funnystrange.com

Why did I not find out until now how amazingly good the chili is at the Q Shack? My god that is good chili. Too bad it will soon be too warm to eat chili. I know, in Texas they eat it in the summer, but for me chili is like stew: cold weather comfort food. I ate too much tonight, but somehow managed to just barely avoid eating way too much. In other words I could have eaten less but at least I didn't make myself feel ill.

Have not gotten any gardening done in a couple of weeks. Which is bumming me out. But the seeds I planted before -- the chard, beets and turnips -- are doing good. And the shallots are going like gangbusters. Also the Chinese orchids Nancy gave me last year are in bloom. They're really beautiful, they look like real orchids. However I'm a little alarmed by how fast they spread. She gave me three bulbs, which I allowed to sit around until I was sure they were dead. Finally I planted them late last fall, and now I have four or five blooming plants plus at least a dozen little sproutlets. I fear they may take over the garden. I should plant them in the least hospitable place on that bank, where only the hardiest plants will grow, and let them duke it out against the elements.

We only seem to have one casualty from last fall's planting: the mexican petunia shows no sign of life. I think it would be up by now if it were going to. Also we lost one balloon flower. I think I mistook it for a weed and pulled it out. But the others are doing well.

Jane continues to be great. I'm trying to figure out what her breed is. The shelter identified her as a shepherd mix, and the receptionist at the vet said the same thing. But the vet tech said she looks like a husky mix. This morning I woke up just as the sun was rising, and in the semi-darkness I could see her but couldn't see her yellow/tan coloring. I have to admit, in b/w vision she did look more like a husky. Well, both those breeds shed like mad so it doesn't really matter.

This morning on our walk (actually walk/run; I'm trying to tire her out so we run about half the time. I think it wears me out more than her but it's better than nothing) we saw a rabbit. I think if I hadn't had the leash wrapped around my hand Jane would have gotten loose from me and killed it. She was that fast. She hit the end of the leash (jerking her neck and my arm with great force) at the same time as I yelled "NO!" At which she immediately stopped, cringed and returned to me. Wow. Of course she kept straining to go after that poor rabbit, but everytime I said no she would cringe and come back. I have to say that was impressive.

While we were looking at dogs I deliberately tried to find one who did not look like Lina, because I didn't want to feel like I was replacing her. But I have to say, Jane has a few habits that remind me so much of Lina that it's uncanny. It's not the way she looks but the way she sounds: when she shakes her head, when she grumbles a little while lying down, or when she paws at the carpet to choose a place to lie. Lina used to do that all the time, and the first time Jane did it my heart skipped a beat. Come to think of it, Lina used to guard her food too. Weird.

Even if Jane didn't have her own charms, I would love her for making Thirteen happy. Thirteen, by the way, is totally normal. Since Monday there's been no pacing, no digging, no accidents. We were supposed to up her dosage of selegiline last week, but I decided to keep her at a half dose. If it's working, why drug her more? The vet says that the drug has a preventative effect to reduce further brain deterioration and so I should increase her to 3/4 dose. Maybe next week. For now I'm just enjoying having my dog back. When she's not a crazy demented freak, Thirteen is the best dog in the world.

I just realized that I haven't written up a movie in weeks. But I have been dutifully keeping my list. I haven't been watching that many movies lately but I still have about 15 to write up. Maybe I'll have time to do that this weekend.