The square has been blocked off for two weeks today it reopens.

I am heading off to perth in just over a week to live. I have a job interview for a part-time position at a pharmacy near where I am living. I hope I don't get lost walking around th university and they have plenty of signs since the buildings have odd numbers such as 203 and there is not 203 buildings. They have a 204 but than you have something like 306. Maybe they are codes.

*settles down for a cup of acorn tea with his old buddy, Gorse, the flying squirrel*

Airport Fire Station is busy today. Man from a technical rescue training outfit from northern California is going over swift water rescue out of the Colorado River. Continue to patrol the airport fence perimeter for the places coyotes like to pass through, and there are lots of those.

Good mortereve

*joins Cep and Gorse* May I have some tea too?

Sounds like fun training Cep . Do you ever have to get in the river to practice water rescue? Brrr....

I'm just hanging out at home today with my little man. He has some kind of croupy cold thing. He doesn't seem to sick though, so I'm not worried. Just trying to push the fluids. He's sort of cooperating. I offered him Ginger Ale yesterday thinking it'd feel good on his throat. He chugged it. I wasn't expecting that kind of enthusiastic response. Ginger Ale is a bit spicy.

*Gorse gently carries a piping hot cup of acorn tea to fantasia_kitty. "Cream or sugar," he asks?*

Personnel assigned to the airport (Airport Technicians) have a primary duty to remain immediately available for any problems related to the airport. While it would be fun, we are excluded from the training. It is for the crews that staff tour boats that function down at the river - 3,500 feet lower than here and only accessed by helicopter. The boat crews are using our fire station bay.

That your boy likes Ginger Ale is kinda cool. I recall that being a treat when I was sick. Only time I had that soda pop, as it felt sooooo good on a sore throat. Would it be safe to speculate he may have a sore throat?

Don't have time to get caught up here now, but wanted to send a to all ye Town SquareOnions! And a mammoth Welcome Back to pogginfan, wow, it's great to see you again. Very cool about your trip to China!

Winter continueth to hang on here, and it's getting really cold this week again. (Not that I mind. ) But we could use a fresh snowfall—the light 'n fluffy stuff, please.

*leaves a wee treat by the Fountain—kinda belated for Valentine's Day* Who's gonna nab that big one, I wonder.

Do I see chocolate? Thanks jo!

I've spent much of the last few days, it seems, shoveling snow. We got about 20 inches in the past week and then it got cold so it's like chiseling stone out there.

Spring is only a month away by the calendar. But March is one of our snowiest months so I think we may be seeing lots of white into April unless there's a dramatic warm up in our future.

Nice to see some familiar faces stop by!

*waves to fantasia, Gorse and ceppault, IloveFauns, pogginfan, Aitb, and Rya*

I wish I could see snow here. I have moved to perth which is generally a few degrees warmer to where I lived before. I have no air-con so I am basically blasting a fan at myself. Do you wish to give me that shoveled snow?. Thanks in advance.

Do you wish to give me that shoveled snow?. Thanks in advance.

We are now sending winter back your way. Days are getting longer here. We may have some snow at our elevation in northwest Arizona by this weekend. Remains to be seen.

*waves to Stargazer and IloveFauns and Fantasia_Kitty and JoHobit*

Continuing the process of plugging holes along the bottom of the airport fence. The coyote (american continental version of the dingo) will continue to find holes to pass through on their journey to find food.

Winter's not ready to leave just yet, ceppault. At this rate we still might have snow on the ground in June. Still, I'm a polar bear at heart and that's better than baking in the heat and humidity.

Coyotes are expanding their range in this direction. I never saw one in nature until a trip to Yellowstone back in the late 1980s, but now I've heard them at night while camping in Minnesota, and reports of them around here (even in the metro areas) are becoming more common.

But March is one of our snowiest months so I think we may be seeing lots of white into April unless there's a dramatic warm up in our future.

Ditto. And the arctic air has set in here again, with windchills near -30C ... almost 'balmy' compared to our numerous -40s chills in January.

Do you wish to give me that shoveled snow?. Thanks in advance.

We do have plenty to share, as do the MNers, no doubt. I hope you enjoy your new home area, IloveFauns!

Still, I'm a polar bear at heart and that's better than baking in the heat and humidity.

Hear-hear!

Coyotes are in the little woods and copses even around busy southern Ontario, and sometimes at night, one can hear them howling. Kinda cool-freaky. But those near the wooded areas have to be especially careful of leaving their pets outside. Some are known to have been snatched by a coyote gang, eep! All the best with the hole-plugging, cep. I hope all the Georges try to stay safe.

'Mortereve, all!

Do you wish to give me that shoveled snow?. Thanks in advance.

We do have plenty to share, as do the MNers, no doubt. I hope you enjoy your new home area, IloveFauns!

Even I have to admit that we do. The snowbanks are getting about as tall as I am!

IloveFauns, good luck with your job interview! And I hope you don't get lost, either--I remember trying to find my way around my university. That was loads of fun.

fantasia, I hope your little guy is feeling better. Last time I saw my nephew, he seemed to have the beginnings of a cold. *Brings out glass of Ginger Ale* A toast to good health, all around!

Well, despite not working much lately, I've been keeping myself fairly busy. I'd like to pretend it's all productive, but I have to admit that a lot of it has been wasted on watching TV. But, on the plus side, I've just finished a second "draft" (more of an extended outline ) for one of my stories. It's a lot of fun to actually be able to move forward, instead of harping over the same plot holes over and over again.

Otherwise, though, I've been getting some baking done. My mom and I have been working on our Olive Garden breadsticks recipe--a couple of times ago when we made it, it didn't turn out quite right, so we've been practicing, just to make sure it doesn't happen again. (Being able to eat them night after night is just a side benefit. )

My mom and I have been working on our Olive Garden breadsticks recipe

Ooohhh yeeeaaahhh!

I hope all who aren't feeling the best come around to health again soon. Ginger ale, yes ... and clementines!

Glad your story is moving forward again, Rya!

And I hope you don't get lost, either--I remember trying to find my way around my university. That was loads of fun.

Yep, been there; done that as I think probably most have.

A tiny but dapper insect slips from a crack in the Ditto Town Fountain and hops to its brim. For some reason, he is dressed in a tiny tuxedo with top hat and tails, as if he has just come from some formal affair. He stands poised for a moment, contemplating the windswept square, silent except for the rustling scud of fallen cherry petals across the cobblestones. Then he raises his violin and calls forth sweet, solitary notes, one after another, each like a drop of memory fallen from the fountain of long ago. Gradually the notes slide into one another and form a simple melody, an invitation to dance. No visible dancers rise to the occasion, but the wind itself seems to swirl in wild waltzing eddies as the white blossoms half-form into a suggestion of spinning, full-skirted gowns. The cricket musician closes his eyes and seems to pour his soul into his work, even if no human ear is by to hear it.

That. Is. Beautifully Evocative, Mr. Lincoln. Wow. I feel that anything I say now will sound crass in comparison.

So, quiet Square lately ... except for the gentle notes from the venerable cricket's haunting violin and the swishing hush of the waltzing blossoms.

Our snow's begun to melt, and it's been a slow go, which is good, otherwise there would be too much flooding. But there is a lot to melt yet. Rain today; more cold's coming, which will bring with it flurries and possibly more snow on the weekend. This is the longest, coldest, snowiest winter in a number of years.

I hear of others further south who are seeing glimpses of blossoms and the heads of spring flowers poking up, but it will be awhile before we see similar sights up here, although in dark hours just before dawn, cardinals are singing their hearts out, calling to each other as I walk. Beautiful. I saw my first robin the other day, all fluffed up on a high branch of our crimson maple. He looked pretty cold. Kind of like this ...

So, how's everybody doing? *she whispers to a very still and silent Square*

Hi johobbit. That picture looks very very cold. I'm happy to be living in one of the places where flowers are blooming. We don't see a lot of robins in the spring... they are all in a rush to go back north! But we do get a lot of varied music from the mockingbirds who are nesting.