Busted birds

See, I told you we had two romantic birds that rest outside our living room window. Sorry about the photo quality, but the lady bird has beautiful brown speckles on her white breast, while the male has an astonishing red hat with red blending in to his proud brown spotted back.

Beth Fortune's Mom, Becky, continues to make progress from her stroke. I think daily about Dori's friends who are recovering from blood cancer or facing new challenges - Kim, Chuck, Tammy, Candy, Sigourney and others. The list seems to grow continually. I will be running for all of them next Saturday at the Tom King, just as I ran for Dori in Virginia and run for her each time.

Kathryn astutely noted this morning, with three inches of snow on the ground, "Weren't we putting on sunscreen in the park last Sunday?" 76 one day, and 22 a few days later. Did anyone hear thunder and see lightning last night during the storm? That was pretty cool while the snow poured out of the sky.

Pepper adored the snow this morning, romping in and eating all the white powder he could handle. He has been parked at the window much of the morning, hoping for another trip to White Heaven. Otis loved the snow, too, like most dogs do. This is where I don't get the cat thing, though I do know a few decent felines. Pepper played with Ginger, a dog down the street, and two lab mixes who were happy to see him. The kids and I tried out our snow surfboard without much success. Wind chill was 14 when we went out, so that had something to do with it.

As someone who lived up north as a boy and who remembers the frequent snowstorms Nashville experienced in the 80s, I get a kick out of 20-something TV reporters standing in front of the camera acting incredulous about the snow. Some have rulers to measure it, some just point at it. Yes, geniuses, it's snow! Then they analyze it: "Look over here where it's a little slushy ... now pan over here where there's more of an icy consistency ... back over my shoulder, you can see how powdery it is." Do they realize how farcical they sound?

Yes, no running today ... Weekly mileage is double digits (12.3) and I'll do a decent eighth day run tomorrow. I plan to run at least six miles tomorrow, when it should be nicer. Today is all about college basketball, relaxing and eating. I found a few good carb recipes ... one for a angel hair in basil cream sauce and another for hummus that look tasty.

One last thing - I think we have a talented pianist in our midst. Kathryn performed a recital last night for the family. She played "Puff the Magic Dragon" and "This Land is Your Land," as well as the themes from Star Wars and the Flintstones. She spared us her rendition of Rocky Top, though I later played the UT fight song and VU's "Dynamite" for her.