Feb
1
It continues to be random.
- I was taking Stinkerbelle to her gym class this morning. Our house, and our street, backs onto a conservation/watershed area in town. It’s large and wooded and home to many creatures, including the deer who do the Charleston. So, it was not altogether surprising, but still quite unusual, to pull up to the end of my street and prepare to turn out onto the main drag, and see police and cars stopped about 100 yards off. And there, between the cars, was a man, hunched down, petting and comforting a COYOTE who was lying on the road. Possibly a WOLF. Apparently, one of the cars had hit the animal as it tried to cross the road. I didn’t get close enough to tell what it was, likely a coyote since they are more common at the south end here than wolves, but hey. Either one. Anyway, the Humane Society/Animal Control people were there, and the coyote was all chillin’ and lying there sort of half-sitting up like dogs do, doing that whole doggie pant-pant-pant thing and looking around, and the man with him was petting him and giving him scritches, so my guess is the accident had happened a while earlier and they had sedated the big old boy (or girl) until they could get him to a vet. And, after I called BDH to let him know it was not ME, in case he saw it on his Twitter feed… I suddenly felt all warm and happy inside. Because THIS? Is the town I have grown to know and love, wherein people get out of their cars in traffic in the worst weather of the winter to help and comfort a wounded animal, and where animal control people are capable of handling a situation like this, and where just 5 minutes down the road we have the best veterinary school in the world where this animal will be cared for and rehabilitated and, if at all possible, released back into the wild again. This is a town where I can take a wounded bird in any time of the day or night to be taken care of (and have done). This is a city where two wounded turkey vultures become much-beloved residents at a local conservation area, and get all the city’s roadkill to eat. This is a town that is home to a Donkey Sanctuary. This is a place where you can see deer milling about behind your back fence. This is a city where the police are called to hunt down and kill a three-legged coyote because people are afraid and too stupid to keep their cats indoors, and the sharpshooters purposefully MISS, and say, “Whoops. Sorry. NOW KEEP YOUR DAMN PETS INDOORS.” THIS is why I love this city so much. This is why I love living here.
Feb
1
Today’s randomness is brought to you by the letter W and by the number 3. (I’m writing this while Stinkerbelle watches Sesame Street, so it felt like the right thing to say. It really has nothing to do with W or with 3. I kinda lied about that.)
But it IS Tuesday. So at least that’s something.
- We have a huge-ass storm scheduled to blow in sometime after midnight tonight. It’s looking like snow and wind and — get this — BLIZZARD-LIKE CONDITIONS. So today I am going to stop in at the store and get some milk and bread and whatever, just in case we are staying indoors for a couple days. We probably won’t — we never get any weather here. But I remain hopeful for a nice big storm and some snow days to stay in and sit under a blanket and watch movies and knit.
- Our cat, Lucy, is an Oriental Shorthair, which means she has very short, fine hair. And this means that her main mission in life is to find a lap to sit on or a blanket to crawl into to keep warm. We don’t see her for a full day sometimes, but we know where she is because of the cat-shaped lump in the bed. Anyway, yesterday was swimming day for Stinkerbelle and myself. I generally just throw some sweats on to make changing easy at the pool, and then toss everything in the laundry when I get home. So yesterday, I got home and went upstairs and changed out of my sweats into a t-shirt and some other pants, and went about the business of getting That Baby her lunch and off for a nap. But it’s getting colder here with the weather and all, so after lunch I decided to put my sweatshirt back on. So I went to grab it off my bed, only to find LUCY WAS SLEEPING IN IT. My cat? Was WEARING MY SWEATSHIRT. And the thing that kills me is she gets all peevish AT ME because I want to wear MY SHIRT. Sheesh. What a maroon.
- I’ve been wearing a pedometer to keep track of my steps. It’s one way to improve your fitness, by increasing the number of steps you take in a day. Over 10,000 is an active day. (I have a long way to go to get there, but that will improve with better weather. Anyway. Not the point.) So I’ve been wearing this pedometer, fastened to my waistband usually because I don’t wear pants with a belt. Now, I also have sensitive, allergic skin, so what has happened with this new attempt at healthy lifestyle? You bet — a RASH. I have a rash everywhere the damn thing contacts my skin. So, let’s see, I’ve started trying to be healthy since January 1 and what happens? Busted knee and now a rash. PLEASE DOG IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE TO SCREW UP MY ATTEMPTS TO DO BETTER OOH I KNOW HOW ABOUT THE BLACK DEATH OR MAYBE AN ALIEN ATTACK KTHXBAI.
- I have embarked on my 11 projects in 2011 knitting challenge, and last night? I FINISHED MY FIRST PROJECT! I finished the damn scarf that I have been working on ALL YEAR for BDH. I am SO pleased. And I learned that a big colourwork project is just not possible with a busy preschooler. But it is DONE. I will post photos later.
- That Baby is all about snuggling these days. Or, as she says it, “SNUGGIE”. So whenever she’s watching tv, she needs “snuggie blankie”. When she gets up from a nap, she needs to wake up slowly with Mommy and a good snuggle. Sometimes, she likes to snuggle with Daddy and watch TV. This is a phase we don’t mind. No, not one bit. The waking up coughing in the night? I’m so over it. The diapers? Can be done anytime now. But this “snuggie” phase we’ll keep for awhile, thanks very much.
