Life is going on, as it must. The worst of the sadness over our cat's death is behind us, and life is starting to get closer to normal at home. Not that you ever forget a little friend like that, but now we are remembering the wonderful memories she left behind.
When we talk about Frisky now, it is more with fondness than sadness. Not that we don't miss her, because we sure do. But we move on, and soon we will have to make a major decision: whether to get another cat, even though we still have Maggie, who has been with us for 15 years. That's going to need some serious thought.
(I promised some photos of Frisky, but this post got too long. Next time.)
Today has been a monumentally wintry day. We got about three or four inches of snow last night, which isn't much, but it was part of a weather system that brought 50 mph winds to the region and temperatures diving below zero. This morning, it was -16F (-27C) this morning when we got up, and the wind was howling. The wind chill was rated at -42F (-41C). Snow had drifted about a foot or so in the front walk, so I shoveled that this morning before walking to work.
It's just a block or so, but I was walking right into that -42F wind chill. The wind was blowing really hard at that time, and some big trucks were driving past, too. It was a chilling experience. On top of that, the wind had blown up a three-foot-tall drift in front of the office door, and I had to barge through that.
On Thursday, I'm taking my wife to the hospital in Iron Mountain for a medical test. More on that later. At the same time, my friend S is having gallbladder surgery down in Oshkosh. That surgery is much easier for the patient than it was 30 years ago when I had it--I have a big scar on the side of my belly as its legacy. Today, they do it with a laparoscope, with just a little hole.
We (all of us) are assuming S will be feeling well enough next week for visitors, because we are driving down to visit her and her husband. We last visited last August and went to a number of places. Since it's mid-winter, this visit won't be anywhere near as ambitious. The main events are going out to dinner together and then watching a few movies. We drive down next Tuesday and drive back Wednesday. And we won't stay at that ultra-lame Super 8 again.
When we visited last summer, S gave my wife a necklace she had made as a present. While thinking about it last fall, I suddenly realized what my wife could make as a gift for her and her husband: My wife makes big terrycloth bath towels. Big, thirsty ones, about the size of beach towels. S and her husband could use them at home after baths or showers, when using their hot tub and at the nude beach they visit in summer. I think they would get a lot of use.
One can be purple (which seems to be S's favorite color) and the other can be gold--with a Green Bay Packer fabric for binding at the top and bottom. Her husband is a devoted Packers fan. They sell a variety of fabrics with Packer colors and logos on it, and it's quite popular among the faithful.
So I talked the idea over with my wife, and she agreed it would be a good idea. But the stores up here don't sell the colors of terrycloth we need, so we decided to drive down to a fabric shop in Rhinelander to get it.
Then life intervened--a long football playoff season and a trip to Detroit for the state finals. Basketball starting right away. My father-in-law's death. One thing after another. With time running out before out visit, we decided last Saturday we'll make the trip by hook or by crook. Then our kitty died. We were heartbroken, but we agreed we had to go ahead with the shopping trip.
So can you imagine how we felt once we finally got to the shopping center with fabric store ... and discovered that the Hancock Fabrics store had closed! Nothing inside. And there are no other fabric stores in the area that have what we need. Grrrr!
My wife didn't seem surprised, though. Fabric shops are closing all over, she said. People simply don't make clothes any more. It's cheaper to buy stuff imported from the other side of the world. It's not hard to find quilt fabric shops--a lot of people around here quilt. But fabrics and patterns for clothing--that's another matter.
So during next week's trip, we plan to stop at some hobby/fabric stores in the Green Bay/Fox Cities area to get what we need. Then she can make the towels so we can present them during our next visit, whenever that is.
But that's a secret. Mum's the word. OK?
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