Sophie's Story

   Now that the April snows have melted, I can get out and go running again. I've spent the past few years with my nose almost pressed against the window, hoping to see light at 5:30 am so I could start running. This year it snuck up on me.    Yesterday I dug out my fleece sweatshirt,my fleece hoodie,a long sleeve t-shirt and long running pants. I found a pair of socks and my running shoes. It was time to take myself for a test spin.   The first run of the year is always a bit of an adventure. I use an elliptical when I'm not running to stay in shape. The movement is not the same though. The first run of the year is a bit of a test to see how much I have lost from the year before.   I did my usual stretching and then headed into my warm up walk. I'm not one of those people who can just start running right away. Once I felt warm enough I started to run. I had to remind myself to go slowly. I am getting better at pacing myself but I still tend to want t...

   C and I were in a hurry to get to the airport. It had been a long time since we had flown anywhere and we were concerned about getting through security. We drove into the long term parking ramp at the airport and found a place to park. We unloaded our bags and carried them toward the terminal. Both of us were certain that we would be able to find the car in a week when we returned.   We went through security and learned that we should have taken the laptop out of the backpack we carry it in. Since we didn't do that, the security officer had to take us aside for a more thorough search of the bag and its contents. I made a mental note. Next time remove the laptop from the bag and remember to turn it off.   You know the rest of the story. We flew to South Carolina and had a wonderful time. We spent time with some friends, saw a lot of cool things and simply enjoyed our trip.   The week was over and it was time to fly home. We were both tired and ready to sl...

   "Could y'all mash seven?"     I reached out and pressed button for the seventh floor as requested by the lady in the elevator. It had been a long time since I was last in South Carolina and I was pleased that I could still remember some of the language. After stopping at the seventh floor we rode up to our eighth floor room and to plan out our first full day in Charleston.    We got into town the night before. C was looking for a steak and we were directed to Hall's Chophouse. It is a lovely establishment. We were given a table right near the door with a good view of the windows outside. We ordered our steak with a side of asparagus and a side of pepperjack cheese grits. We could have had potatoes with our meal, but we could have that anywhere. Besides that we both really like grits. Even though both of us were fairly full we each had dessert. In retrospect we should have shared one, but it was good anyway. ...

   C and I are taking a trip this week. We wanted to go back to South Carolina. I had never been to Charleston and wanted to see it. C wanted to see some of his family and friends. I wanted to walk along Myrtle Beach and collect some sea shells.   There were some other things I wanted to do. I wanted to buy a real southern hat. I wanted to eat fresh fish and boiled peanuts. (Not at the same meal) I wanted to have grits. (Yes, we make grits at home, but I wanted to see if they taste different if you eat them in the south.)   Before we could get to all this we would have to get on a plane and fly. I was a little nervous about this. There is about eight layers of security that you need to get through in order to get on an airplane. I hoped I remembered everything.   We were able to get through security. They did have to hand search the bag with the laptop in it, but that was no big deal. We got through security and waited to board the airplane. ...

  Hi, this is Colby. Sophie was looking around for something to write about. I asked her if I could write about what happened last week. She told me it was all right.   Last week Sophie took me to the vet. I had some bumps on my chin. I've had this before. Usually they are on my back legs where I can scratch them because they itch. It's a skin condition that I have. I've had it since I was a kitten. It's very annoying.   I don't mind going to the vet. Dr. Ganz is very nice. He likes orange cats. He sometimes calls me "Your Orangeness". I think that is funny. I like Dr. Fenton too. She is very gentle.   Neither one of them was in the day of my appointment. There was someone filling in. She seemed nice too. She looked at my chin and started talking to Sophie about a bunch of things. I didn't pay attention. I was too busy roaming around the floor. There were a lot of strange smells on the floor. My chin was starting to itch again. I scratched it on a...

   Last year I bought a set of four needlepoint canvasses. They were small, square and had pictures of flowers on them. My plan was to finish them and use them as coasters.    I didn't have much time to work on them. Most of the time I worked on them on Sunday nights. I brought my needle point bag with me anytime I thought I might have to wait somewhere so I could work on it. Little by little I watched the painted patterns on the canvas come to life through the needle and thread.   It is soothing work. The colours of my threads are restful to the eye. All I have to do is one type of stitch. It's like painting by numbers using a thin yarn as opposed to paint. I didn't have to spend hours and hours to see progress.   I finished the the third one late last week. I took it off the stretcher bars. Before I put it in the bag with the other two that I had finished I took all three out and looked at them.  They are beautiful. One of the flowers...