Yesterday began with freezing rain, which turned into snow. About eight inches of it fell over 14 hours - light, dry stuff, so it was easy to sweep off the balcony. But since it had rained first, there was a coating of ice under all the snow, which made clearing off the car and driving quite interesting. I drove slow and steady, and watched as other car fish-tailed all over the place. Had to go out twice yeaterday, taking cae of Pip and Squeak. The second time out, another four inches of snow had fallen, but since I had cleared the car earlier, it was a cinch to brush off.
It was 21 degrees when I went out this morning, but no car cleaning was necessary. Squeak, however, saw a sparrow on the far side of the koi pond as I opened the door, and ran outside. After proceeding about ten feet, she realized that snow was up to her belly, and she ran back inside. Pip sat demurely by the open door during her sister's little run.
Beatrice pulled an extremely soft and bright-colored afghan from her closet yesterday, and made it an offering to the cats. Lovey claimed it immediately. She's curled up on it right now, sleeping in the living room, instead of curled up on my bed. Nedi, too, is asleep in the cat tree in the living room. That's pretty unusual. Normally, they are both here in my bed, when I'm working on the PC in the morning....
A light breeze is picking up, and I'm watching the branches of the fir trees dump their burdens of snow, and spring back into an upright position. Sometimes the dropping snow startles sparrows and finches that have taken refuge near the tree bole, and they come blasting out to see what's happening before going back into cover...
Day three of the government shut-down. I think it will take a few days for both sides to agree to something... We'll see.
Monday, January 22, 2018
Saturday, January 20, 2018
Day 366 of 45 in Office
Let's see... Unemployment is down to 4.1% nation-wide. The stock market is riding a huge high. The entire government of the United States of America is closed down. The US Government is closed because it has no money to spend; because the Congress could not, and/or would not, approve an operating budget for the fiscal year - it has been running on temporary extensions, but they have ended.
So.... A Republican President, who has a majority of Republicans in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, cannot get a budget approved? What has happened to the man who claimed, "I, alone, can do it!"? Where is his self-acclaimed business acuity in the art of making a deal? What has happened to his "Make America Great Again" rhetoric? It seems as if all he wants to do is play golf at his privately owned clubs, eat fast food, and canoodle with pornographic stars....
He is a lying, thieving, cheat - but that's not new. When Barack Obama was President, 48% of the world held the US in high esteem, and thought our promises would be kept. In the single year that 45 has been in the White House, our national trustworthiness has dropped to 30%. We are now ranked behind Germany and China, and barely ahead of Russia.... I should not be surprised at all.
On the other hand, today and tomorrow, there will be, and have been Women's Marches, as there was the day after 45's Inauguration. I took my roommate into downtown Denver and dropped her off at the March's staging area, at the Civic Center Park in front of the State Capitol Building. On the way there, circling the Park, and on my return drive home, I counted over 3,000 people... The Denver Post reported over 150,000 people participated. And the crowds in other cities looked comparable... As a sex, we rock!!
Remember this year's theme POWER AT THE POLLS!
So.... A Republican President, who has a majority of Republicans in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, cannot get a budget approved? What has happened to the man who claimed, "I, alone, can do it!"? Where is his self-acclaimed business acuity in the art of making a deal? What has happened to his "Make America Great Again" rhetoric? It seems as if all he wants to do is play golf at his privately owned clubs, eat fast food, and canoodle with pornographic stars....
He is a lying, thieving, cheat - but that's not new. When Barack Obama was President, 48% of the world held the US in high esteem, and thought our promises would be kept. In the single year that 45 has been in the White House, our national trustworthiness has dropped to 30%. We are now ranked behind Germany and China, and barely ahead of Russia.... I should not be surprised at all.
On the other hand, today and tomorrow, there will be, and have been Women's Marches, as there was the day after 45's Inauguration. I took my roommate into downtown Denver and dropped her off at the March's staging area, at the Civic Center Park in front of the State Capitol Building. On the way there, circling the Park, and on my return drive home, I counted over 3,000 people... The Denver Post reported over 150,000 people participated. And the crowds in other cities looked comparable... As a sex, we rock!!
Remember this year's theme POWER AT THE POLLS!
Friday, January 19, 2018
Books
A study says that people who read several books each year have a tendency to live two years longer than people who don't. Now, I definitely don't want to live forever, but there for a while, I was reading a book a day; I've currently slowed down to one every two or three days. How much more will that extend my life, I wonder? - Not much, I'm sure.
Today is my sister's 68th birthday.... Kathy Jo was born at the Chincoteague Naval Air Station today, with the help of forceps, as she was a breech presentation. Mom had so much internal damage they told her she'd never conceive again - but here I am! (Our family likes to confound the medical profession.) For her birthday, I gave her a copy of Killers of the Flower Moon - The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI. I'm on the reserve waiting list for a copy from the library.
I've been re-reading some favorites, and found a three-in-one Andre Norton hardcover. Apparently I read two of the novels when I was in 7th grade, but I don't remember the third one, which I'm about two-thirds through... I have a copy of the new C. J. Cherryh Foreigner series book, Emergence, to read; and I'm awaiting the arrival of my autographed copy of City on the Edge of Darkness by Preston and Child.
I just received my new Bas Bleu catalog, and I've spotted another 10 books that look intriguing - I'll have to order them from the library - and I still need to sitdown at my PC and read May Day Over Wichita, which my cousin Sarah highly recommends.
After several nights of single digit temperatures, the Chinook winds arrived early this morning, and it was 47 degrees when I left to care for Pip and Squeak; 49 when I returned. It's supposed to reach the mid-60s again this afternoon (it was 68 yesterday), before getting chilly again tomorrow. Then snow is forecast for Sunday, with a high of 30.... We'll see!
Today is my sister's 68th birthday.... Kathy Jo was born at the Chincoteague Naval Air Station today, with the help of forceps, as she was a breech presentation. Mom had so much internal damage they told her she'd never conceive again - but here I am! (Our family likes to confound the medical profession.) For her birthday, I gave her a copy of Killers of the Flower Moon - The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI. I'm on the reserve waiting list for a copy from the library.
I've been re-reading some favorites, and found a three-in-one Andre Norton hardcover. Apparently I read two of the novels when I was in 7th grade, but I don't remember the third one, which I'm about two-thirds through... I have a copy of the new C. J. Cherryh Foreigner series book, Emergence, to read; and I'm awaiting the arrival of my autographed copy of City on the Edge of Darkness by Preston and Child.
I just received my new Bas Bleu catalog, and I've spotted another 10 books that look intriguing - I'll have to order them from the library - and I still need to sitdown at my PC and read May Day Over Wichita, which my cousin Sarah highly recommends.
After several nights of single digit temperatures, the Chinook winds arrived early this morning, and it was 47 degrees when I left to care for Pip and Squeak; 49 when I returned. It's supposed to reach the mid-60s again this afternoon (it was 68 yesterday), before getting chilly again tomorrow. Then snow is forecast for Sunday, with a high of 30.... We'll see!
Thursday, January 18, 2018
People I Admire - Photos
Caroline Kennedy and Barack and Michele Obama
Barack Obama and Joe Biden
Annie Velma Johnston - "Wild Horse Annie" -
who made a life-time effort to preserve the wild mustangs
as a symbol of Western freedom
Amelia Earhart
The Aurness family -
Mr. Aurness, grandson, and James Arness, actor
Tom Mix, actual cowboy and movie star
Shaken and Stirred
I was taking an early nap yesterday, when I was awakened by the door bell. Having been sound asleep, for some crazy reason I yelled, "Who is it?" just as my roommate yelled, "I'll get it." Then I heard Bea say, "Miz Devine," and that was all. I then suddenly realized that my sister was in my bedroom, looking distressed. I immediately sat up and put on my glasses. Kathy looked like she was going to burst into tears at any second, so I welcomed her, hugged her, and took her by the hand to encourage her to sit on the side of the bed. Jokingly, I asked, "Are you lost?" and was astounded when she nodded her head and said, "Yes."
That response was like having a glass of ice water poured down my back. We continued to sit, and I put my arms around her and rocked her, making soothing noises as she cried. Once she was finished, I started asking questions, and found that she had gone to a Roku session at Blair Chandler's office on 30th Street. She stated she had emerged feeling "blissful." She was waiting for her husband to pick her up, but he didn't appear. She tried to call him, and found that her cell phone was dead. She wandered in the area around Blair's office for a while, and then realized that my apartment was close enough to walk to.
I called her house, and got no answer. Then I called her husband's cell and, when he answered, asked if he had lost my sister. He said, well, yes, he had... and that their son Mike and grandson Finn were waiting at their house. I said that Kathy was at my place, and offered to drive her home, which he accepted. And, the thing that topped it all off, was that, when I got Kathy home, the front door was locked, and she had no key to get inside. She cried again, poor thing. When I took Kathy home, I found out that there was no appointed time for him to pick her up; he was waiting for her phone call. Her phone was dead, of course. So he went looking for her after it seemed well past time for her to be finished. Of course, they missed each other completely.
Poor big sister. I have felt lost and alone many times. I have cried hopeless tears until sleep finally swept me away. But the stark fear I saw in my sister's face yesterday shook me immensely. We have "joked" that she has chemo-brain, and mushy-brain, from her cancer treatments - but yesterday was quite an experience, for both of us.
That response was like having a glass of ice water poured down my back. We continued to sit, and I put my arms around her and rocked her, making soothing noises as she cried. Once she was finished, I started asking questions, and found that she had gone to a Roku session at Blair Chandler's office on 30th Street. She stated she had emerged feeling "blissful." She was waiting for her husband to pick her up, but he didn't appear. She tried to call him, and found that her cell phone was dead. She wandered in the area around Blair's office for a while, and then realized that my apartment was close enough to walk to.
I called her house, and got no answer. Then I called her husband's cell and, when he answered, asked if he had lost my sister. He said, well, yes, he had... and that their son Mike and grandson Finn were waiting at their house. I said that Kathy was at my place, and offered to drive her home, which he accepted. And, the thing that topped it all off, was that, when I got Kathy home, the front door was locked, and she had no key to get inside. She cried again, poor thing. When I took Kathy home, I found out that there was no appointed time for him to pick her up; he was waiting for her phone call. Her phone was dead, of course. So he went looking for her after it seemed well past time for her to be finished. Of course, they missed each other completely.
Poor big sister. I have felt lost and alone many times. I have cried hopeless tears until sleep finally swept me away. But the stark fear I saw in my sister's face yesterday shook me immensely. We have "joked" that she has chemo-brain, and mushy-brain, from her cancer treatments - but yesterday was quite an experience, for both of us.
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