Shadow gifts us

Evidently Shadow has realized that it is birthday time around our house. Yesterday he brought M a birthday gift of a snake (small garter snake) and today he brought me a lizard. Such a thoughtful cat. He likes snakes and lizards, so why wouldn't we like them too...

Too many deaths

We've had a run of 3 in deaths in the last 3 days. That is WAY too many. And it is actually 4 deaths in 3 events. First my great aunt passed away (the last of her generation) on Wed, then one of M's classmates (along with her brother) and now a member of our church.

Enough already! And we have dueling memorial services scheduled for Sunday afternoon, luckily only 2, not all 3. We'll be headed to the memorial service for M's friend, taking something for the reception. They are predicting 150 people. I expect that that is wildly underestimating the numbers.

I really hope that things come only in 3's and that we are done with death for a good long while.

M's First Concert

M went to his first concert last night, They Might Be Giants (TMBG). He had wanted to go to a concert back before Christmas, but since it was on a school night, during finals week, we vetoed it. This time, however, it was a Friday night and a band that D was reasonably interested in. So off they went - and both had a good time.

The opening act was Jonathan Coulton - M had seemingly heard of him and had one of his songs. They bought his CD and M is enjoying some of the other songs that weren't played Friday night. Then there was an long, 45 minute wait before TMBG came out. M knew about 5 of the songs already, D knew more, but not all.

M's verdict seems to be GOOD, but long, late, and loud. It was after 11 by the time the concert was over and well past midnight when they got home.

Our Blackberry Patch is Gone!

I was over at the elementary school today, waiting to pick A up from his field trip, and because the bus was late, I decided to walk around the track. I was astonished to see that they have completely cleared out the blackberry canes! They have also cut down some trees and other brush. Some of the blackberry canes were not terribly productive, but about a third of them produced nice, big, fat, juicy blackberries.

I am really going to miss the blackberries, especially those big, juicy ones - and especially since they were away from traffic and close to home. Now, this spring, I have to be on the lookout for the telltale white flowers that tell me where the blackberries will be in the summer.