Oh, Flying Squirrel

Last year, near the fall, I was sitting on our couch. Behind the couch is a window, which looks into the woods and our 'back yard', which really is just an area we put a fence around so the dogs could have a place to run around and do their doggy business. Behind my head, I hear a noise, so I tilt my head back and OH MY GOD THERE IS A BAT ON THE SCREEN CHRISSSSSS!

Our landlady and Chris decided I was crazy. It was certainly not a bat. That was not 'bat' behavior. So I said "What about a flying squirrel?" I mean, it was fuzzy, and had wing-like flaps. If it is not a bat, then it Has to be a flying squirrel. This suggestion was apparently funnier than the idea of it being a bat. SO I dropped it. Well! Guess who came to visit:



That's him alright. Sittin' atop our shower. God, was he cute. And he was in fact a Northern Flying Squirrel. I wanted to keep him forever and ever, even though he was a total party animal, and when we locked him in the bathroom over night - with the window open, hoping he would find his way out, he trashed the place.

Of course, he did not leave. In fact he camped out in a toiletry bag that I had not yet unpacked from our trip to Boston the weekend before. I didn't realize it until the next morning, when the cat is Very interested in the toiletry bag. The next thing I know there is squealing and thrashing and there is a squirrel up on top of the shower curtain again.

Later that day we came home to find the poor guy curled up and deceased: the cat's morning terrorizing had done him in. Over 24 hours we had become so attached to our little buddy that we buried him. Poor guy.

Food Bag

Dear Food Bag
I love you. Even though you are empty (which is the only reason I am not chewing on you), and they put you in the back room. I will lie next to you until they take you away. Then I will be sad.
Signed
Sebastian "Steve" Dog

unproductive weekend

At least he's cute. However, please note the copious amounts of animal fur on the floor. Actually, why do I even need to mention it? Look at it! Ew. Okay. I was successfully being lazy all weekend, eating yummy food, playing on internets, reading bits of things. But now I need to vacuum. Of course, the dog is not going to be happy, but really, does he he want to be lying in his own filth? The answer is yes - but I do not want to be walking in his filth. It could be worse. He hasn't started shedding out for summer yet.

Summer, is that you...?

I can feel it: the sun is actually warm! Okay, there is still over a foot of snow...It is not just light any more, the sun is actually creating Heat. It is glorious.

Remind me of this when I am complaining about the heat in August.

oooooooooo mommy

I have recently developed a theory that southern food is lacking in umami. Ya know, the OTHER taste? Salty, sweet, bitter, sour, aaaaannnnnd UMAMI!

Umami - for those who aren't obsessed with reading food blogs and listening to NPR - is mushroomy. Meaty. GOOD. MSG is Umami.

Anyway, as Christopher has been trying new things, I think that the ones he never 'liked' have all been umami-ish. This is just a theory....

Bad Sign

I've been noticing references to 'spring' - on people's blogs, emails, conversations. Even the news, or at least more southern climate's news, is also mentioning it.

Spring. Granted, things ARE melting. The temperature IS above freezing for at least part of every day.

But:
Brattleboro is having a Winter Carnival.
Yes folks, that's right. WINTER carnival.
Winter. It is still winter. And we will continue to see ice heaves on our roof and sickles from out gutter.

The Frigid North

This is how winter makes me feel....

I am posting in honor of the fact that it has been above freezing for three days...in a Row! And. AND! Tomorrow it will be firmly in the 40 degree range. Remarkable. It has been in the low twenties and teens all the time for months now. I was almost accustomed to it being so cold.

(That is a lie: I complain bitterly. Chris then always, with out fail, quips, "Hey - you Wanted to move North!")

Anyway: here is what it has looked like:
Okay. So it is kinda pretty. But, damn it has been cold! Spring is almost here, right? Oh wait, not for several....months....