November 26, 2004

• Thanks for Kittens

  Despite the horrendous weather and road conditions I drove through to
  get to Wasilla and back, and Greyfox’s abcessed tooth that kept him
  from having any solid food yesterday, it was an enjoyable day for both
  of us.

  At his cabin, I got a shot of the Old Fart with his Christmas tree…
  

  and one of Silky with her new family, in the box of knives under the bed where they were born.
  
  Greyfox had pulled the box out some for visibility.

  I took the kittens out one by one to get pictures of each.  First
  came Honer, the darkest one with the most obvious stripe pattern. 
  His name is a play on “hone” because he was born on a pile of knives,
  and “Hohner” because that first night, when he was the only kitten,
  Greyfox thought he sounded like a harmonica.
  

  In coloring, Fullerene looks a lot like her brother Buckyball, but they
  have strikingly different facial patterns so they will be easily
  distinguished.
  

  Buckyball seems more vocal than his brother and two sisters. 
  While I was holding him, he made such a fuss that his mom came to his
  rescue.  The first night, when Greyfox only had one kitten, he was
  trying to decide whether to name it Honer or Buckyball (a reference to
  the pile of Buck brand knives they were born on, and a molecule of
  Buckminsterfullerene).  Already having two names made it simpler,
  after the other three kittens were born.
  

  Last born, smallest, and unnamed until dingus5
  asked us to name one of the kittens after him, Dingus is the one Doug
  and I intend to bring home with us about three months from now. 
  Dingus might be a funny name for a girl, but he asked, and… well, we
  were fresh out of inspiration.  It’s an okay name, since her color
  pattern is the “tuxedo” style we call “dink” (after Dickie Marcinko’s
  formally-dressed diplomatic corps nemeses, the “heel-rocking, pocket
  jingling, pencil-dicked diplo dinks”), and the first cat I had after I
  moved to Alaska was named Gus.
  

  I also got a shot of some of the choice iron pyrite clusters Greyfox
  bought at the Willow Holiday Bazaar.  These were donated to a
  local women’s service club by a gold miner for whom they were of little
  interest.  The women were happy to get the whole lot of heavy,
  dirty rocks off their hands at a price that Greyfox was delighted to
  pay.  Win-win deal, all around.
  

  I’ve called the Old Fart “gallant” before, and I can’t think of a
  better word for his actions and attitude yesterday.  We had
  planned to go out together for lunch, and he wanted to stick to the
  plan even after his toothache decided him not to try chewing anything
  solid all day.  I enjoyed a good meal without straying from my
  diet or getting over-full, and he kept me company in the dining room
  overlooking Lake Lucille.
  

  Last night’s meeting was great.  It was just the two of us and a
  half dozen of the clients from the rehab ranch.  I got to drive
  the luxurious newer Dodge van instead of the clunky old underpowered
  Ford, because it hadn’t been out for a while and the ranch hand wanted
  to get it warmed up so she could check the fluids after I brought it
  back.  Since none of the heavily programmed members were present,
  there was a lot of off-topic sharing and cross-talk, making it more
  like a therapy group and more to my liking.

  Weather lately has included rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow, and temps
  that vary back and forth around the freeze/thaw point.  In Wasilla
  yesterday, people were fish-tailing on the highway, skidding into
  intersections, and doing brodies in parking lots.  My first five
  miles yesterday morning (after I aired up that right front tire again)
  were on broken-up ice and packed snow that felt as rough as a gravel
  road.  It was the same again for the last five miles last night.

  Greyfox managed to keep his car under control for all the town driving
  yesterday.  My worst moment of the trip home last night was going
  through a heavy shower of freezing rain and sleet about 20 miles out of
  Wasilla.  It was so thick my wipers couldn’t handle it. 
  Traffic both ways slowed to about thirty MPH.  After I made it
  through that, the rest of the drive wasn’t bad.

  My work backlog at KaiOaty isn’t very large now.  Greyfox’s list
  of clients waiting for past-life readings is a bit longer.  I
  don’t know his plans, but I’ll be taking a day or two off now.  We
  should be able to catch up with all the readings now waiting, within
  the next week. 

  If you’re getting a long weekend off from work, enjoy.
  

  • 2:14 pm
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