of comedy.  He will be missed.
We have a Chinook wind blowing today - if it will take away some of the snow and ice left from last week's storm, I'll be very happy.  The snow has compacted and melted, so there's about 6 inches in the back yard at the apartment - at Finn's house, there is still 8 to 12 inches on the ground.  I'm currently driving a MiniCooper around Boulder.  It's a neat little car, but you don't want to try to drive it in, or through, soft snow.  The major roads are almost clear, here in Boulder, but a lot of the residential roads are still snow- and ice-packed.  I drove over to walk Rosie and Remy yesterday, and, having parked in the tracks of a previous vehicle, I thought I was safe.  I walked the dogs for 50 minutes, and when I returned, the sun had melted the snow around the tires, so each tire was in a little valley - and the car is so light that it couldn't get traction.  Joel and I had to push the car out of the softer snow and onto the ice-pack, so I could get it to move.  -  Talk about embarrassing! -
All the critters in my care are doing just fine!  Lovey and Nedi are currently chasing each other through the snow and in and out of the apartment.  Sasquatch and Tugger are doing great, and their folks come home tonight.  Lyra, Lilly and Dhysana are full of them selves, and will be very happy when Lynn and Tessa return home tomorrow.  Skippy and Finn are being their usual super selves; and Rosie and Remy are being their usual "veteran trouper" selves.  Brandi was superb over the past weekend, and I've truly enjoyed myself being able to play and interact with all the personalities.