Widget conducts doggie obedience trials

Widget, after her double dog smackdown.

Will post to lolcats if somebody suggests a good caption...

Cat photo, with tiny labrador

Quincy requested a photo of Widget for her German host, so here it is. Note the dragging tail. She can now lift it, but only when inspired by early morning scratching and effusive acclaim. (Good Widget!) Stu claims she only does it for him when she thinks he is me.

Rosie is in the background. Will try to post a pix tmorrow of Widget attacking Annie's tail...

Looking forward, looking back

A good weekend in the pool, again. Jake spent the weekend in Albuquerque at the State Club meet. He beat his time in the 100 Saturday with a better time Sunday. As I write, Stu, Jake, and Giancarlo (Jake's friend from LCHS) are driving south, through bad weather, and should be in tonight about midnight.

Quincy and I had a good weekend. She is caught up in schoolwork (L'Hôpital's rule, stoichometry, etc...) and ready for a new week. We went to the LCHS Jazz Dinner last night. It was, as usual, a night of good music. It amazes me how quickly our kids go from playing concerts we would not miss (but force ourselves to go to) to confident musicians, improv-ing and swinging and playing music that we pay money to hear. It is a beautiful thing.

Upcoming events: Melody and über bassoonist Larry will perform a Mozart bassoon duet at the reception after Sunday's concert. I will practice being nervous about this over the next week.

And I am part of a team that will be in the Bataan Memorial Death March on March 30. Saturday afternoons will be taken up with longer hikes for the next month.

This march in a big deal around here. About 1800 New Mexicans were in the Phillipines in 1941 and took part in the first attack of WWII, which included the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. I worked on a web site about the Battle for Bataan (http://reta.nmsu.edu/bataan/index2.html), and pledged at that time that someday I would walk the memorial march in honor of those who gave so freely of their stories. This is the year.

Stu and Jake are also marching, and we are on a team with Julia and Phillip, Mel's coworkers. We will also do this with Holly, who will walk with her family. Her husband is the grandson of a Bataan survivor, Paul Schurtz of Deming. Paul Schurtz did not survive his 1944 trip to Japan on a Hell Ship, but his son was an important contributor to the website and a formidable force in keeping the story of Bataan alive.

Rosie says it is time to bed. She is rarely wrong about such things, so adieu.