Cats for Brains

Our oldest feline family member and long-time Sassy McKat, Silver, the Grey One Softy-kitty, departed from the planet at approximately 8:45 p.m, Tuesday, April 15, 2008.  Our best guess was that she died of heart failure due to old age and a scaredy temperament at the old age of 16 years. 

Silver is survived by two very needy, spring-chicken kitties, Stormy--13 and Butter--13, who miss her terribly, and her two house-slaves, Lisa and Brian, who still cry at the thought of her.

Her remains were cremated and placed in a nice blue ceramic urn.  They will be enshrined along with an imprint of her paw and several photographs taken by Brian.

As you can see, Silver was a cat of many talents and moods.  She was found of traversing the bed widdershins, to keep the evil spirits away, of contacting the Mothership to give daily reports, and shifting colors to indicate her moods.  Her three primary moods were pink=Sassy, blue=Loving and Yellow=Watch out, hairball!

We know that the Mothership will take especially good care of our Grey Kitty and that she is worthy of a new experience at life--perhaps as another divine feline or maybe as a human. 

May her memory never fade and her fur stay softy in the next dimension!

From July 15 to July 19 Brian and I joined his parents for a celebration of their 50th Anniversary. They were kind enough to pay for the hotel room, most of our meals and a few gambling bucks (which we promptly gambled into that big Casino in the sky). We were really taken by the scenery and variety of "hidden" places that one could go to take in the awe-inspiring views and snap a few pictures at the same time.

We went to the Newport Aquarium, the Yaquina Head (a National Park, complete with lighthouse), and the Tillamook Cheesery, where I could procure my White Licorce ice cream! We explored as much as we could in the time we had, and I think I can speak for both of us when I say we had a grand time!

Brian and I are already planning a much longer excursion down the coast in the near future--a sort of photo vacation that will give Brian the opportunity to snap some great scenic vistas, and perhaps provide me with some opportunity to write, snap my own photos and just plain "commune" with nature.

Of course, my favorite pasttime is reading the informational "signs" that often are quite amusing. You can't beat an "outstanding natural area" for something interesting.

More photos of this trip can be found in another "outstanding" area.

All photographs were taken by Brian L. Kegel. ©2007, all rights reserved.

Better late than never. We actually moved April 7, 2007. So, I'm not so prompt about keeping up with the events around our lives, but we've spent much of our time with work, unpacking, arranging and organizing and catching up on all that sleep we weren't getting commuting up to three hours daily.

So, here are some photos of the complex and surrounding area. Brian is delving into digital photography, and with his new camera is making quite some headway. It's good to have a hobby and with the time we've been saving not commuting, we're always in the mood for something fun to do.





It's not the newest of apartments, but there are only 24 units. There is gated parking and keyless entry. There's even an elevator!







It's not a very noticeable place. To this day we aren't in much agreement about how we "found" it. I say Brian suggested looking into it after an Internet search. He claims I'm the one who pointed it out and had him call the superintendent on a whim. Whatever the case might have been, we lucked out getting such and spacious apartment for the money.

The view is soothing and it's usually quiet--the airplanes really don't make all that much noise--in fact, the loudest "creatures" are the plethora of sparrows, finches, crows, swallows, starlings, flickers and such squawking and chirping up a storm.






Brian has been basking in the beach and marina. It is one of the few places people can fish and crab from, and it's always busy.









So far, so good. We still miss Olympia, but there are things about Des Moines that make it comfortable. The sunsets aren't bad either.



All photographs were taken by Brian L. Kegel. ©2007, all rights reserved.

This Christmas Brian had the brainy idea to make lots of cookies...Christmas cookies! With that notion firmly implanted in his brain, he undertook the challenge, and bought a entire new set, or should I say SETS of cookie cutters just for this specific purpose.












Here are some of the results. Pretty yummy if I say so myself.












This took Brian nearly all afternoon, but with the detail put into many of this cookies, it's not surprising. Whoever receives these should be very grateful--or else!

And while B was busy making artistic edibles, I was busy with the knitting and the sock monster!

December 14th ended with a "mighty wind" that left us and at least a million others in Western Washington without electricity, some even now. We were fortunate--but there was still some irony. We lost power Thursday night at approximately midnight. The following day, Friday, it came back on at almost 11 a. m. exactly. Then, at around 1:45 p. m. the lights flickered, "popped" out, then back on. I heard a strange "explosion" from outside, but only when I went to Jack-in-the-Box to get us some lunch (school had been cancelled due to power outages), did I see the cause: A tree had downed a powerline running parallel with Mottman Road in front of SPSCC. The grass was on fire and smoldering, yet people were driving by casually as if nothing whatsoever mattered. Several minutes later, while I waited in line at Jack's, I heard the blare of the sirens and finally the fire dept (which was likely already overworked) and police arrived to deal with the situation. Of course, when I returned home, power was out again--this time having gone out completely at 2 p. m.--and it stayed off until Saturday night around 9:40 p. m.

Brian was unable to finish his Christmas cookies at home, so we packed our things and went to Debb's--I, too, had a few knitted socks to finish for prezzies, and we spent the majority of the afternoon there--Brian baking and I knitting.

Around 7 p. m., we returned home to find the lights still out. We decided we would not allow our 16th anniversity plans to be thwarted, so we drove out to Shelton to Steven's and had dinner and drinks. When we returned at about 10 p. m. Brian was the first to see the traffic lights, which had been previously out, were on. We both said a "thank you" to the power company for getting our electricity returned.

One thing we've learned by this is that we are definitely products of the 20th/21st Centuries. We are addicted to "power" (aka electricity) and, although, we were not that put out by the lack of electricity for two days (like camping in the house), we would have definitely been hurting had it taken much longer.

I did make one disturbing observation. While thousands of residents were without electricity and heat, most malls, shopping areas, restaurants and megashopping centers were all light up like Christmas trees. My question is, "where did they get the power?" Were they "turn on" first? And for what purpose would they leave even the elderly stranded, without the means to keep warm, for the sake of "consumerism"? In fact, many radio stations were encouraging people to leave their homes and "see a movie" or "go shopping". Basically, spend money in the face of disaster. The message is all too clear: that any tragedy can be overcome through rampant consumerism and spending money; there is no need to reflect on what could be done to ameliorate the circumstances or to help others or to even consider our societal addiction to electricity (and thereby oil and fossil fuels). It's frustrating enough that Brian and I realized how much we depend on these "conveniences", but to have the media (presumably working on behalf of the government and large corporations) extoll the necessity of "shop-til-you-drop" in the face of disaster is way to Nero-esque to make me feel comfortable. Personally, rather than helping people deceive themselves into believing that do not live a tenuous existence on the pinnacle of "power", I think we need to acknowledge and discuss the real fact that much of how we live is precarious. Humanity lived millennia without electricity--yet, today, we behave as if it is natural and normal to always have it and the conveniences (and toys) it allows us to have. Truth be told, it is a lie. It can be removed from us as quickly and effortlessly as it was provided. And when it happens, we will only have our own wherewithal to save us.

In a real sense, we are still in the dark.

From the moment they arrived, Tim had his "eye" on the "pie", but not this scrumptious-looking apple-cranberry beast that I baked up on Thanksgiving Day. Rather, a pumpkin pie which I deliberately teased him with until after our turkey-bird feasting in the dark afternoon of T-Day.

We finally used the portable oven Brian's parents had given us several years back. It worked well for the dressing and the pie (more or less), but things did need to cook a bit longer and at a higher temperature. I suspect having the oven outside in the cold did not help the heating much, but we have so little room...

The Turkey-bird was 22 pounds! Nearly double the size of our usual bird. We had a smaller fowl earlier, but freezer burn took its toll; it wasn't thawed enough to determine this fiasco until the day before Thanksgiving and only AFTER B returned from Costco (where the turkeys we being trucked in and dumped en masse). Wednesday afternoon was chaos on top of mayhem, and B was sent to procure a bird while I fought a three-hour trip home to make rolls and such the day before.
No denying it was stress-city, but in the end the turkey came out Rockewellian-picture-perfect and tasted wonderful. That 8 hours of cooking paid off in the 20-minutes of silent scarfing we all enjoyed. We cracked open one of the cranberry wines we bought a couple years back, and it really went well with the bird.

All-in-all it was an enjoyable weekend frenzy--we had great company (Tim & Holly), excellent food, and time to relax (somewhat) and enjoy the season. By Friday night we were already tired of turkey and seeking other flavors for our palettes. I was ready for some leafy greens, and now some serious exercise. Need to burn off those calories now--and get back into shape in time for Christmas.

When looking back on my life I have discovered that I feel the most pain, not for the harm others have done to me, but for the harm I have done to others--especially those I love most.

When everthing is owned,
nothing will be free.

Having been to this very Renaissance Faire two years prior at the suggestion and company of Tim and Holly, we thought it would be fun to revisit this event. We bought our tickets on-line for a price reduction and we were able to get close-up parking and into the faire itself early.


The place was encircled with merchant tents selling their wares, and occasionally a craftsperson setting up for demonstrations and sales.




The pirate horde was the first real mini-event. They were bawdy and raucous and setting up for the opening act, which was to set off their mini-cannon and such. At ten o'clock they began with a bang!

Finally, we saw some Knights Templar, the distinguished fighters of the Crusades, and first international bankers of Europe and the Middle East. To the left a weathered Templar who has witnessed the cruelty of war and the blessings from God. To the right a nobleman turn Templar with his young "Template".




In the end, however, it was reassuring that we still belonged to the 21st Century rather than the true Renaissance! Bless the Honey Bucket 'cuz it beats the chamber pot any day!