Atlanta raceway

We're having technical problems during qualifying on Friday night. I'm
on the roof working on our gear and just caught this pic of the
western sky -just after sunset.

Nevermore

A few days ago, I was leaving our neighborhood and I passed this owl - laying on the side of the road - on my way out.  I had to come back and get it out of the road.  I don't know how long it had been laying there.  It's face was pretty smashed in.  It was obvious that it had flown into a vehicle head-on.   I figure it died pretty much instantly.    I thought about it for several hours.   It was just sad.

More about Bette Davis

Don't worry, I'm not going to constantly write about the new cat.  I know that pets are a lot like kids - everyone thinks that theirs are special - but I do need to update the blog with a least a photo of Bette Davis out of 'captivity'.

I arrived home from Texas yesterday and she took to me like she'd known me her whole life.  She's a very loving kitty and I think we're going to be a very happy family.

New Addition to the Family

Most of  you reading this know that Snowy died back in January.  Jan and I have felt a terrible void that has only slight improved since her death and at times - it's a very 'loud' silence in the house.   Still, when I come home from a trip, I have the urge to say "Snowy, I'm home" as I enter the house and it makes me sad when I think about her not being there.   She was very 'dog like' in her affection for us.

Well, we've made weekly trips to the humane society since Snowy died just to spend some time with the cats there.  About 5 weeks or so ago, we decided that it was time to seriously start looking for the cat that connected with us.  This was a difficult task that we learned a lot from.

While I was on my Minneapolis trip last week, Jan met a cat in the Edgewater facility named Bette Davis (because she has very big eyes).  It really connected with Jan and so Jan asked me to go check her out on Monday.  

When I first met Bette, she grabbed onto me and hugged me tight, but then after a few minutes realized that I was holding her in the middle of the room full of cages and she tried to get away.  I kept holding onto her for about 5 minutes and although she tried to get away, she was very patient and did not get aggressive toward my retraining her.     I put her back in her cage where she became very friendly.  It was obvious that she was not comfortable outside of the cage.

I went home and thought about it and spoke with Jan on the phone.  Jan reminded me that Snowy was like that when she first met us - she wanted to be with us on her terms - where she was comfortable.

I left the house an hour early yesterday on the way to the Airport and drove down to Edgewater again to see Bette.   We had almost the same experience, but this time - before taking her out of the cage, I asked for a chair to sit in.   When Bette got 'antsy', I sat down and put her on my lap which helped a lot.  Still, she wanted to be in her cage.

I knew that Jan really connected with Bette and I really enjoyed my time with her.   Before I left the shelter, I filled out the adoption information and gave them a $100 bill (for the adoption fee and I donated the rest).  The ladies at the shelter were very happy.  They really like Bette and said they couldn't wait to tell the other workers who weren't there at the time.

Since I was on my way to the airport and Jan is in Nashville, Bette will be there until Saturday afternoon.  Jan will pick her up after work and take her home.   We're both excited about it.