On a lighter note....sort of...

Have you seen the new website, cats that look like Hitler, or (are you ready for this?)...

Kitler?

(we need some laughter around here this evening)

More information about the plane crash

There's been quite a lot of press and speculation about what went wrong with the plane that Roberta died in. Both victims died of freshwater drowning, but there's a lot of speculation about why the plane crashed.

The other sad thing about this crash is how many people were at the Stehekin boat landing and witnessed the crash. People responded quickly to try to help rescue Roberta, and those brave souls are now second-guessing that they didn't do enough. That always happens in these tragic circumstances. I'm sure, without knowing what exactly happened, that everyone did all they could.

My Aunt Roberta

Tragic news to report from Cafeliz - my Aunt Roberta died in an airplane mishap over the weekend. Read about it here.

We think the services will probably be held on Friday in the town of Chelan, but we're not sure yet about the details. She was well-loved and will be sorely missed by everyone. Tributes to her and Dr. Stifter, who died alongside her while he was trying to unbuckle her seatbelt, are posted on the Wenatchee newspaper website here.

New Family Member

David and I are in love with our latest family member, Fergie.

We rescued Fergie from a shelter - well, from two shelters really.

I first saw Fergie at the Oregon Humane Society - she was in isolation because she was snapping and growling at everybody and seemed in bad shape. Because she wasn't doing well there, they moved her to a second shelter in Clackamas County where I ran into her again. This time she licked David and me all over and charmed us with her old lady eyes.

She is 12 years old, Jack Russell Terrier, has a few medical problems, but is full of love now that she's in a home environment. She doesn't bother about the cat, but Lucy is not happy with her new sibling. We hear that may change, but we're not forcing anything. Stand by!

Epidemic, Update

You haven't heard from me in a few days because I've been on possum watch....David and I now sit on the stairs to our basement with rolling pins in our hands waiting for the clicking sound which signals the arrival of possums.

We've killed five so far, and the bloodbath isn't over.

Today a faculty member, formerly from the Southern part of the US, informed me that the beasts will keep coming as long as the scent trail into our basement exists. "Get yoself some ammonia and clean that place up!" he yelled at me over the telephone, safe in his hotel room in another state.

But where to begin? We really don't know how they're getting into our basement, but one of us has got to get brave and find out. I keep pointing my finger at David ("you're the man, YOU do it!") and he keeps finding other things to do ("Honey, where'd you put my shoe polish?" which is completely unbelievable given he doesn't own a pair of leather shoes) Maybe we need a dog.

Epidemic

We have an epidemic playing out in our basement.

First, I thought our furnace was broken because I kept hearing a clicking sound. Every time, however, I went down there to investigate the clicking stopped. Soon I realized that the clicking was coming from an animal (a cricket? grasshopper? chirping bird?) and I was scaring whatever it was as I tromped downstairs.

Then a few nights back I went down to investigate again, but the clicking sound didn't stop and I could localize it to some boxes and my boiling water canner. I picked up the canner and something moved inside it. It was a baby one of these: Yes, a possum. Or Opossum if you're the National Geographic. I started to scream but because my husband is hard of hearing, I had to run upstairs screaming bloody murder like a wild banshee all the while holding the boiling water canner filled with a tame, possum playing....well, possum. David disposed of it. Let's just say that this baby's mother will be reunited with it on the other side of the Jordan.

This morning, much to my horror, the clicking went crazy and David and I went downstairs to the sight of two baby possums in our basement, a clear sign of epidemiologic escalation. I herded one towards David with a broom, while he caught its tail and swung it into the pot. Then the other one walked over David's foot, allowing him to scoop it up and put it with its kin.

I'm here to testify that boiling water canners sure come in handy for a variety of tasks. Without a complaint from our captives, David martyred the beasts, this time without much screaming from me.

But really. We want to be done with the possum hunts in our basement. Whenever it stops snowing we will inspect all crawl spaces to make sure they stay outside.

Snow in April

Although we had a light dusting of snow over the weekend, my tulips are out full-force this year.