Changing of the Season

So it is winter, really and truly. Where have we been? Nowhere but here, busy. Getting as much contented nothingness as possible as the snow begins. It is covered in white outside and on clear mornings we see alpen glow on Mt. Washington, otherwise know as the Rockpile. It can turn a shocking pink with our late sunrises. Everyone who can sleeps in, Miss Ramona has been known to be up for breakfast around 11AM. The human beans are, of course, up long before that, hitting the exercise bike and the computers. Gotta keep the tuna coming in, yanno.

I've got projects, good ones. I am finishing up a marketing video for our local scenic railroad and starting on a full length video for them about their winter operations. There's a 1921 steam locomotive and it is spectacular when it comes out of the engine house in clouds of steam. There will be a spay/neuter mission to a barn full of, well, barn cats, next week which I hope to get some photos of. Spay/neuter clinics are going on but I don't need to get photos of all of them. However the barn cat story will illustrate how the group (rozziemay.org) is willing to go out and help people with expanding cat populations. This farm for years managed the cat numbers because it was a bed and breakfast. Guests would come, see the kittens and take them home. That kept the numbers to a suitable level. Once the b and b shut down, well, you can imagine how a few breeding pairs can take over. It's going to be a challenging day. We'll see if the farmer manages to catch them all for us.



This little guy was at the shelter on my last visit. The kitten season seems to have slowed down and as many kittens as possible stay in foster care so I don't always know if the ones listed on Petfinder will be there if I go in to take photos. Foster care is better for the young ones. But I will have to make a visit soon since they have a cat listed named Tonka and he is the first one I've ever seen marked XL for extra large. I'll report back after my visit!

Yes, Dancer is still there as far as I know right now. I am sorry that he has not been adopted yet and I check PF all the time, hoping he has been found by someone who will care for him. He needs a special person, he needs attention and understanding, and he needs to get out and play. I have not been able to spend time with him to gauge his personality now but I will try to talk with someone there about him. He was napping during my last visit.

I also have Rosetta Stone for learning French and if I get any free time I can disappear into that quite happily for hours. And I picked up Libba Bray's trilogy, the one that start with A Great and Terrible Beauty. I just love young adult fantasy books and this one is really delicious so I am gliding through the last, huge volume in the series and believe me, I could spend today in front of the wood stove and never look up except for the other things I plan to do today. I can't believe I never picked her books up because I thought they were historical romances. It's the cover with a photo of a young girl in white lace and the title. Because of the title I thought the books were about the Irish revolution in 1920, yanno, Yeats and the Post Office and all that. Or the potato famine. That's it, I really thought the book was about the potato famine, not a wonderful gothic Victorian fantasy complete with a magic country and plots thickening everywhere.

Winter is a lovely peaceful time for us. Everything slows down in the North Country because it has to. You can't go at such a fast pace because the days are shorter, there is no gardening to do and you've got to consider staying warm. We have a lot of indoor computer work to do and the days stick to a plan of get up, drink coffee, exercise, work, lunch, work,dinner, movie, sleep with cats. And as soon as the snow is skiiable, which it is already in some places, we'll be outside in between the work hours on our skis.

So that's it and there isn't much to write about most days except that. Harper and Ramona have adjusted to winter, they sleep more though they still want the door open and they entertain themselves running in and out and yelling that their paws are cold. Olof carried Harper over next door so he could visit Grampa and he liked that, so I will try to do it more often and keep him amused.

If there is anything interesting to write about, I will, but otherwise, stay in touch ya'll. And please excuse me if by the winter fire I lie dreaming.