Hold on to Your Cats

"Has Tibby put on weight?" our catsitter texted last weekend. "She seems heavier, but it might be I'm comparing her to the kittens."

"Or it could be because she is so large and in charge!" I replied with a laughing emoji because, to be honest, I think she's pretty much the same as ever.

Our former dogwalker agrees with me. She stopped by this afternoon, and as we visited, she sat in the rocking chair by the sliding doors leading to the deck. Tibby ran over and tried to convince her to open the doors and let her out into the blustery day. "No way, Tibby!" Sarah said, "You'll blow away out there!" She turned to me and sighed, "If we only had a functioning national weather service, I'm sure they would issue a small pet warning for today."

It Makes You Smart

 I’ve always loved trivia quizzes, word games, and other tests of knowledge, and in my retirement I have found quite a few daily challenges. (Too many, perhaps, but that’s a story for another day.) 

Some of the hardest trivia quizzes for me are to be found on the Slate website. Each week day they have a different topic: history, culture, vocabulary, science, and current news. With the exception of the news quiz, they all have six questions, and they are not easy: I usually get between 3 and 5  

If you choose to compete, you are vying against other readers, the readers’ average, and a selected staff member. It’s not unusual for me to beat the average, and the Slatesters and I might be 50-50. Placing in the top 50 of all who choose to take the quiz is a rare occurrence for me. 

But today? As I say in a classroom of students busily working while their teacher finished up her sub plans so I could take over on a 911 sub job, I decided to take the science quiz to pass the time. And what do you know? That rarified atmosphere of teaching and learning did the trick! I got them all  and in good time. So yeah, that was me, number 27 of all those other quizsters. 

Of course, I credit my education. 

Bed Rest

I was dragging the last of my garbage bags to the gate when I met a fellow gardener on her way in. She kindly spun the combination lock for me and stepped aside as I moved the four contractor bags to the curb.

"Did you get it all cleaned out?" she asked me through the chain link as she locked back up. 

"Pretty much," I told her. "That's my plot in the corner." We scanned my empty beds, and she nodded appreciatively.

"I'm in that one over there," she gestured over her shoulder.

"Are those your tomatoes I can see?" I asked.

She nodded wearily. "They're still going for now, but I hope to take them out this afternoon." She frowned. "I'm always so excited to get started in the spring," she sighed, "but it all seems like such a chore at the end of the season."

"There is something cathartic for me in seeing the empty plot," I replied, considering the last three hours I'd spent.

"I guess so," she agreed. "But only because it will be ready in the spring!"

Rolling Mercury

At the bowling center where my league competes on Tuesday mornings, they congratulate anyone who bowls over 200, announcing the feat over the loudspeaker. So far, my high score has been only 148, but I confess I aspire to the honor of hearing my name called. 

Part of what I like about the sport is that every game is another opportunity to hit a new milestone, and I am always optimistic that I might do it, at least through the first few frames. I had a pretty good start to my first game today: two strikes followed by two spares, and I ended up with a respectable 145. Coincidentally, a player on our league bowled 212 in that same round, and we all cheered when her name was called. Bowling can be mercurial, though, because the next round she only bowled 125. 

My scores also steadily declined as the morning rolled on, but it's hard to get too upset, especially when there's always another game and another chance next week.

Wild Wood

 It's been a while since I checked my trail cam to see what the local wildlife has been up to. Imagine my surprise when I came across this documentation of willful raccoon vandalism:

After that, the camera was facing the ground, so I wondered what the rest of the videos might hold, but I could not have predicted what I saw next.

I wished I had some footage to help him, especially since he was nice enough to fix the camera! But unless the raccoon was an accomplice to the crime, I had nothing but leaves.

No Si and Am

"I know you just got out of the car," our pet sitter said when we got home early this afternoon from a wedding in Richmond, "but how would you feel about giving me a ride home and meeting the kittens?"

"Who can say no to kittens!" I replied. She and her family had just adopted a pair of 10-week-old Siamese littermates from a rescue organization, and the friendly little purr balls did not disappoint.

As I was cuddling with one, the other trilled from Heidi's arms. "She's calling her sister to play!" Molly said, so we set them down, and they dashed over to their toys where they leapt and rolled and wrestled, knocking into things with abandon.

"Adorable!" I gushed. "Just don't show them Lady and the Tramp!"

Axial Tilt

The wood guy came by the other day. "I know it's still kinda warm," he said, "but we were in the neighborhood."

I had answered the door in shorts and a t-shirt, and we had some wood left from the spring. We probably wouldn't have a fire for a few more weeks, but the leaves in the woods across the way were tinged with rust and gold, and acorns blanketed the ground beneath the oak. He was there, and the season was changing. "Let's fill the rack up," I agreed.

This morning, the thermostat in the dining room read 63. It was a little chilly even in my flannel and slippers, but I was hesitant to turn the heat on; I knew it would involve switching the vents, closing all the windows, and changing the filter in the air handler. Still, we were going away for the night, and a sitter was staying with Lucy and the cats. We might have bundled up and slept under extra blankets for another night or two, but for her, I made the switch from summer settings to winter. She is coming, and the season is changing.