No this isn’t a suicide note. Relax!   When I look at 2017 after January 20th (Inauguration Day) I could feel nothing but dread, but I’m beyond that now. My stomach has finally settled. I perceive the inevitable–no matter how nauseating–and I’ve entered the acceptance phase; that is, I’m accepting the all-but-inevitable result of the…

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The Art and Science of Bathing a Cat   That’s me bathing my “serval son” Deaken (@ 1994) Disclaimer: This method has worked well for me for decades with scores of different cats, but not with every cat. If you try this method after reading this, you are doing so at your own risk.   …

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Since getting Amazon Prime recently I’ve been catching up on TV series whose synopses have intrigued me. I’ve read and now seen Good Girls Revolt (terrific), Transparent (edgy and upsetting in more ways than I will articulate here, like watching a train wreck in slow motion, but impossible to look away from; an excellent series…

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Savvy Steeds at Your Service Top photo: My sis Laurel on Stormy (I’m in the background atop Sugar Babe) Bottom Photo: Our first “Charlie” Horse (The branch-yielding, hole-digging one) The most fascinating thing about getting new horses is the fact that you don’t know what kind of training they arrive with, in most cases.  …

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“Beekeeping” Gone Bad   Lest you begin to believe that I was an infallible savant when it came to animal behavior as a youngster, here’s a telling anecdote that will quickly dispel that notion…   I was walking home from a friend’s house one day when I spotted yellow jackets (meat-eating wasps) coming out of…

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There are times when I surprise myself–I mean really, really surprise myself–as a professional writer. I wish I could be more specific here and give you details and even brief excerpts, but the client I’m serving asked me to sign an NDA (a Non-Disclosure Agreement) so I have to keep under my hat all aspects…

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  I don’t know what I’ve had against water that I’ve felt the need to adulterate it all these years with carbonation and additional flavors. I’m beginning to really enjoy it “naked”, which is a good thing.   Jackie recently gave me two of her travel mugs (she’s down-sizing her mug collection), one of which…

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This morning I went to McLendon’s and got two half-sheets of exterior plywood and five 26″ 4 x 4s so I could build a new platform in the shed for the goats. The one that was there didn’t let me get behind it easily enough to gather the eggs that the chickens are laying back…

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Here’s something I don’t see anyone talking about, unless I’ve missed it:   Are the folks who comprise this year’s Electoral College in danger and, if so, is it moral danger or mortal danger?   I ask this because I know for a fact that I’d be real nervous right now if I were among…

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Overnight I thought of three more animal-related stories to add to my upcoming Kris and Kritters blog–so I added them this morning. The word count for the document now is 32,595 so I have, essentially, a year’s worth of blog posts “in the can” to roll out every Saturday in 2017. I’m getting very excited…

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