May. 06, 2002 ~ A little of this,
a little of that. First of all, Happy Birthday to Bucky! He's eight years old today. There was one year where he actually wore a party hat, but no more. Yes, we're real goofballs around here. You aren't just now noticing that, are you? Didn't think so. So no party hat this year, but he will receive carrots for breakfast and dinner, and much brushing and petting and he'll be greatly fussed over. He's such a nice little horse. Well, if you ignore the grumpy, jealous parts... he's a nice little horse. We overlook those little flaws; after all, who among us is perfect?
-----------------------
More cat news -- Smoke has returned! In the last entry, I put out the call for all the lost cats to return home, and amazingly enough, it seems that Smoke, wherever he was, read my journal! He came home the next day. He's been gone so long (probably more than a month) that we had long since given up on him. He was overjoyed to see us yesterday, and he didn't look too thin or pitiful. Where DO they go, when they're gone so long?
-------------------
Susan and I were walking down the road this morning when we saw a copperhead (a poisonous snake). She had her little dog with her, so first she scooped up the pup, then said, "We should kill it. Some person or animal could be injured by it."
"Well, yes," I agreed, "but it doesn't look like there's anything around here to kill it with. No big rocks or anything. And these sticks don't look too sturdy..."
But she picked up a long, heavy stick, said she would lay it across the snake close to it's head, and we'd each step on one side of the stick. Okay. Except the stick was slightly curved and wouldn't lay down straight, which mean I wasn't about to step on it (it wasn't actually making contact with the snake), and when Susan did, the snake was able to move.
"Uh, Susan..."
"Susan..."
"It's not worth it; I'm afraid you'll get bitten!"
"Susan..."
I found myself without words, but reaching for her, trying to pull her away. She was stepping on that stick less than a foot away from the snake's head, and the stick was not touching the snake. No way was I stepping on the other end of that stick, because the snake could still move! He probably wondered what kind of game we were playing.
But Susan saw that the stick wasn't suitable, and she stepped back. She contented herself with using the stick to scoot the snake to the side of the road. The snake is probably telling all his friends and family about the silly people he encountered today.
It was strange to see Susan so willing to kill something; it's totally foreign to her nature. But she was thinking long-term, and was more worried about people and animals... not surprisingly, she didn't think so much about herself, or the danger she was in. Very typical of her.
----------------------
What else? Seems like there was something, but it escapes me just now. So I'll go tend to the animals, and get ready for work, and that, as they say, is that.
All rights reserved
_______________________________