We're havin' a heat wave. It was supposed to be warm here, but when I checked this morning it was -7 at 7. Not what I expected, but it's going to be in the 20's today and in the 30's later this week. GET OUT! NO WAY! Well that's what they're saying. And we know those VanPatten's don't tell lies. So I'm psyched. I had a strange weekend. Saturday I hit close to rock bottom. Could barely function, spent nearly the entire day on the couch, watching movies and sleeping. All I could do was vacuum the living room, get wood and feed the birds. Uh-oh, I thought, this is depression and I can't stand it. Being depressed really depresses me. I couldn't get to sleep until 2 but woke up Sunday at 8 feeling really good. Are these bipolar swings or just part of my life right now? Who knows, but yesterday was a good day. I had a nice time with Bill and Ken, then enjoyed the 20-degree sunlight by walking down to the Holt's to check out their garage, then down onto the lake. I love, love, love walking on the lake in the winter sunshine under a bright blue sky. It is like magic. The dogs, especially Tess, love to run as fast as they can as far as they want to. They become small dots far away and I don't have to worry about anything as far as they're concerned. Someone had driven a vehicle on the ice and drilled a bunch of holes to fish through earlier in the day (I could tell it was that day because the holes hadn't frozen over). Presumably they had no luck because there were lots of holes in lots of spots. I walked to Sonci, then checked it out and walked up the hill and home. I felt great, conqueror of the winter world. Just when I was wallowing in the wonder of having the entire surface of the lake to myself, a huge white expanse, two snowmobiles went whizzing by. But I don't really mind that, it's part of the neighborhood and what can you do? If I have to share a lake that size with 2 other people for a minute when they go by I don't mind. It was too beautiful an experience to let anything ruin it for me. So I went home, carried in the wood, dumped the 50-lb bag of birdseed in the bin, loaded up the suet feeder, and felt really good.

Saturday I watched The Station Agent, a film I've had since December about a dwarf who inherits a train depot and lives there, hoping to be left alone in solitude but is befriended by three people. It's really a lovely film but is slow moving. I enjoyed it a lot and was glad I finally made myself watch it. I also watched Best in Show for about the 4th time and enjoyed it a whole lot again. Then last night I watched a Canadian special on Animal Planet about three handlers who were competing throughout the 2004 dog show season, vying for Best in Show at the Show of Shows at the end of the season in Ottawa. It was really great to watch that. I'd heard from my friend and kennel owner that dog shows are very political and cut-throat, and this show really drove that home. One woman got really angry because another toy poodle won and the woman "Dragged the dog around by the throat and the dog had her tail tucked between it's legs!" So she protested to the judges and pulled her 4 other dogs from the show and left in a huff. She had an ugly standard poodle named Monet as well, whom she was convinced was going to win Best in Show but didn't even win Best in Group. HAH! I thought. Serves you right, bitch. There was a Brittany named David and a schnauzer as well as a golden retriever named Quincy. The schnauzer's owner would drop him off at the show but never stuck around to watch. Why wouldn't you watch? The golden was neurotic and did the UNTHINKABLE: he sat down during the show. Three times. He won Best in Breed anyway. Was very pretty. Who knew they're not allowed to sit down.

I got my tape recorder and taped Ken on Friday night. I asked him to tell the story of the Douglas boys (Leroy's grandfather and his brothers and cousins) and the time they attached an airplane engine to a sled to make the first snowmobile. I love that story. He didn't tell it at its best but he at least listed the names of the 6 boys and the circumstances of their living together so I can get that straight. The recording didn't come out too well, lots of static and my voice is too loud. I need to place the recorder closer to Ken. But it's a start.

And now I have to catalog some stuff. I've been deleting lots of records for Lake Placid, getting ready to run their barcodes so we can get them ready to go online. Elizabethtown is next. We're getting 10 libraries ready to go online right now, all in various stages. Some are just starting, weeding their collections, and some are just waiting for us to finish up with their data. Amazing.

February marks mid-season for winter. We're halfway to spring.