Impressions

Last Wednesday was the Valentine’s Day blizzard. We got 30 inches in Montpelier, which might be a record.

School was canceled on Wednesday. Again on Thursday. And on Friday. Montpelier is taking its sweet time cleaning up this mess. Now, I understand that this was a big blizzard and we got a lot of snow. But this is Montpelier, VERMONT. It snows here. A lot. A couple days I can understand. But on Monday there are still a ton of sidewalks that are choked with snow, so the elementary and middle school were closed (apparently the HS was going to be closed, but the mayor told the school superintendent that was “unacceptable” so the HS was open).

Wednesday morning is also when the mystery Valentine's Day bandit hits Montpelier, leaving paper hearts everywhere -- on storefronts, the Statehouse, etc. This year I got pictures.

Behind the cut are photos:

This is the 11th year we've vacationed in Truro on Cape Cod. The beaches are beautiful, even if the water is wicked cold.

This weekend was just glorious. The weather was ideal – blue sky, no clouds, not too hot.

On Saturday, Rich and I drove again to Burlington to bike along the lakefront. When we did this two weeks ago, we biked right past Howard Dean, former Vt. governor. This time, when we were sitting enjoying the view, a woman walks up to us, takes off her sunglasses, and says something like – for you I can take off my disguise. It’s Madeleine Kunin, another former governor of Vermont, also a former boss of Rich’s, and one of my role models. An awesome woman. We chatted for a few minutes, and then as she walked off with her dog, Rich and I speculated on which politician we’d run into next time. None of the other former governors are spry enough to walk the bike path, so we concluded that Bernie Sanders, our socialist Congressman who lives in Burlington, might be the best bet.

This time I brought my camera, and took a bunch of pictures.

( Photos, and other stuff )

Pumpkin, one of my cats, hasn’t been eating lately, been lethargic. We took him to the vet this morning, and learned that he may have cancer, which is sad.

We don’t know anything yet, other than that he has a tumor and his kidneys are enlarged – we'll know more when the test results come back. Eventually we’ll have to make decisions.

Pumpkin and Snips (his sister, from the same litter) were born on a farm in Stowe about 12 years ago, and were quite wild at first. When we took them home, they hid from us and ran away. Then, we introduced Pumpkin to being petted – and his entire behavior changed. Both of them still hide from strangers, but are very affectionate with us, Pumpkin especially. He’s a lap sitter, and likes to be in the same room as us.

Here's a picture of him, behind a

( cut )