Feline Fotogenics

Day after day, Toivo puts herself into completely photogenic environments. Here, she's even cuddled upside the lightbox I use for food photography, napkin and all.




And here, stretched out in the sun on the rugs put down to prevent Lady from slipping on the wood floors while recovering from surgery, her ears profiled in shadow.

And here, again in the sun, this time in the dark shadow/bright light near the cat door to the basement in the kitchen. (Yes, Lady's rugs are everywhere.)

And here, behind the curtain, watching the squirrels and other critters in the back yard, again, it's the profile that fascinates me. (sorry, can't figure out exactly how to format these ...)

The Big Chill

It was a long few days, starting with sleet and ice on Thursday night, then losing power some time during the night.














Still, there was no disputing the beauty of the snow, here from the back window ...









... and also in the front.











The big horizontal limb on the cherry tree reached to the ground, cracking at the trunk. I'm sorry to lose it but am glad the fence and the Japanese maple are okay.






Several limbs broke off the sweet gum on the west side too.

Destructive Beauty

The crabapples are thick with ice and snow. Some branches make it appear that the ice is slanted sideways; instead, the icicles formed vertically, then the weight of the ice bowed the branches.

























Even from a distance, the red of the crabapples shows through, very beautiful!

Walking to Town

I decided to walk to town, hoping to stock up on batteries for a radio and a lantern. It was a Winter Soul's paradise along the way!















There was ice everywhere, not alot, but heavy nonetheless. Lots of power lines were down, many trees suffered broken limbs, a few were upended.










The new Walker Park looks pretty in the snow.

Downtown Shuts Down

Unfortunately, downtown lost power too, so everything was closed, even Tom's station.









The Amtrak was almost on time, only 20 minutes late. Funny, though, the clock is off: perhaps electric and so stopped the night before? No hot coffee at Kaldi's, either.






But what's this ... spring? in the snow??!!

Trying to Stay Warm

First up: hot tea ten times a day. Luckily the stove works and there's hot water for washing. This could be worse!






Next up: creating a warm spot. Nana's down comforter was wonderful. Dad also suggested lighting candles (amazing, they really do create a little warmth) in a closed-off room, Adanna putting hurricanes on the candles for safety and journaling the experience. They were amazing support on the phone in so many ways!






I built an 'igloo' for Lady, covering her crate with two blankets and a down comforter. She was a real trooper for three long days confined to her dark covered crate. She was warm, though! Toivo liked her spot on top, too, when she wasn't cuddled on my lap.











Some times, though, Lady could stand the crate no longer and if there were a warm spot in the sun, I'd move her bed.

More Cold Cold Beauty

It truly is beautiful, three glorious blue-sky winter days, the ice flickering in the light. This is the view from my window: I spent a lot of time here, wrapped in Nana's comforter, drinking tea, reading, watching the birds at the feeder, the neighbors (see that speck of color? it's the neighbor kids on sleds on the smallest incline you can imagine, laughing, laughing, laughing; when there are no power noises, you hear new things!)

Still, can you see how cold it is? Not Up-North cold but plenty cold nonetheless, especially without power, which here lasted for THREE long days. But I'm lucky: there are Kirkwood people who remain without power, even two more days later.