I joke in my About page that I start many more blog posts than I finish. That has never been more true than lately. A few updates:
Sebastian
We lost Sebastian last month. After over two years of hospice, it finally became apparent that there was nothing more we could reasonably do for him. He spent his final months eating gourmet food, napping in front of the fire, and absorbing as much love as we could give him.
Sebby was the first of our feral kittens, and the last of his litter. He had 18 3/4 years with us, the longest of any in our colony thus far. We miss our cute little Old Man very much, and he’ll get a proper eulogy here eventually.
Last week I attended a firefighter’s funeral.
This one struck close to home. Captain Joel Barnes of the Berwick (ME) FD died in the line of duty on March 1st. He was 32 years old; one of 4 full-time firefighters in a small suburban department. The details of the fire are still being investigated, but reports are that he died shielding his partner when they were overrun by fire.
The Brothers from Maine and beyond gave him a fine sendoff, for whatever that may be worth. I hope we provided some comfort for his friends and family and the Berwick FD.
Mother Nature was uncooperative last Sunday. It was the coldest and wettest I have ever been in my uniform.
Somewhere in all this mess I had a birthday.
I won’t mention the exact date here. Mrs. Mack505 and Kiddo got me a new turntable for my stereo. It replaced the ratty old thrift store version I had been using.
I took some time for myself to go XC skiing.
Along the way I decided that I want to try to spend more time outdoors in the mountains this year. Mountain Mondays? Maybe.
I also took a spin up to the fire tower in Pawtuckaway State Park yesterday.
It was muddy, icy, windy, and great. I should spend more time at Pawtuckaway.
I forgot to take a digital photo of the actual fire tower, but I’ve been there before.
In other blog updates, I briefly activated an IFTTT recipe which used to import my Instagram photos to the blog. It created a number of new posts which did not contain photos. Something must have changed at IG. It’s turned off again until I can figure out why it won’t work.
Notes from Mosquito Hill 