Trapper's Moon, Jackhammer, & a Kindle

Yesterday was an eventful day around here. The ABT guy came around 9 to fix the crack in the basement wall. Durwood and I had drop cloths hung all around and I was still home when the jackhammer came in to do its work. I didn't get to use it (I was already dressed for work) but I did get to go downstairs and take its picture. I'm sure the guy thought I was a loon but what the hell. Durwood saw that Walmart has Kindle Fires for $199 with a $50 gift card so I went right after work and got one. I got one! The Owner's Manual in the box is about the size of an index card so you have to be smart enough to turn it on to be able to read the User's Guide. I was. I downloaded a crapload of free books, some apps (gotta have Angry Birds, right?), and figured out how to borrow a book from the library and put it on there. I was astonished at the lack of available books in the library for Kindle; these things must be spreading like the flu on a cruise ship! There's a free Netflix app so I can even watch movies and TV shows on it. One of the apps I found for free is a labyrinth game. I plan to use it to accustom Durwood to the Kindle. I should be able to download all my music from the iPod Touch and I've already determined that I can read a book on it and knit since you don't have to find a way to hold the pages on a Kindle. I'm glad I waited to get one; it's half the price and twice as functional, maybe three times, as the previous ones. Driving home the moon had risen and it was gorgeous. February's moon is called the Trapper's moon or the Storm moon depending on whether you're a colonial American or a medieval Englishman. Take your pick. (You can see how cold it was last night by the plume of my breath along the edge of the photo. I think it adds a spooky air to what's really a picture of a white dot on a black ground. We're definitely back to winter temps.) I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow AM to talk about changing my happy pill. I'm not going to take the damned things if they're what's keeping me from seeing any progress from my "fit & healthy" goals. Not.

February 7--Egypt, Ptolemaic Period, Relief Plaque with Face of an Owl. "Oh, Em, it looks like Uncle Harold after half a bottle of port." Deborah stood in the living room of the house that Mark and I had just bought. "Dammit, Deb," I said, taking a swipe at her but missing, "now I'll never be able to admire that owl again. He'll be old drunken Harold forever. It was one of my favorite things in the place." The house had five bedrooms and two and a half baths on three floors. It had belonged to an archeology professor at Upland College just across the park from the house and quite a few of his things remained. Mark and I were looking forward to cleaning it out and opening it up to let in more light and air. Mark had moved his books into the professor's old office off the dining room on the first floor and I had my sewing machines, yarn, and writing desk in the big airy bedroom on the third floor. It had French doors out onto small porches front and back and the stairs up to the widow's walk were around the corner. We wondered why someone had needed a widow's walk two states away from the ocean.

I have to go now and play with my new Kindle while I read the paper, eat my cheerios, and take a shower. Hmm, maybe I'll let Durwood play with it while I shower. Maybe. See ya bye!
--Barbara