Sandra Cox's Blog, page 238

In Memory

My sister-in-law, Karen Gray passed away Tuesday, May 27, 2014. Karen was a fascinating woman, well-versed and well-spoken. She had many passions which included her family, family history, cats and travel. She was in the library system for most of her working life:  twenty-two years as an assistant executive director in Quincy, IL and a continuing education specialist in the East Peoria library system for the two years before she retired.

She was married for twenty years to a man whose interests ran parallel to her own. They traveled extensively to all corners of the globe. They climbed Mt. Everest and Mt. Kilimanjaro and visited the Peoples Republic of China in the late seventies. When he passed, the light in her eyes dimmed and never glittered with the same brightness again.  Still she traveled, taking her nieces to such exotic countries as Egypt, India and Greece.
From there she threw herself into writing family histories in story form. Her books included: Finding Mettle, The Mystery Friendship Club, Snowfall In Berrian Park, Trekking The Mount Everest Trail, William Martin Davis In Baker Wood, and her last book, From This We Spring, a collection of short stories, the cover designed by my daughter.
Such a stingy number of words to sum up such a full life. Goodbye and Godspeed, Karen. I trust you, Lee and Tadji are trekking among the stars.

Memorial Day and Going Off Line

Hope you have a great Memorial Day. I won't be blogging this week, we've had a family crisis.  I'll be back next week. In the meantime, have a pleasant productive week.

The Weekend

Enjoy.....

His Daughter

Have you seen this trailer? Eighteen year old Molly Kate Kestner wrote this in fifteen minutes and recorded it on a cracked i-Phone, accompanying herself on an out-of-tune piano.

Cat Saves Boy

You've probably already seen this trailer. It's hit the internet in a big way. While the actions of Tara the cat surprised a lot of people, I doubt if it surprised many cat folks. There are a lot of cats out there that take people guarding seriously.
When I lived in IN a burglar broke into a woman's house that lived alone. The cat didn't bother the man until the burglar started upstairs where the woman was sleeping. At that point, the cat attacked. The burglar escaped but left a trail of spattered blood behind him.
Homer, a blind cat, woke his keeper by growling and hissing. The woman found a strange man standing at the foot of her bed. While he was distracted by the cat, she called 9-1-1. At that point, he turned and ran out with the cat in pursuit.
A Texas woman was attacked by two pit bulls. Her cat launched herself into the fray, giving the woman's husband time to get his wife to safety.
And on the home front: Years back, I was trying to get my declawed cat in the house because a big dog was running loose. I got him in the house and then before I could get in myself the dog jumped on my back. I really don't think he would have hurt me, but I'm sure both animals could sense my fear. The cat came hurling out of the house and ran the dog off.
Another time: When our daughter was two years old, she'd wandered out into a cornfield. The hh was frantic, he called and called but she wouldn't answer. Luckily, Bruce (the declawed cat) stuck by her side like glue. Every time my husband called for our daughter, the cat meowed. And that was how he found her. We were young and stupid and shouldn't have let a declawed cat outside. But it never slowed him down. He climbed trees and attacked dogs.  He rode several out of the yard.
When it comes to man (woman or a child)'s best friend, dogs have some serious competition.

Old Car Guys

This will be my brother in, oh, fifty years or so:)Thanks, bro.

A Mother's Day Tale and Monday

So my Mother's Day gift from my son arrived the Friday before Mother's Day: chocolate-covered strawberries. My daughter called and said she'd ordered my Mother's Day gift and had paid extra to get it there on time but had inadvertently sent it to herself. Uh Huh. She decided she must have wanted a Miss M's Day. The company that she ordered from took pity on her and let her keep what she'd inadvertently (Uh Huh) sent to her address and sent another to me, which would arrive on Tuesday. In the meantime, on Mother's Day, I had the sibs call and wish her a Happy Miss M's Day:). Tuesday arrived, I got home and felt like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. There setting on the counter was, you guessed it. A box of chocolate-covered strawberries.

Weekend

Hope your weekend is as unique as you.

Mockingjay

Can't wait......





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CJ won the Mom's Day Contest. Congrats, CJ!

New Cover

Lookie, Lookie. How do you like my new cover?

Man with his constant desire to enslave and assert his will has destroyed the earth. Now, in the aftermath, two factions vie for power. Man, who did not learn from his mistakes, and Odin Cats.