Monday, April 4, 2011
Two TV Shows...
Wow. Derek Jacobi was stupendous as Cardinal Orsini in the opening episode of Showtime's The Borgias. Too bad that his weaselly character was poisoned (by his own poisoner) so early in the series. Jeremy Irons was stunning as Rodrigo Borgia, Pope AlexanderVI; and I am really looking forward to the next 9 episodes. - Can you tell what I was doing last night? - And PBS is also showing Ken Burns' The Civil War again. I watched episode 1 of that last night, and thrilled to the sound of John Hartford's voice. And getting to listen to Shelby Foote's commentary, as well as looking at him, was fantastic. Isn't it terrible that my two favorite people on that show are now dead? ... So, Saturday it was almost 80 degrees; yesterday we had hail, rain and snow, and the temperature dropped to 24; this morning I got up to about a half-inch of snow accumulation on the grass and covering cars. Our high was 49. It was also windy all day. The weather guys say we'll be up to the low 60s tomorrow, but with higher winds. ... This does not bode well for the Crystal Fire, as it is still only about 5% contained and still has over 4,500 acres both smoldering and burning. ... Right now, a suicidal man is camped out in the local medical center; the man has a gun; and the SWAT team is there. ... A couple of teen-aged boys opened a suitcase sitting near a park in Denver and found the body of a 17-year-old boy. ... Life around here is getting a little strange....
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Crystal Fire Update
The Crystal Fire is less than 5% contained. It has now burned over 4,500 acres, including one shed containing a motorcycle and an ATV; plus the fire spokesman said that they believe that at least 15 homes have been destroyed. The temperature has dropped to 30 degrees, and we've had intermittent rain and light snow since 11 a.m. - We need much more rain and snow, but this system is already moving well to the east of us. .... And Nick Zito-trained Dialed In won the Florida Derby (worth $1 million) by a head over 68-to-1 Shackleford. The betting favorite, Soldat, finished fifth.
Fires, Winds... and Snow?
Yesterday, Boulder reached 80 degrees, which broke the high temperature record for the day; the record low for the day was -2. Yesterday we had 20 to 30 mph winds all day - which helped contribute to a small wildfire on the west side of Boulder, which, thankfully, was quickly contained and extinguished, after burning less than one acre, but threatening 15 homes due to the winds. Another fire started yesterday up in Larimer County - it's being called the Crystal Fire, and is about 12 miles west of Horsetooth Reservoir. There were winds of over 50 mph last night, and the fire has spread to over 2,000 acres, and is completely uncontained. It's a very rural, mountainous area - residents of Stringtown Gulch and Redstone Canyon are being evacuated, as well as those residents living south of Rist Canyon Road. The reporters covering the fire at the evacuation sites are definitely city folks - as they exclaim over the people bringing in their cats, dogs, chickens, goats, and rabbits. The larger critters are going to stabling at the county fairgrounds - but people and small pets are being accommodated at several local public schools. .... It was 62 degrees when I awoke this morning, but we have a steady wind blowing at 25 to 30 mph again today, with gusts up to 90 mph. There is also a cold front sitting over Laramie, Wyoming, that will turn the wind from the west to the south... and the weather folks say we'll have 3 to 6 inches of snow by tomorrow morning. We'll see. I can confirm that the temperature is slowly dropping here, and that the sky, which was cloudless at 7 a.m., is now totally overcast. Let the rain and snow come in buckets!! I do not like fire! ... The kits are jumpy today - I don't know if they sense the coming storm or if the smoke is bothering them, but they are both "twitchy." Lovey and Nedi both slept with me last night. They are such wonderful little loves!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
An Odd Awakening
I have to admit that I slept most of Friday - other than walking the red kids and watching Jeopardy!, I read and slept all day and all night. Both Lovey and Nedi slept with me, and they both jumped up, startled, at 1 a.m. this morning - that woke me up. There was someone standing at the edge of the patio, shining a flashlight around the patio and toward the windows. Nedi hid under the bed; Lovey went to the cat tree to take a better look at the intruder; I put on my glasses, decided it was a human with a light, and as I sat up, coughed. When I coughed, the light outside turned off and I heard footsteps in the leaves close to the patio edge. I peeked out my window, and made sure that my chairs, Green Man, and new satellite dish were still in place. Then I just went back to bed. If I am awakened again tonight, I'll call the police to report it. Yesterday's Free Feline Friday was a success - 45 of 58 cats and kittens found new homes. Other than a 6-month-old kitten, all the remaining cats are between the ages of 2 and 12 years. If I had the room, I'd adopt one; but two cats and me in 500 square feet is more than enough - that's why my kits get to run outside when I'm at home. ... Being silly, I'm going to buy a couple of lottery tickets for tonight's drawing - it's $187 million. You can't win if you don't play. ;-) ... Just dreaming, of course, but if I won, I'd purchase a condo here in Boulder, a condo in Gainesville (Florida), a condo in Vero Beach, and a house and/or condo on Chincoteague. I would definitely be a conspicuous consumer in that aspect of things. I'm not sure what I'd get for a vehicle - possibly an Audi, possibly a Toyota. But the kits and I would just drift from place to place, as the mood took us - I am so happy that Nedi and Lovey love to travel! And, of course, these are only pipe dreams...
Friday, April 1, 2011
Happy Birthday, Nedi !
Nedi and Lovey have already consumed their special breakfast of flaked skipjack tuna in celebration of Nedi's birthday; and they've been playing in the sun on the patio and in the yard since 7 this morning. Today is also the birthday of one of my favorite writers - Anne McCaffrey, who created the world of Pern (one of my favorite places). After I walk Rosie and Remy today, I am "free" until Monday morning - I'll spend the time moving furniture some more, reading, and watching my 200+ channels of DirecTV, not to mention their 80+ channels of music... And, of course, loving and playing with Nedi and Lovey. There are only 8 entries in Sunday's $1 million Florida Derby - Soldat, Flashpoint, To Honor and Serve and Dialed In are all getting heavy betting. ... Saturday, April 9, will see the runnings of the Wood Memorial for 3-year-olds, the Illinois Derby and the Santa Anita Derby. ... A reminder that today is Free Feline Friday at the Boulder Valley Humane Society - 58 cats and kittens are available for Free adoptions. I went through all of my stockpiled catalogs, magazines and newspapers yesterday and got rid of a huge pile of items - not to mention taking out all of my empty Coke bottles and cans for recycling. The kits and I actually have room to dance in the apartment now. I have moved the TV from the north wall to the south wall, and the bed, just the opposite. I removed the cover from my love seat (that also opens into a single bed), and Lovey thinks that the love seat is now absolute heaven. She doesn't want to leave it. I need to take some photos of both of the kits to commemorate today's celebration.
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