Goodbye Scruffy

She was a Christmas gift for Ann 17 years ago. A kitten loaded with long multicolored fur and one tan foot. No matter how long she groomed herself the fur was never quite right. She had a series of "bad hair" days lasting her entire life. What she lacked in looks, she made up in cat charm. When she was young, she brought us gifts. We never felt comfortable giving her cash or access to credit cards so the best she could do was to bring us the occasional live bird she caught. Since we had cat doors, this usually resulted in our chase and capture of a terrified dove winging its way from room to room. When captured, Marilyn would divert Scruffy's attention while I released the bird outside. We didn't want Scruffy to think we didn't appreciate her efforts. She was a sensitive cat. When hearing the garage door open, Scruffy always made her way to the door. When we walked in, she was always there to greet us. She developed a nightly ritual of accompanying me to get the mail. She loved birthday parties and attended them all hoping for a chair at the table along with some cake frosting and ice cream.

There's no one to greet us at the door now. I get the mail alone. Scruffy passed away last week at the ripe old cat age of 17. We miss her.

Disney Adventure

It's been well over ten years since Marilyn and I have been to Disneyland. Ann and Peter came up with a plan to meet us over there and share a day of magic kingdom adventure. Somehow, through the family network, twelve family members and fiances ended up sharing it with us. We made a sizable crowd big enough to be assigned our own Small World boat. Sing along as you view the pictures. You know the tune (I know it's etched in my brain).

	Disney - It's a Small World .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

It's a world of laughter,
A world of tears.
It's a world of hopes,
And a world of fears.
There's so much that we share,
That it's time we're aware,
It's a small world after all.

It's a small world after all.
It's a small world after all.
It's a small world after all.
It's a small, small world.

There is just one moon,
And one golden sun.
And a smile means,
Friendship to every one.
Though the mountains divide,
And the oceans are wide,
It's a small world after all.

It's a small world after all.
It's a small world after all.
It's a small world after all.
It's a small, small world.

Gimpy Shoots

After unwrapping Christmas gifts and clearing the clutter, it's time to play with the toys. One gift that Steve gave Carol was an official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle! Steve was inspired by the movie "A Christmas Story". In the movie, A young boy named Ralphie desperately wants a Red Ryder air rifle for Christmas, but everybody says he'll put an eye out with it. In the end, he gets the rifle and so did Carol. Her hunting forays will be limited to the back porch for a while since she slipped and fell on ice in the school parking lot breaking her leg in two places. With a chair for her and one for her leg, she put the famed rifle to the test.

Pop cans from the trash made convenient targets as the junior Annie Oakley took aim.
In the end, Carol didn't shoot her toes and nobody's eye was put out . . . at least not in our yard.