Snowy Owl

Yesterday morning when driving into work on Route 146, I noticed a bright white something sitting in a tree. I stopped the car and to my amazement was able to spot a glorious snowy owl on a treebranch sitting at the edge of the marsh. I had never seen a snowy owl, and this picture from the web is a very close approximation of what it looked like. What a blessing to live in the country and experience the joy of seeing such a gift of nature. I called Rob right away and told him about it and, natureboy that he is, he had never seen one.

Saw my dietition yesterday morning. She always makes me feel more hopeful about getting healthier, and helped me think more clearly about how to get more exercise. I also realize I am missing a certain kind of close connection with people, and need to figure out how to get more of that. After having been with loving family over the weekend, I was once again aware that I take better care of myself when other people who I care about are around. She gave me a recipe for a salad she would like me to eat for breakfast. It's hard enough for me to make oatmeal, let alone put together a whole salad, but perhaps on the weekend I can try.

I called the animal hospital today to talk to Debra who works there, to see if she would look in on Bindi on Monday after her knee surgery. She said of course she would. Then I asked her about Emma, her cat from the same litter as Camilla and DillBoy. She said she had to put her down. Emma had developed the same problem that Camilla has again: defecating outside the litterbox. Both these females seem to have some genetic sensitivity problem where they don't like other animals in the house with them. In fact, Camilla was ok for a while after we moved out to Guilford, but now that Bindi has matured, she has develped the problem again. I have started her once more on Xanax, to quell her stress or anxiety or whatever it is. She was fine when Bindi was a puppy and youngster, but now that Bindi is fully grown, Camilla is reacting the same way she did to Misty. Anyway, Debra got married, moved in with her husband and his two cats, and Emma went wild with the "outside of the box" activity. And her husband's two boy cats started peeing everywhere. Debra tried upping the medication dose for Emma, consulted with other vets, and debated for six months before putting her to sleep. She said she dreaded telling me, and feared I would judge her. I told her I did not, and understood that with such problems she would not even have been able to give her to a shelter or find someone to take her where she could be the only animal. Still, it is very very sad, and Debra was almost in tears telling me about it, and she appreciated me telling her that she needn't feel guilty about it.

We got a coffee maker at the office that makes one cup at a time, but only uses Green Mountain coffee which is not very good. Will have to try something else. Also, three of us have mouse "evidence" in our offices so I ordered online some very small mouse traps to catch them live, instead of having poison around that Bindi could get in to.

More rain. Uck.