Have a Happy Fourth!

For this Fourth of July I have a short but sweet message for you. I arose and walked the little set of dogs, and am now consuming my breakfast of strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. My message to you for today is .... just enjoy today. We, here in America, have many freedoms - today is a day to celebrate that. Just do whatever makes you feel good for our Independence Day celebration!

Photos for July 3

"Cottages" on the shore at York, Maine



May first in the Missouri Ozarks



Mustangs at the Wild Horse Sanctuary in Hot Springs, South Dakota

The Critters...

Today it's grey and cloudy outside, and we're expecting scattered thunderstorms all afternoon and evening (and the same for tomorrow). Yesterday, in a county south of here, 2.5 inches of rain fell in 90 minutes... the rain caused several mud slides and road wash outs up in the mountains. I have found that walking a small one block loop takes about an hour and 15 minutes with Yoshi and Aiko - it takes 15 minutes with the red kids... In the mornings, I walk the little kids first and follow up with the Rs a couple hours later. Yesterday evening, I walked the Rs first (since they had been at the groomer's in the morning) and then followed up with the little kids. I have to admit Yoshi made me chuckle during our walk; he decided to lift his leg against a mail box post, but the post was sited on a very small slope. In hoisting his leg higher and yet more high, he managed to fall over and roll down the slope. And both boys played the big man when we visited Suki and Boo - they marked and kicked grass and growled ferociously - while the girls sat and politely watched their antics.

The new screening is doing it's stuff at the apartment - no flies, bees, wasps, or mosquitoes were inside when I arrived, but I think I admitted a fly when I let the kits go outside and play. I had closed the door and was checking my e-mail when Lovey began to growl and howl; so I looked out to see what had upset her, and a visitor had a silver and white pit bull on my patio. I asked her to remove the dog from my patio as it was disturbing my cat, which she did... but she was getting a kick out of riling Lovey before I said anything. I hope that it's not an on-going thing while I'm away house-sitting. ... Brother-in-law Jim's sister Frannie is visiting Jim and Kathy for the 4th - she likes Illinois, but she misses the Rockies. Niece Sarah has gone on a week-long solo backpacking trip. She enjoys solitude, and as she 's been teaching for the past year, and living with Michael, she announced that she needed some space and time to herself. (Now that I can totally understand!) We are gearing up for a series of small family celebrations, as Grandma Anne Snow will be 80 on the 7th. She has said she doesn't want a big to do with lots of people, so I'm taking her and Kathy and Jim out for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory.

And I've been eating much better (a more balanced diet) while I'm here in North Boulder. Instead of grabbing a doughnut, danish, or bagel for breakfast, I've been eating eggs and fruit, or making myself a fruit smoothie. Brandi's folks will leave around noon today, so I'll be visiting the girl several times a day through Sunday evening - keeping her company during thunderstorms, feeding and medicating her, and taking her for a twice daily stroll. Thank goodness she's on the next street! ... I have yet to start James Rollins' latest book - I want to be able to concentrate on it, when I open it up. So I'm currently investigating the Snead family on Kevin's maternal side; and I've found over a hundred new relatives to add to the family tree.

... Enjoy your Holiday Weekend!!

Today's Pix

Remember to stop and smell the flowers!



A cool swim can be refreshing...



Or just stay in the shade up in the mountains.... (Durango, CO)

"Brutal" Humidity!

I've already had a good laugh this morning. We had a big thunderstorm last night with lots of lightning and thunder. I sat in the den with the lights out and watched the storm through the skylights and the windows. It was a glorious storm - it flooded parts of Broadway, and the Boulder Creek Path, which was re-opened yesterday afternoon, was promptly re-closed. This morning, it's 57 degrees with a humidity of 87% here in Boulder, while it's 61 and the humidity is 93% in Denver. One of the local meteorologists was talking about how "brutal" the combination of temperature and humidity is at 6 a.m. (They didn't grow up on the east coast, apparently.) So that's been my laugh for the morning.

Yoshi and Aiko enjoyed their two walks yesterday; Rosie and Remy went wild in the Silver Lake Ditch irrigation sprinkler system at Kathy and Jim's and both of them got completely soaked before we returned home. I met with Smiley and Silver's owner yesterday as well, and we discussed changes in their care, diet, and exercise regimen. Lovey declared that she was absolutely starving when I got to my apartment yesterday afternoon,but Banichi has decided that he's miffed with me and spent the first hour I was home under the bed, Then he realized that it really was me, and he curled up in my lap and wouldn't get out... and I had to have at least one hand stroking him at all times, too. The red kids go to the groomer's today, so I won't be walking them until tomorrow.

I am sorry to say goodbye to actor Karl Malden. He was 97 years old, and I can't remember a time when he was not on TV or in the movies. He was an icon of both the silver and the big screen. ... And a judge in Denver heard the arguments for and against the re-instatement of Ward Churchill as a professor at CU Boulder; he is scheduled to announce his ruling next week. Churchill said yesterday that he is seeking re-instatement as "a matter of principle, mainly" and that monetary issues had nothing to do with it. Somehow I just don't believe that; to me it seems that he is milking every last little bit of publicity and notoriety that he can out of this incident. I, for one, hope that he is not re-instated, because that (to me, anyway) would be a license for other professors to lie, plagiarize, and fake research and then claim they were only using their freedom of speech and that their First Amendment rights had been violated. - And, just think, it's almost Friday!!!

Wednesday Critters

This Shih Tzu puppy looks like Yoshi



'Scuse me! Siamese and Shih Tzu



Sleeping Tonkinese

Short Wednesday

It's a beautiful day out - and it's gonna be hot. But yesterday our humidity was only 15%, so I'm not too worried. And Yoshi and Aiko's house has central air... I could easily become used to it once again! Besides walking Aiko and Yoshi, and then Rosie and Remy, I will be meeting with Smiley and Silver's owner to go over care of those two that I begin on the 8th. - Not much else to write about... The kits were ecstatic to see me yesterday, and I loved and hugged them like mad, which I will do again this afternoon.

Oh, and if anyone near or in Boulder reading this knows of someone wanting either two cats or a dog full of energy, please let me know. Smiley is once again looking for a new home - she has prodigious amounts of energy, and her owner just can't be there for her all the time she needs. And a pair of Tonkinese cats, 2 years old, litter-mates, not to be separated, are also looking for a new home - their owner is moving out of the country and can't take the cats with her. One cat is shy, but loving, and the other is very out-going and loving.