Sunshine and Another Goodbye

Ajax and Kali were very excited about sunny Tuesday. They spied a ground squirrel and were beside themselves. He managed to evade them but they were convinced he was still somewhere nearby.

I had to keep an eye on them because this eagle was sitting right in our yard. Sometimes Ajax acts like he thinks he can take on an eagle but I have a feeling he would come out on the losing end. Kali steers clear for the most part. The cats were too busy sniffing out ground squirrels (or attempting) and chattering their teeth toward the little birds flying by. They ignored the eagle and it ignored them.

Another one of our friends, Paul, is moving away, leaving on the ferry on Saturday. Our little group of book-reading-movie-watching-potlucking-discussing-laughing-hanging out-ers is really dwindling. Although we were not quite in his "inner circle," we've greatly enjoyed getting to know him and sharing lots of things in common. It's gonna be sad not to see his smiling face around here any more, but there's always Anchorage and wherever else the future takes us all.

We had a final potluck with a few friends at Judi's last night. Paul is highly allergic to cats so has never even been to our house! Since Anne and Jeanette also had cats, Paul ended up hosting more than his share of events at his apartment. I would always say, "I'd be glad to have everyone over but we have the DREADED CATS!" When Rich and I were in Sonoma, I bought a few cards from the little old guy at the frame shop (see post here) and added them to my stack at home. I couldn't find a decent goodbye card at the local store so started digging through my stash. I asked Rich, "Is it mean to give Paul a card with a cat on it?!" He said, "Make it funny--say 'we're wheezing and sneezing just thinking about your leaving.'" So that's what we did.

Pipa in front, Pam, Judi, Rich, Jane, Paul

We may show up at the ferry dock with bon voyage signs on Saturday. We can be a little crazy like that. :)