Played Outside!

Oh, it was glorious yesterday afternoon when I went to let Porter out to potty. First, she is soooo happy to see me (I'm certain that she's sedate, almost non-responsive when anyone else goes in her house) and then we went outside with a squeeky ball and my snowshoes. She was a little shy at first as she's suspicious of new things and tubular metal things, like the scary bicycles she passes on walks, but she quickly got over it. The snow wasn't deep so it was easy for us to find the ball once I threw it and we had a blast. Up and down the yard we ran/clomped, my ski pole was the perfect implement to retrieve the ball when she took it behind the bushes and she even lost it in the brush pile but we managed to get it and go on playing. I'm sure their neighbors would (and probably do) if they're out when I'm there because I talk to her as if she's going to talk back. We had a good 45 minute romp in the snow and then I was ready to stop, she wasn't but she's just a puppy. She'd have played ball as long as there was some sap to throw the ball and then chase her to get it back. I skipped knitting and yoga last night and today I'm skipping a day-long writing workshop. I just feel over committed lately so I'm really scaling back. I realized the other day that I haven't even been knitting, I just sit and stare at the TV. That's not like me. I need to step back and regroup. Not to worry.

February 10--Western Europe, Armor. All those little metal rings must have been a pain to make. There were no machines that spit out miles of metal that was then around a form and then cut. Nope, some poor schmuck had to heat metal, draw it out by pounding on it, then heat it again, then pound it, over and over hundreds of times to make chain mail. And those helmets are like a torture device. They could barely see out. I can't imagine riding a horse in full armor, much less into battle. I would just give up and play dead.

Part of me, the self-preserving part, thinks I'd be the one muscling to the front of the line for the lifeboats on the Titanic, but I know I'd be the one standing by the rail handing people in and being all reassuring. Damned selfless work ethic. You're welcome, DS & DD, and sorry.
--Barbara