Heidi Chronicles: The Kids Grow Up So Fast

holy smokes!

Wow, look at that car! Yikes!

So scary to see that....and it is going to be spreading more and more with all this forecasted rain.

Stay safe.

Debbie

Yikes! I know we have been having constant rain here but so far so good. Is your place Ok so far?

Hi Terese,

I've been rushing around trying to get everything done today - since I goofed off all day yesterday. Anyhow, just got a minute to check DG. Just saw your post and pic. Wow, that is scary. The car really provides a good point of reference, although I'm sure the owner isn't too happy about that.

This morning on the news, I heard them say something to the effect that the 7" (they said this time) that you guys got yesterday was a record never before seen in recorded history and that with the additional rain expected today due to Ike water/rain levels in your area would be well into quantities unprecedented in recorded history. That is pretty scary from the stand point of how the sewer system will handle it, but it does lend some perspective to the situation you are facing.

Wishing you all the best. My heart goes out to you as I know how much I worry when rain starts to pile up in my backyard and I fear my house may be threatened. Praying the water won't get high enough to reach your house and above all that your family will be safe. Let us know how things are going and if there is anything we can do to help you.

thanks ladies.... actually, that spot in the street is a low spot, well, maybe 2-3 feet lower... not much when you put it all into perspective .... but there is an idiot every time, that thinks they can make it.

this area is about 4 blocks east of where i live, and we are higher grounds... and another thing ... ya know how developers just have to build everywhere ... when i was a kid, this area was a swamp ... sure they can backfill, but a swamp is a swamp.

When i talked to DH this morning, he said the detention pond next door [out my MBR window] - the level dropped about 3 feet. and since they are not expecting as much rain as yesterday.... they should be fine.

but it is quite nerve wracking to say the least.... you just get that helpless feeling... as i always say... you can't beat Mother Nature.

I have to admit... i haven't watched the weather CH in the past 4 hrs. I'm tired of the rain, plus football is on.

again -- thanks for all your concerns ... I'll certainly be thinking of all that are in the path of this storm... lets hope it dies out soon.

Terese

thanks guys for the input, I do hope she comes back, I know it sounds crazy, but she really added a light note to our life and she really entertained us.
Scutler, thanks for writing, I have been busy digging iris and shipping etc... so haven't spent much time on the computer. I am sorry for the weather trouble people are having, everyone is in my prayers and thoughts.
wishing everyone well.
will check in from time to time, Marie

Terese, glad to hear your pond is draining, and hope your house will stay high and dry during the next rains. That photo is scary; hope the folks in those houses have really good insurance!

talked to DH this morning, as he is on his way back up here.... that road is STILL under water. that car - he said you still can not even see the side mirrors ... I'm sure those homes that are there.... there are 5 of them that are 500k+ ... and i'm sure at least 2-3 of them will have flooded basements.... which is so sad.

but - it's sunny there, and supposed to warm up this week... so the water should be heading down stream -- hopefully.

Well -- off to plant my hostas and columbine that have been sitting for days in pots, since it's been raining every day.

Have not seen a radar this morning... but hope IKE is gone!! and everyone in it's wake is OK and drying out.

Ike went through here yesterday--downed trees and power lines everywhere, a few deaths from that, mass power outages with intermittent restoration (I'm using the computer at my school), but thankfully, no rain, or it would've been much worse. We had gusts of wind up to 85mph yesterday! Giant trees went down in our woods, but thankfully, none on us, our house, our cars, or across our driveway.

No power since before 9 am yesterday morning. trees down, schools closed. No cable or phones. (I have a wireless card and a car charger for my laptop) Big mess here in west KY. I just took my deep freeze contents to my Mom's, as her power is back on.

Kywoods, hope you are ok, thinking of you, be safe, goes all, be safe people

We had high winds last night, hit about 50 to 60 mph. Power went out several times, but not for a long period.

I thought for sure the tree in our neighbors yard was coming down, it is hollow in the top half from squirrels nest.

Woke up this morning, several bigger branches down, but other than that its OK on our small property. Trees down here and there in the neighborhood, and about 35,000 out of power in Amhest this morning...but they are getting back on by tonight or tomorrow.

Now we are dealing with rain, but not from Ike I don't believe.

Stay safe everyone
Debbie

Wow, it got all the way to NY! Glad to hear all is well, and the squirrels still have their nesting tree. I said a little prayer for our wild animal friends out there in the windstorm.

KY I was thinking of you yesterday before the storm hit.

Someone knew it was coming, and wanted filled up. The feeder was empty and he was out there screaming. A youngster for sure.

Debbie

Awww, cute! Great pic! I feel bad because a lot of immature acorns got stripped off the trees--I know we feed them, but they need their native food, too. I hope they get enough this winter.

awesome picture,Debbie, hope our little comes home!!!!!!

little one lol

Wow, KyWoods, melody, Debbie -- I had no idea the storm had wreaked so much havoc across the country. Seems like the news media has been so focused on TX. I haven't heard them mention the rest of the country. I only heard the part about Terese's area when they did the weather on Sat/Sun. Sorry to hear that all of you had such nasty weather, too, but happy to hear that you are all safe.

melody - I sure hope you get power back soon. One evening w/o power is frustrating. After that it just becomes agonizing fast.

Debbie - love the squirrel pic and story. LOL at the little fella fussing at you for letting his food run out.

Debbie, melody: hope you're very soon back on the grid. Power outages are just the pits, especially in rural areas like this where no power means no water since the well pump isn't working. After a couple days-long outages in winter (no power, no water, no heat), we invested in a generator: best investment we've ever made!

Ruth,

When they were babies, Cissy and Dennis spent much of their time at my feet eating treats, but not Blondie. Blondie always stayed at Heidi's side. She almost never came near me even then. When Heidi made the kits leave her and go off on their own (but still allowed them to come to the buffet), Blondie came over near me a time or two with Cissy and Dennis, but she always stayed back behind them and never came closer than about 2 feet away. I guess you are right. She must have gotten the 'wild' gene. Even though she has seen her siblings climbing all over me since she was a tiny kit and has seen them get lots of treats and never get hurt, still she will not come closer than about 2ft. Heck, even her parents have on occasion come close enough to take a treat from my hand, but not Blondie. No way.

The other day when I 1st read your post, I had no idea why Heidi asked Ursula to leave, but I really didn't think it had anything to do with anything Ursula had done. For some time now it has been very clear from her behavior and demeanor that Ursula really wanted to stay and was determined to do her best to get along with the others. The others, sometimes even the kits, would often push her around. She never fought back. I think she understood that she would be run off if she were seen fighting.

Last night I think I found out what is really going on - although I'm not sure why. It looks as if Heidi is running everyone, or nearly everyone, off. Maybe she realizes there are too many of them here for winter, esp with all those kits getting older now and eating so much more. Heidi's 4 kits are almost full size now, so as a group they alone eat like 5 adults. She may also have chosen this time because everyone's kits are old enough now to travel safely - well except Dennis' but who knows when they will be big enough.

Actually, as much as a week ago I noticed that I hadn't seen Cissy in a long time. For a while I was still seeing Mink, but she always seemed to be alone. I don't know for certain that Cissy wasn't with her, but it seems odd that Cissy never came over for a treat. Several times recently I watched Mink come down the fence alone. Rupert stopped showing up back around the time that the rowdy gang arrived. Then Cissy stopped showing up. Now I haven't seen Mink for days. In fact, the past few days it's mostly just Heidi and her kits and Blondie and her two. So far, Heidi doesn't seem to be trying to run Blondie off.

More to come...

Hey, speaking of generators, if you are without power, check your insurance policy. After Hugo, most people got free generators through their homeowner's policies. It's part of the clause about costs associated with loss of use of your home - because they would rather pay for a generator than a hotel. Something to consider if it looks like you might be w/o power for a while. (For me, 2 days = 'a while')

Last night as soon as Heidi saw someone - I didn't get to see who - come down the fence, she took off after that raccoon at break neck speed and chased him/her back up the fence. It was then, having previously noticed that Cissy was missing, that I looked around me and saw that only Heidi and Blondie and there kits were around. Bast has been missing even longer than Cissy. Bast used to be the 1st to arrive each day. She came early and waited at the back door, but no more. Lately she is AWOL. Seems like we have been slowly loosing members one at a time for weeks now - like one of those horror flicks where the characters keep disappearing.

Fraidy showed up last night. Like the other raccoon before her, as soon as she came into the yard Heidi tore out after her like a cutting horse after a wayward calf. Fraidy ran around the perimeter heading my way, but Heidi cut her off. Fraidy ran into the rose bed, hid out for a minute or two, and then when she thought Heidi wasn't looking came sneaking over to the back of my table, the lawn mower cart between her and Heidi along the way. The minute Fraidy emerged from behind the cart and came to rest behind me, Heidi came 'galloping' over to attack her - a mock attack, of course, something to let Fraidy know what would happen if she didn't listen. Fraidy ran past me and over to the other side of the yard where she stopped to nibble some cat food while Heidi returned to her own dish. Once Heidi was 'gone', Fraidy sneaked over to me, to the side away from Heidi. Heidi didn't mess with Fraidy anymore that night even though later she saw Fraidy hanging around at my feet. I really do think, for whatever reason, that Heidi won't attack any raccoon while I am interacting with them. Once Fraidy got to my feet and I started feeding her, Heidi left her alone.

Tonight again it was just Heidi and Blondie and kits. Suddenly, Heidi's head went up and she ran for the forest, not as though afraid but in attack mode. Several of her kits went with her. A few minutes later and for some time after, we could hear that sound I liken to a rattlesnake - although clearly louder - coming from the forest. All of the remaining raccoons, mostly Blondie and her kits, ran for cover in the brush and did not return to the open area. After a time, Heidi returned with her kits to finish their dinner. While she had been gone, Reba and her kits had come to the buffet. Upon her return, Heidi ran Reba's kits out of the yard, but, oddly, allowed Reba to stay and eat a bit, her kits crying in the tree. One kit tried to come back down, Heidi told him a few times to stop, but he kept sneaking closer. He was on the slope sneaking toward the pool when Heidi went after him. Determined, instead of running back to the forest, the kit tried to run past Heidi. That didn't work so well as Heidi caught him and was in the process of giving him a 'whipping' when one of Heidi's kits came running over to help - yet another example of raccoons ganging up to fight together. Seeing that he was outnumbered, the wayward kit broke free and ran back up the fence to join his sibblings in the tree. Reba ate a little more and then left.

At some point earlier in the evening, Dennis came by for like 3 seconds before running away. No sign of the kids. Tonight even Trouble failed to show up - unless he was one of the ones Heidi went to meet in the forest. Fraidy showed up again tonight. This time she sneaked around the opposite side, away from Heidi, to get to my bench. Heidi did not say a word to her while Fraidy was with me. Later, however, after Fraidy left me to go off browsing around, Heidi left her food to go over to the brush to banish Fraidy.

Well, Heidi has always been the practical one, and the population was getting out of hand. Seems like she allowed the big crowd to hang out as long as the kits were small enough to really need the extra nutrition, but now it's time for them all to move along. Makes sense, since the population next year would reach frightening proportions otherwise; but it's a drag to lose contact with old friends. I guess it also makes sense that Blondie is the significant exception, since she was last year's "mama's girl." She's probably been responsible for keeping HRH away, too. Gotta love Fraidy's determination, to find a way to reach you in spite of it all.

I wonder if thre was maybe more damage in the woods from the storm , like flooded areas yet or something that heidi not able to get her normal wood food from and maybe too why she acting like that.

Heidi's behavor reminds me of folks in old times, except instead of using a shotgun to keep people from tres passing and protectign their proprty she using her growls and attacks.

Wish all the little kits could get a chance to eat. Think I would be upset if I heard cryign kits and knew they was hungry and couldnt get food. Wonder if while Heidi busy eating and chasing out the yard if their somein trees and on fence if ya couldnt put a trail of kibbles along fence edge for them.

Hi Ruth,

Although I will greatly miss many of those who are being 'evicted', I'm glad to see Heidi taking this matter in hand. I was getting more than a little concerned about the burgeoning population, especially when I realized that if things continue along 'historic' lines - the kits from each year being allowed to stay the following season before being forced to move on - the population would still grow exponentially. I could not imagine what next year would look like if each of this year's kits were allowed to stay and raise a litter. When Heidi takes care of these problems, she does it the 'natural' way which works out better for all.

While Blondie and her bunch appear to be the exception right now, they could be next. It looks as though rather than try to take on everybody at once Heidi has wisely chosen to run them off one family at a time. They have been slowly disappearing over time. I only recently took note of this and realized Heidi was responsible.

I hope you are right about HRH. Hope to see the big guy again in spring like old times. I'm pretty sure Trouble was one of the ones that Heidi was arguing with the other night in the forest. He did not show up tonight. He had been dropping by virtually every night.

Fraidy is an interesting anomaly. Over the years Heidi has chased Fraidy, growled at Fraidy, and 'mock' attacked Fraidy, yet in the end she always lets Fraidy stay around. I'm guess - and hoping - that Heidi will let Fraidy stay.

Hi starlight,

Honestly, we really didn't have much of a storm at all. In the end it went up toward the NC/SC border. We only got the outer rain bands from the TS, virtually no wind. I've seen worse afternoon thunderstorms. I've come home after bad thunderstorms to find the street and my yard littered with leaves, twigs, pine straw, small branches, and such. There was no such debris after that TS went by. Hanna, thankfully, was a false alarm for us.

I think Heidi is just tired of the crowd and realizes some of them have to go - for the health and safety of all. As for the kits crying in the tree, really they were calling their mom. I don't think they were all that hungry. They had been eating for a while when Heidi was out in the forest arguing with the others. I really don't think any of these raccoons are all that hungry - except maybe Dennis' poor babies, but we are powerless to help them. (Most of the time the other raccoons will walk all around chicken without touching it, but that night when Dennis' babies came down and found those chicken thighs I had tossed back there, you would have thought the little darlings had found a pot of gold. It was heartening to see the enthusiasm they showed for the chicken pieces and to know that for one night at least they were getting a good solid meal and lots of protein.)

As difficult as it is for them and me, I don't won't to interfere with what Heidi is doing or undermine her efforts. Some of the raccoons have to go. It isn't easy for them or us, but it is very necessary. Due to the effects of the overcrowding this summer we took a step backward for the 1st time since I started feeding the raccoons. This summer I made less progress than I did the prior summer. The overcrowding made it impossible for the mom's and kits to feel comfortable enough at the buffet to relax, stay a while, interact with me, and play in the pool. The population density was stressful for everyone. If they all stay, next year the population will increase by a factor of about 3, and that simply will not work.

Before I begin the review of the last 2 nights, I'd like to ask "How is Everyone?" Those of you in the path of the recent storm, sound off, please. Let us know how you are doing. We're still thinking of you and hoping things are going well, hoping power is restored quickly to all effected areas.

It has been dreadfully hot here. With all of the wicked weather going on out there I hesitated to complain, but by now I have grown very tired of the endless heat and humidity. I thought it would have cooled a bit by now, but until today heat indexed temps have continued to hover around the 100F mark. Last night as I was on my way home we were having a storm. The deluge was such that I could barely see well enough to poke along at 35mph. But the storm ushered in a cold front. Tonight we are expecting a low of 65F. Yay! Daytime highs for the next week or so are to be in 79-82 range. Yippee! These temps are below normal for us this time of year. (Interesting that Heidi kicked into high gear running the others off only a few days before temps plummeted signaling the change of seasons.

As I've consistently seen over the years, Heidi will not venture out in an electrical storm. She will eat in the pouring rain, but even if there is only the faintest glow of lightening far, far away, she will not show up until the storm has passed. So last night, Heidi and her kits were no where to be seen. I knew as soon as I went out in between showers to feed up and saw the occasional static lightening in the distance that Heidi would not be there. Apparently, I was not alone in this realization of her habits as last night everyone from Trouble to Dennis, Mink, and Fraidy showed up in prime time. It was also interesting to note the difference in Trouble's behavior w/o Heidi around. While he still did not behave as badly as he did in the past, he did help himself to whatever he wanted, stealing dishes from the kids something he would never do with Heidi present (no matter if they were her kids or anothers).

There are still about 250,000 without power in our area, so I feel very lucky that ours was out less than 24 hours! Would you believe there are people threatening and harrassing the utilities workers, because they want their power back NOW? Sheesh, if they don't like it here, they can always move to the gulf coast, huh? Sure, it's a terrible inconvenience and expense--a lot of refrigerated/frozen food lost, but it could've been a whole lot worse.

Tonight was one of those awesome nights. When I threw on the outside lights, there were 4 little faces and one big one looking back at me, a veritable crowd on the patio. 2 of the kits were sitting on the door facing with their backs against the door when I first arrived but quickly got down to peer in at me. I was having difficulty resolving the math until I opened the door to chat with them and saw that the big face was Heidi's. Ah, Heidi and her 4 kits. Of course. I had been expecting Blondie. I'm starting to think they are passing this task around and now it is Heidi's turn. (1st Dennis for a month or so then Bast then Blondie and now Heidi. Everyone must do a turn at reminding the human to bring dinner.) I gather since Heidi and her kits missed dinner last night, they were especially hungry tonight and eager to get the show on the road.

When I opened the door to speak to them, they didn't run away. They all stood there peeking in. Jerry stood up for a pass. I keep the food and treats on a baker's rack by the back door and was in the process of gathering things for dinner, so perhaps he thought I might toss him something. Heidi stood behind them also looking in. I spoke to them a bit and then closed the door to finish fixing their dinner. The whole gang stayed out there at the door looking in at me.

Tonight I served mini cupcakes and strawberry frosting on graham crackers. Naturally, I did not have enough hands to go around. Oddly enough, Heidi was a bit more accommodating tonight, either that or she was too hungry to worry about chasing the others around. Dennis was there along with Fraidy. Heidi even allowed Reba's kits to come into the yard and eat. There wasn't a place for them at the table, so I tossed handfuls of cat food to them on the slope, and Heidi allowed them to eat there - although I suspect in the coming days or weeks they, too, will disappear. As with Trouble, who was conspicuously absent again tonight, I think Heidi prefers to have her confrontations in the privacy of the forest. She will likely speak to Reba one day in the forest, and that family will just fall off the buffet roster.

Dennis and Fraidy both go crazy in the presence of sugar and they were both there at the same time. Try as I did to keep them occupied while passing out treats to all of the other kids as well, alas I could not shovel frosting that fast. Soon Fraidy, yes, sweet, little Fraidy, was standing upright and pulling everything off the table in an effort to serve herself. Between me saying "No!" and Fraidy causing all manner of non food items to rain down off the table when she pulled the flattened bag out from under them, the mayhem caused Heidi, who by tha time had nearly finished her food anyhow, to decide she had had enough. She and the kits headed out leaving the 'circus' to the rest of us.

At some point in the evening I finally had to cut Fraidy and Dennis off as they were determined to see who could eat the most sugar. A little later after Heidi had left and the crowd had dwindled down a bit, Fraidy returned with her kit, another blond one. Seeing that her mom had no fear of me, the kit just walked right up to my feet as though we were old pals. A few minutes later she was standing upright beside me eating cat food from the edge of the table. I petted Fraidy and then I petted her lightly.

As the evening was going so well and it was so cool out, I was reluctant to leave. I stayed well after Heidi had gone. Eventually, Cissy and Mink showed up. Mink is so cute because as soon as her little toes touch the dirt she runs straight for me. I gave her a cupcake and petted her. She and Cissy took turns eating from the overturned bucket beside me, a 'dish' which has become the favorite of Dennis, Fraidy, and Mink. When more than one of them is present at the same time, they will watch the one who has possession of the bucket. As soon as he or she exits the bucket for a minute, one of the others will move in to take it, and the cycle continues.

All in all it was a most enjoyable evening although it is hard to say exactly why. I guess just because I wasn't ignored and all of my favorites were there to interact with me up close.

Wow, Fraidy let you pet her baby? That's exciting!

Hi KyWood,

So glad to hear that you got your power back quickly. It is unbelievable how some people will behave under such circumstances. Times like these bring out the very best and the very worst in people it seems. That is shame about folks harassing the power company workers. After Hugo those guys (and I mean teams from FL, AL, you name it as well as SC) worked very hard. They worked long shifts 7 days a week to restore power. I was among the last to get power back, and while I was totally frustrated living that way for so long (6 long weeks), I had nothing but appreciation for the hard work those guys were doing. Without there sacrifices it's hard to say how long it might have taken to get the power back on.

Maybe one reason we weren't angry is that our expectations were different. ALL of our power lines were taken down throughout all of Charleston County and several surrounding counties all the way to Columbia (in the center of the state). Before the power teams started working, we all looked around at the mass of mangled wires and downed poles all around us and thought, "OMG, we may never have electricity again!"

Around here - and I'm guessing this is true there, too - folks were so happy to see those teams out there working so hard to restore our mangled power lines. People who had the means, either BBQ grill or generator, cooked meals for and delivered them to the teams they saw working in their areas - or made sandwiches or whatever they could do. They did this both to show their appreciation and because they knew that for the first weeks there were no restaurants or fast food places open for the workers to get lunch/dinner.

Ahhh, good ol' fashioned suth'n hospitality...KY isn't far enough south, that's the problem, lol.

KyWoods

Oh, yes, Fraidy is so very comfortable around me. I'm sure she knows I wouldn't hurt the baby. A few nights ago, the night when Heidi was on the war path, Fraidy was standing upright eating cat food from the front edge of the table while Heidi was maybe 5ft or so away eating. At some point Heidi shifted around so that she was closer to us. No doubt keenly aware that Heidi was in a surly mood, Fraidy quckly shifted around the table, while still standing upright, so that she ended up mashed up against me as close as she could get in the crevice between me and the table. Regardless of whether she did that to get farther from Heidi physically or because she knows Heidi never attacks her when she is close to me, it was a very touching moment and one which showed just how trusting she has become. For a little while after she stayed there eating, standing upright at the side of the table her back wedged up against me, her side against the arm of my bench. It was a heady moment for me, and I was afraid to breath lest it end too soon. : D

I think that hospitality thing is one thing we do have here. We rarely come in 1st on anything (good, that is. lol), but last year Charleston, SC was voted #1 in the country for friendliness in a AAA poll of travelers. I was very proud of the people here when I saw how they were feeding the workers.

SO glad that Fraidy is still coming around! :)

Hi nanny,

Right now I'm seeing Fraidy regularly. She normally waits until everyone else (or most) has left, but now I've learned the secret to getting her to come out earlier. In fact, tonight's episode deals with this very subject...

Tonight got off to a rather slow start with only Heidi and Blondie and there kits in attendance throughout the entire meal. No sign of Trouble or Bast or Reba and her kits. No sign of Dennis. For desert we had vanilla sandwich cookies. While no competition for frosting, they were quite popular, so much so, in fact, that Heidi ate a few and even came across the lawn to stand in front of me and ask for more.

But the most exciting part of the night for me came after Heidi left. Then, with just Blondie and her 2 plus a few of Heidi's remaining kits, things were pretty dull for a while as everyone was eating and ignoring me. It was at that moment that I started calling Fraidy ever so softly calling out into the night. I hadn't seen any sign of her but have become quite convinced that she lurks in the forest cloaked in darkness watching and waiting for the others to leave. Within minutes Fraidy appeared on the fence. I had called her in the darkness a time or two and just like that she had appeared, she and only she. After I called her, Fraidy was the very next raccoon to arrive at the buffet. This has happened several times now and is clearly no coincidence.

As soon as she appeared on the fence, Fraidy came down and straight over to me where she ate some cookies and cat food. Soon there were only a few cookies left, and I wanted to give some to little Minkie, too, so once again, into the darkness I called "Mink, Mink". Now this time I was just giving it a try. I didn't really expect it to work...but low and behold almost as quickly as if she had been conjured up by Samantha of Bewitched fame, poof, I looked to my left to see Mink walking up to inquire as to what I wanted. At that point, even I was amazed at how well this was working. I fed the last few cookies to Mink and one other very cute but unidentified little fella and then sat there for a few minutes longer to marvel at what had happened before coming back inside.

There was no doubt about it in my mind now. The raccoons, at least those who had been assigned a name, really did know their names. They know them. They respond to them. And, like cats, they come when called - if they want to...

There are always stories, moments, little things that I don't get around to telling you just because there is only so much time (and virtual paper). One such story which fits well with the current topic occurred just a few days ago. Fraidy had arrived fairly late in the meal as is her normal manner (when not called). I don't recall now what the desert du jour was but whatever it was Fraidy arrived too late to enjoy more than a taste. After a fairly thorough search of my immediate person for more of the desert, finding none, Fraidy wandered over to the pool where she stood searching the under water for something of interest when suddenly I remembered that I had a little more of the desert that I had held back for Dennis.

Eager to give Fraidy more of the desert she had been seeking, I called her. Still searching the pool bottom with her 'hands', she looked up at me for a moment before continuing with her new project. "Fraidy! Fraidy!" I called. Each time she would look over at me, survey the situation and then go back to her underwater search. It was clear from her demeanor that each time I called her she was actually looking over at me to see if I had anything of interest to her and upon seeing no sign of such was choosing to ignore me - in catlike fashion. She was, after all, busy. Realizing she needed 'proof' of a reason to interrupt her task, the next time I called her and she looked up at me, I reached for the remaining bit of desert, put it in a plastic dish and set it down before me. Seeing this, Fraidy promptly 'dropped' what she was working on and rushed right over to eat the remaining desert.

They know their names all to well...and they come when called...if they want to.

Still thinking of all of you out there in areas ravaged by the recent storms. Know that you are in my thoughts and prayers. I hope that all are safe, that your losses are minimal, and that the hardships imposed by the storm's aftermath will be short in duration.

Cheryl -- what great stories. and how adorable of lil Fraidy - now to come when called, and even shown treats.