Happy Birthday To Me

Today is not only the first day of winter, it is also my 40th birthday. The Big 4-0! I have decided 40 is the new 20, as much of the time I don't even feel like an adult, much less a 40-year-old one.

Today I'm going to get away from the usual writings about cats and/or snow. But, I do reserve the right to get back to those later on. For now, I'm going to mark my 40th birthday by listing major events for each month in the year I was born, 1969 of course. Let's see how many of you remember these.

*January: Led Zeppelin I is released marking the beginning of Heavy Metal, Richard Nixon becomes the 37th President of the United States, The Beatles give their last public performance on the roof of Apple Records

*February: Yasser Arafat is elected leader of the PLO, The last issue of The Saturday Evening Post hits newsstands, the Boeing 747 makes its maiden flight

*March: the novel The Godfather is published, Apollo 9 is launched to test the lunar module and returns safely

*April: Dr. Denton Cooley implants the first temporary artificial heart, Robin Knox-Johnston is the first person to sail solo around the world without stopping

*May: Apollo 10 is launched and returns safely (a "full dress rehearsal" for the moon landing), John and Yoko conduct there "Bed-In" for peace, the film Midnight Cowboy debuts

*June: Elton John releases his first album in the UK, the Stonewall Riots in New York mark the start of the modern gay rights movement, Give Peace a Chance (the first single by a solo Beatle) is recorded by John Lennon

*July: Apollo 11 makes it's historic trip to the moon and returns safely, Chappaquiddick ('nuff said), the very first US troop withdrawals are made in Vietnam

*August: the Manson Family murders take place, Woodstock music festival takes place

*September: the first ATM machine in the US is installed in Rockville Centre, NY, the very last Looney Tunes cartoon is released by Warner Brothers, The Brady Bunch premieres

*October: Monty Python's Flying Circus premieres on BBC One, the "miracle" New York Mets win the World Series, the first message is sent over ARPANET (precursor to the internet)

*November: Sesame Street premieres, Dave Thomas opens the first Wendy's, Apollo 12 goes to the moon and returns safely

*December: the first draft lottery since WWII is held, the Boeing 747 makes its public debut carrying mostly reporters and photographers (191 in all) from Seattle to NYC

Those are just a few highlights from 1969. There are lots more, and I found the list on Wikipedia. And that is my way of marking my 40th birthday. Thanks for listening. ;-)

Snow Kitties

We got over a foot of snow up here in the mountains, and a bit more is falling now. I figured the kittens wouldn't leave the front porch except maybe to go to the basement while the fluffy white stuff was on the ground, and boy was I wrong. Besides following me around the yard while I took some pictures, they actually played in the snow. Google especially seemed to be enjoying himself.

I would love to edit our voices out of the video, but don't have the software on this computer. But it's cool, watching little Google play in the snow like that. This is before the bulk of the snow fell, of course, and later on, when it was so deep, he mostly played in areas where I had walked.

Hope followed me out into the yard, but wasn't real happy about it. She stayed right next to the house, then walked out to get under the car. From there, she ended up under the storage building, then hightailed it under the deck.

Was surprised to see her sitting in the snow on the deck with Google for a bit.

Yahoo did follow me around the yard, but not for long. He stayed mostly under the deck (trying to clean snow off his fur)...

...or on the porch, curled up on his favorite cushion.

I really want to find a home for these guys. They are just the sweetest things. Yahoo especially loves to sit on your lap and be held. They are still young enough that they would make great indoor kitties. (They are constantly trying to come in our front door.) They are now spayed/neutered and are up-to-date on their shots. All I ask for their adoption is a donation to the local animal shelter. Not a bad deal if you ask me.