Paradise ponders...

Paradise ponders...  This morning we took little Konani (our new kitten) in to the vet to be neutered.  As we left, one of the girls who works there called out to us: “There’s a moose!”  Sure enough, about 100' away was a cow moose, young looking, and both frightened and confused.  We helped chase it away from the highway, but we're hoping it will head for the (nearby) mountains.  The staff at the vet were all very amused by the presence of a moose – that was the first time they'd seen one there.  We choked that it was coming in for a checkup!

This afternoon I was helping my brother Scott scan in some of his important papers (so that no matter what happens, he can't lose them).  Right in the middle of that effort, the power dropped out – and about 5 seconds later, it came back up.  Our backup generator had kicked in!  I poked my head out the window to see if I could hear it, but I could not.  So I threw on my boots and jacket, and ran out to the outbuilding it's next to.  At first I thought it wasn't running, but it actually was – I just couldn't hear it until I got to within about 20' of it.  Standing on the back porch of our house, about 100' away from it, I couldn't hear it over the ambient noise.  It ran for 37 minutes until the power mains came back on.  That's the first time we've lost power since we put the generators in, so now we know: they work!  Yay!

Artemis, the field spaniel...

Artemis, the field spaniel ... from Canada (Russell, Ontario, just SE of Ottawa) will be the only non-champion competing at the Westminster Dog Show this year.  I know not why, but I do know that that's one beautiful dog – and apparently possesses the same butt-wiggle that we cherish in our field spaniel Miki...