It is a snowy night on the mountain.
Gilda did fine until she got to our driveway;
it's the second time this winter
(and it's not even officially winter yet)
that Den had to retrieve her
from the bottom of the driveway.
The amount of time that passed
between Den's leaving and returning
was a bit humiliating.
But I'm not here to write about the weather.
I'm here to answer newsletter questions:
Ben Affleck?
Ben and Matt Damon were in Kenya earlier in the year,
where Ben met Aaron Adkins.
Aaron was one of Paul's groomsmen
who grew up in Kenya
and is currently working there.
Aaron and Ben spent a few hours hanging out,
and Aaron thought,
"Who can we call?"
Aaron decided on Paul,
entered his Tanzanian number,
and handed the phone to Ben Affleck
only to have Paul choose not to pick up,
as there was something semi-interesting happening at the time.
Gilda?
Gilda is a 1990 Volvo wagon.
I first met her when she belonged to Aaron Adkins
(yup, same guy)
and She-Who-Cares-Nothing-About-Cars thought,
"That car is gorgeous! It looks it's wearing a tuxedo and sneakers!"
The car is now is ours,
she and her quirks.
We named her Gilda
after we pushed the clutch pedal to the floor
and it stayed
because,
as with one of Gilda Radner's characters,
"It's always something."
Currently the something is
a racing right-turn signal
and quirky wipers,
but has been brakes,
heater,
axle....
We love her.
Tossing snakes off the roof skills?
When we were re-roofing this summer,
at least two medium-large snakes
had climbed the ivy and were quite comfortable
in the comb of the roof.
Den,
being the non-snake-phobic of the group,
tossed them off.
Iditarod?
We won't know if Den has made the final three
for the Teacher on the Trail
until late January.
If so, he'll travel to Alaska in late February.
Hope hope hope hope hope.
Knocked a hummingbird out of the air?
Den tossed a towel from upstairs onto the deck
and when he picked it up later,
there was a hummingbird in it.
That same week,
the cat also knocked a hummingbird out of the air
but he used his paws.
Made the cat limp?
I shouldn't have indulged his request:
"I want to chase the balled-up paper!
Please throw the paper!
Please please throw the paper!
Please please please please!
Throw it throw it throw it!"
two days after he was declawed.
Three guilt-ridden months later he was back to walking normally.
Floating skills?
I can float in six inches of water.
Skills improve as the pounds go on.
Slid down waterfalls?
Yup. In Malawi.
But be careful in slot canyons;
there may be flash floods.
New mouse-killing technique?
I knocked the mouse off the stone wall
and imprisoned him in a cottage cheese container.
Paul, not knowing I meant to release him,
rapidly shook the container.
Rapid death.
Any other questions???
Christmas blessings to all who read this.
Joy and peace,
Sue and Denny
