It was a cold and blustery day…
Okay, I grew up in the northeast and I would scoff at those silly southerners who thought 50 degrees was cold and who just had a conniption if the temperature dropped below 40. Fast forward to 2009 and I find that I am one of those southerners. Now, I lost a significant amount of weight, so I can explain some of my sensitivity to cold temperatures by the lack of insulation. The cancer, too, probably has something to do with my cold sensitivity, but here I sit in my house, with several layers on and fingers that are on the verge, I am sure, of freezing solid.
Indeed, right now, I am listening to the “plinking” of sleet falling onto the frozen ground. Again, for those of you in the northeast, you would likely wonder what the big deal is with a little sleet? Keep in mind that while you all have lots of plows that distribute salt for the roads, we here in the south have Billy Bob’s truck, to which we have attached a shovel (and Bill Bob Jr., sprinkling Morton’s salt while sitting on the tailgate. The folks here don’t know how to deal with sleet, let alone snow or – heaven forbid – ice. As a result, my family and I are hunkering down and getting ready to have a family movie night (we’re watching “Kung Fu Panda,” if you’re interested).
Last night a friend of my daughter’s invited us to her birthday party at an Indian Buffet. It was a wonderful experience that made me wish I had my camera with me (a lot of the women and girls were dressed in traditional, colorful, and elegant Indian clothing that would have been wonderful to photograph. I had expected as much, but decided to leave my camera at home (in a demonstration of my incredible restraint). Unfortunately, I did not demonstrate quite so much restraint when filling my plate from the buffet. As a result, my stomach is a little tender today. That not withstanding, I am doing generally okay.
Now for those of you who don’t know my family, I am going to use the next several days of pictures to introduce you to them (in no particular order, mind you). With that in mind, I introduce you to Sam (short for Uncle Sam) whom we adopted on July 3rd, four years ago. He is a beagle / basset mix (which we have taken to describing as a ‘bagle’). He has a wonderful disposition, which is required with this family, given the tendency of all my children’s tendency to display FULL CONTACT love.
Enjoy!
Merle