And again... Arg!

Just a quick update to tell you that I'm not running from my obligations as a blogger...  Quite the opposite!  I have some beautiful photos of HRH dancing in the Hansel and Gretel Ballet that I'd love to share...  BUT, my Mac crashed (again!) taking photos, email, and everything else with it.

Two years ago we were talked into moving everything from PC to Mac.  We were convinced it was more stable, more reliable, more everything...  That has not been our experience.  This is the second hard drive we've crashed.  I just hope that Carbonite had everything backed up!

Hansel & Gretel

HRH performed in CBA's production of Hansel and Gretel this evening at the Covey Center.  She's been dancing the role of Gretel as an understudy--I only wish she would have the opportunity to perform it for an audience!  These dancers have put in an unbelievable amount of time preparing for this show.  I can't wait to see it!

HRH did a beautiful job in the rolls of Friend and Dew Drop Fairy.  She will be dancing the role of Candy Cane for one of the next performances.  It's always fun to watch an additional performance to see the changes that result simply from the cast variations.  

In the photo at left, HRH is the girl in front.  Isn't she beautiful?!  I think she was the most amazing dancer on the stage...  I love to watch her dance--I can't believe how talented she it!

Now, it's off to bed, I have to have her back at the theater for an early call for tomorrow's matinee.  If you have a spare hour or two, come watch the show!

Lola: Flies

I'd like to introduce you to the Incredible Flying Lola.  

Faster than a speeding bullet.
More powerful than a locomotive.
Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.
Not a bird! Nor a plane!  It's our Super Hound! 

Note:  this is not the typical positioning of her ears...

While you are contemplating the outstanding agility and overwhelming talent of this beautiful specimen, let me regale you with her latest endeavor.

Lola is part Beagle (note the cute face and floppy ears).  While we adored her upon sight, it's only been since getting to really know her that we've come to appreciate her unique talents.  Being part Hound, she loves to sniffle everything.  (Big surprise, right?)  I think she could find her way home from the moon if she had anything to scent along the way.

But it's the Shepherd part of her that is proving interesting.  Being a shepherd, Lola likes to herd things.  She likes to round up the toys, the boys, just about anything.  But I was surprised at her attentiveness to a new endeavor last night.

I watched Lola for several minutes last night.  Her behavior was curious, and I worried that her mental health was on the wane.  She wasn't chasing her tail (she hasn't one...).  She wasn't baying at the moon (she is more of the quiet Aussie temperament).   And yet, her actions were quite puzzling.  Lola was walking circles around the chair in my bedroom.  Around the chair, over the legs of the lamp, along the front of the chair, and back around to the corner.  Over and over she did this.  The only respite from this curiously circuitous course was a brief interlude during which she would gaze at the window.

After several minutes of this strange behavior, I understood what she was doing.  Lola was gazing, not at the window, but at a fly on the window.  And her repetitive path followed the fly from its landing spot on the window to its migratory finale at the light of the lamp.  I'm convinced that Lola thought she was herding the fly.  From the window to the lamp.  From the lamp to the window...  Around and around they went. 

I pondered the magnificence of this simple, yet concentrated effort.  I wish I could instill that same stick-to-it-ive-ness in my children when it comes to homework...

Update...

I've been asked if I'm giving up the blog...
The question should be,

Have you given up the ghost?  

The answer is "no" (to both questions).  Although a double ear infection with a ruptured ear drum, a sore throat, a stuffy nose, a debilitating cough, and an officially diagnosed case of bronchitis left me feeling like death only moderately warmed over.  But I'm getting better *cough cough (hacking) cough* Sorry...

And I've decided that it's definitely time to get better now.  I've taken my antibiotics.  I'm wired from Sudafed.  I've slept, read, and slept some more.  And now I am going to be well...  I'm terribly determined about this...

So if you're feeling especially generous, and full of goodwill, please send happy thoughts and good karma my way.

Thanks.

April Snow

It's April, and the forsythia is blooming in the valley.  The tulips and daffodils are shyly peeking from their beds.  There are kittens and bunnies and little, blue birds...  But this month that (at least in my mind) typifies annual renewal is still aslumber in my neighborhood. 

It snowed last night.   It wasn't a howling, pelting, winter snow.  Instead, it fell quietly in the night, settling into cracks and crevices...  Muting the sounds of the night, and dampening the usual activities of nature.  The dense white carpeted everything, obscuring the fine lines of the landscape.  The thick whiteness gathered in the crooks of limbs.  It lay where it fell, not swept into drifts, but rather accumulating where it alighted.

Lola enjoyed the spring surprise.  Without the wind to torment her, the downy ground cover made for a joyful morning out.  She explored the newly fresh backyard.  She ran and bounded, jumped and chased.   Her enthusiasm unhindered by her cold, damp surroundings.  I wish The Buddies were still on Spring Break.  This is the perfect snow for building a snowman and for launching an attack of the snowball variety.  I hope there's enough snow left by the end of the day for one last wintry outing.

Of course, with my luck, there will be plenty more opportunities for fun in the snow.  This is, you may recall, the land of Perpetual Winter.  We may find ourselves snowed in at least one more time before the Fourth of July!

Signs of Spring

Spring Break came a little late this year.  It's the second week of April, and we've been enjoying a little time off from homework and career obligations.  From the looks of things outside our cabin windows, you wouldn't think it looks much like spring, but there are signs...

  

 

Our celebrations included jubilant joyrides down the hillside, 

quick turns on the snowmobile, 

snow forts and tunnels, snowball fights, 

and all the requisite, accompanying diversions.  

We sat around the fire, toasted marshmallows for s'mores, drank hot chocolate, and ate our fill of Easter candy.  But the true indication that Spring was imminent was the appearance of this little guy.  

I don't purport to be a birdwatcher, and I'm no ornithologist, but as far as I'm concerned, this little guy is a pretty good indicator of Spring.  Every year, he shows up with his charming mate and they move into the birdhouse on the north side of the cabin. 

And for the record, Summer will have officially arrived when we hear the tiny peeps of their multiplying, little family.

An Unfinished Project...

I've been working on a new project (or possibly a couple of simultaneous projects!).  My new blog is one those projects.  I haven't been posting, because I've been trying to get the html code all edited to my satisfaction.  But here we are, and it is certainly still a work in progress...  and the code is still lacking.  Somehow I am unable to get three columns, and that makes it hard to including all the content I want--there just isn't room!  It's rather annoying, but less annoying than having all my posts and photos disappear!

So, I'm back!  And we'll all have to live with the restricted format until I can wrap my brain around all the jumbles of code...  I'll get back to it sooner or later.

BTW--I hope everyone had a fun Spring Break!  We're doing our best to enjoy ours right now!

I'm not dead...

...at least not yet. 

Just thought you might want to know.