Saturday, January 06, 2007, 07:56

You Might Know. . .

You might know that when I was hoping the newspaper work would be on the slow side that stories would be coming right and left.

The reason I was hoping for a slow week is that we are celebrating Christmas with my family today. If the week had been slow, I would have had extra time to get some cleaning done and do other preparations, leaving me time to get Rural Route 2 News out on Friday. That, of course, didn't happen. So I'm hoping for Saturday evening when everything has calmed down.

At the moment, I'm having a terrible time typing on the computer. Snowflake is walking on the keyboard, playing with the mouse, the mouse cord and the mouse pad. Bless her little heart!

The big newspaper story of the week is another proposed sand mine. Who knew that our sandstone would be so valuable? Both mines are close to 500 acres. One is close to a state recreation area, and folks aren't so thrilled about that one.

And then, too, a cemetery in the town where I work has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Not so unusual for cemeteries out east but highly unusual for cemeteries in the Midwest. It is on an island, and it was designed by an architect hired by the lumber barons. Their workers and family members were dying, so they figured they'd better have a place to bury them. On the early burial records, a certain proportion of causes of death was drowning. Floating logs to the mill was hazardous work.

LeAnn R. Ralph

Tuesday, January 02, 2007, 21:21

Ker-sploosh

I was walking around with the cordless phone Tuesday afternoon, talking to Randy because I wouldn't be seeing him until later in the evening, when I heard it.

Ker-sploosh!

"Hold on," I said, rushing toward the kitchen.

When I was almost to the kitchen, Snowflake galloped past me, headed for the living room.

She looked wet.

"What's going on?" Randy said.

"I think Snowflake fell in a five-gallon bucket of water," I said.

I hurried to the living room, and sure enough, there was Snowflake, soaking wet.

"Her front legs are wet and her chest is wet," I said to Randy.

I reached down to pick up the kitten who was exactly 10 weeks old today.

"Oh, wait," I said. "One back leg is wet, too. And so is her stomach."

In a flash, I could see what had happened.

"She must have climbed up on the bucket and fell in, all but one hind leg," I said.

I went to get a towel for Snowflake, who had already started to lick herself dry.

"I'm sorry I missed that!" I said to Randy.

"It must have been funny," he said.

I reached down to wipe as much water off Snowflake as I could, then I laid the towel on the floor for her. She immediately sat on the towel and went back to licking herself dry.

"I guess I'm going to have watch that," I said, going back out to the kitchen where there was a puddle of water on the floor by the five gallon bucket. I wiped up as much water as I could and then hung the towel back up.

"Sophie fell in a pail of wash water last year," I said to Randy, "and now Snowflake fell in a five-gallon bucket!"

I suppose you are wondering why I have a five-gallon bucket of water sitting in the kitchen.

Well, you see, every time I run the water in the kitchen to get hot water to wash my hands or to wash dishes or wash off the counter, I let the cold water run in a smaller bucket until the water runs hot, and then I dump the cold water into a five-gallon bucket and use it in the washing machine when I wash clothes.

I mean, really. Why waste perfectly good water? I can easily accumulate five gallons of water in a single day if I am busy in the kitchen.

Except that now Snowflake has discovered the five gallon bucket of water and has apparently decided it is fun to drink from it.

"Well," I said to Randy, "Rocky and Juliette like to drink from five gallon buckets, too. It must run in the family."

Rocky and Juliette are the two kittens I rescued two years ago when they were newborns and had fallen out of the nest in the barn. Rocky and Juliette are Snowflake's cousins, and they like to drink from five gallon buckets of water I have in the basement. If the horse buckets freeze, then I bring them in the house to thaw out, and when they thaw, I use that water for laundry, as well. I also save the water that I dump out of Charlie's pail and the kitty pail when I give them fresh water every day.

It is amazing how much water I can accumulate around here in a week. Sometimes it is enough to wash and rinse one whole load of clothes, although more often than not, it is at least enough to wash a load of clothes.

"I *wish* I had seen Snowflake in the bucket!" I said to Randy. "But I had my back turned."

The reason I called Randy, by the way, is that I have a city council meeting this evening, and Randy won't get home until after I leave, so I probably won't see him until 9 a.m.

Poor little Snowflake! She is a soaking wet kitten.

But with any luck at all, she also is a smarter kitten.

I hope.

LeAnn R. Ralph