Winner! Winner!

chicken Singaporean Chinese dinner!

Although it arrived nearly two months after the fact, I welcomed the decorated winner's envelope hand-delivered to my door yesterday evening by RP, who works at the College. Inside, my prizes: a gift certificate to use at Crossroads Cafe (my choice of local restaurant) and a nifty handmade, reusable coffee cup sleeve.

From among 300 submissions, two of my photographs were selected as winners in the inaugural Sustain Sewanee photo contest. I am pleased, and as a friend told me, I was famous before I knew it!

Step 1

I hereby admit that I am powerless to control my affection for bugs.

This one has been living in my kitchen since the fall. 

Seriously.

It is the only one of its kind still left (at least still visible) in my house.

I know. I have looked.

I have saved it from drowning -- twice.

I have saved it from the dreaded stuck-on-the-back position -- three times.

I have helped it find warm spots, helped it out of the metal slickery sink, and photographed it in various winsome positions.

When multicolored Asian lady beetles arrived in hordes (truly a plague), I scooped and removed them, heartlessly. (I blogged about them, here and here and here.)

But I grew weary of the killing and finally sealed the front door surround with painter's tape. For weeks, I simply used the back door.

Today, at the shop where I work part-time, I collected 57 of this bug's relatives and escorted them outside. I confess they were not all dead, then. I am certain they are now. It is cold today. Very cold. I do not like this duty, but I do it, as they do not add charm to the goods for sale.

I would like to say I know why this one particular beetle is special, but I am not entirely sure. I do know this: it has a strong "will" to live (I do not think it can will in the sense humans believe they can) and I have no stomach for intentional homicide in light of its instincts.

Besides, I enjoy watching it. This morning, as I have done every morning since its arrival, I made my tea and then played search-for-the-lady-beetle. It took me three different trips into the kitchen over an hour and a half before I discovered her tucked right smartly into the top of a small vase.

I hope good things for her, and for me, too, in this joint venture of survival.

Lake Cheston ABCedarian Day 2: C

CHESTON

CREATION

Lake Cheston ABCedarian: Day 1

ANT

BARK

Coming Soon

to an imaginary bookstore near you! Two new whodunnits featuring Madama Penumbra, the shape-shifting detective! Join her in solving household mysteries! Christmas cards and cutlery figure prominently in the first two books of the series penned by Pun Anon. Reserve your copy now! Available online at http://rainingboredom.com.

Madama Penumbra's Casebook 1: Caterwaul on a Late-night Fence Rail

Madama Penumbra's Casebook 2: Humpty's Great Fall

One Advantage of Early Rising

Lavender woods at morning twilight.

Who could imagine such color?

Matchmaking

How to Find a Feline Companion

1.  Find a trustworthy pet source, like a no-kill shelter with kind folks who test, treat, and care.

2.  Visit said pet source.

3.  Ask about the potential adoptees.

4.  Listen carefully for the important information: i.e., FeLV (feline leukemia) testing and results, sex, behavior, socialization.

5. Watch feline behavior in the cage. Standoffish? Shy? Aggressive? Playful? Curious?

6. Offer finger for sniffing and scratching.

7. Open cage, hold, and test feline for relaxation.

8. If the feline noses you and rubs on your face and forehead, well . . . you're a goner.

Keeping my fingers crossed that little Cleo and Clue pass Tuesday's FeLV test with flying colors (one was tested previously and clear) and have their life-altering operations so they can come live with me!