Fur

The cat is sleeping directly on top of one of the heating vents in the living room. Of course, this reduces the amount of heat that gets into the room and, because the thermostat is just down the hall, that gets less heat to, confusing it into thinking that the furnace needs to run longer to reach the set temperature. Thus, the other rooms get more heat than they need. I can't simply lower the setting on the thermostat because the cat might wander off, increasing heat flow to the living room, and then the rest of the house would get too cold. I could move the cat, but she looks so comfortable. I guess its obvious who runs this house.

Earlier, she insisted on going outside, despite the rain and cold. She spent quite a while sitting on the porch, watching the night. This is the time of year when one is supposed to go outdoors at night, after all, and she isn't going to let an unseasonable storm interfere with her plans. The territory must be guarded! It's spring! Stray cats are apt to come wandering by at any time, rain or not, and she must drive them off!

I spent a bit of the night outside, myself, though not with the intent of driving away any nocturnal visitors. There were none, in any case. Not even raccoons would come out in this weather, I think. There will be one more blustery, rainy day, and then it should become merely cool and partly cloudy for a while. That is my favorite sort of spring weather, with fluffy white clouds dragging patches of shade about, and distant fields sparkling in sunlight. Within a few days, I ought to be able to take a blanket or two off the bed, and the cat can stop sleeping on the heater vents. Something tells me that this storm is winter's final outburst. The rains of April (and I hope they do arrive) will be warmer.

Must make phone calls this afternoon. Sleep now, while it is still a bit dark.

Hurry Up and Wait

There has been a delay, and the new computer is now set to arrive no later than March 29th. The Slug must hang on for a few more days. Buying things somewhere other than an actual retail store is like dealing with a contractor. Nothing ever turns out the way you expect.

Sky has arrived, though. There are only little bits of it scattered here and there among the clouds, but there's enough to allow the occasional ray of sunshine to pass and turn all the fresh leaves bright. Small piles of soggy mulberry blossoms cover the lawn, and small brown birds hop about among them. The crows are very active again, flying about as though they owned the sky, scolding all the other birds. The squirrels are out, too, scampering up and down trees and racing across rooftops.

I don't expect that it will get warm in what's left of the day. I hope it doesn't get warm in what's left of the week. In fact, I want the remainder of March to stay cool. I'm not ready for more heat.