The Year of the Dog; The End of A Cat

Saturday was rough. Our beloved Siamese cat of sixteen years, Kiwi Munkit Gremlin, had to be put down as she was in liver failure. We said our goodbyes and she was sent off peacefully. We miss you, Kiwi.

She had a rough night on Friday, and we were at the vet first thing in the morning, so we were facing a long, bleak Saturday with lots of reminders all around us. We decided the best way to distract ourselves was to get out of town and go to the Chinese New Year's parade in San Francisco.

I have to say that just the mechanics of parking several miles south of town, taking CalTrans, catching a bus to Chinatown, all the while hauling lunches and chairs succeeded in taking our minds off our sad morning. Chinatown was packed with people and the smell of frying wantons was everywhere. Too bad Nick and I are on a diet!

People were throwing "whippersnappers" around. Remember those, Walter? They are teeny-weeny bits of gunpowder twisted into a little paper and sold packed in sawdust. We met one of Wini's friends on Kearney Street (near the end of the parade route) and her mom had bought a case of 50 boxes. They had a great time throwing them in the street at people's feet - to drive away the bad spirits, naturally.

The parade was just amazing. I say this as a jaded 36-year-old who was skeptical of sitting for hours in the February chill just to watch people push some floats around. There was a lot more to the parade than I expected. Local community groups pushed floats or dressed up as dogs. One elementary school had a tiny little dragon held up by kindergarteners. That must have been long day for those kids!

We got some great pictures, but the photo function seems to be down at the moment, so I'll put some up later.

Roller Skatin', and Frankly, Waitin'

Okay, so nothing much is going on if I have to check in with news of my new roller skates. They're the four-wheelin' kind, unlike Wini's ultra chic Barbie inline skates. Mom advised me to find somewhere flat with a railing the first time I tried them out. It's been, oh, twenty-five years or so since I've been on roller skates, so that's a fair warning. But still, where do you find a flat paved area with a railing?

We couldn't think of such a spot, but we remembered that down at the port of Redwood City there's a walking path with little rest areas that are large circular plazas. Surrounding the open area is a waist-high wall imprinted with information about wetland birds and fish. It's kind of like an ice rink where you can hold onto the wall. So playing it safe, I didn't put on my skates until I was in the wall-clinging zone. It took me a little while, but I was getting my skate legs in about a half hour.

Okay, I'll admit it: we're pretty much just waiting to hear that Emma, Walter, Allie and Toby have landed in California. Even though we won't be down in Redondo until another week, we can't wait to see them!